Chirps from Center Ice

Wilkes-Barre, on a patchwork conglomeration of bodies, wins it’s fourth straight game to put themselves back on top of the Eastern Conference standings by winning 3-2 this evening in Syracuse.

Eric Tangradi and Alexandre Picard’s recalls to Pittsburgh prefaced this from this morning.

Scott Munroe vs. Iiro Tarkki. Chris Barton made his WBS debut.

First Period: Penguins play sixteen minutes of bad hockey and nearly allow Syracuse to score multiple times but Munroe did not give many rebound chances and really made some big time saves in the game. Late, Brandon DeFazio cleaned up a rebound to put the Pens up 1-0 then Ryan Craig received a nice pass from Colin McDonald to put the Pens up 2-0 heading into the break.

Second Period: Munroe continued to see virtually everything. He did not give up many rebounds in the process which really was a plus. Ryan Schnell took an attempted head-butting call to put Syracuse on a double minor power play. I don’t think that afterward, Tom Grace called his name the entire rest of the evening. Wilkes-Barre would kill it with Munroe continuing to make ten bell saves.

Third Period: Ryan Craig blocked a shot with his hand. He would be fine. Patrick Maroon score at 5:37 to spoil the Munroe shutout bid. Brandon DeFazio was really everywhere this game. A late Bryan Lerg trip would put the second ranked Syracuse power play back on the ice but the Pens were perfect on the penalty kill all night. Munroe with more solid saves. Then, Brandon DeFazio fired a dart at Tarkki which surprised him and ended up in the net to make it 3-1 Pens. J-F Jacques would score late with Tarkki pulled but the Pens would hold on and win their fourth straight game.

Three Stars: 3) Patrick Maroon (goal, assist, even) 2) Ryan Craig (goal, assist, even) and 1) Matt Rust (assist, +1)

Pretty sure Brandon DeFazio should be the first star of the game, but whatever.

Around the Division: Hershey won a barn burner in Norfolk 4-3 and Binghamton beat Adirondack 3-1.

Standings: Wilkes-Barre leads Hershey 37 points to 35. Norfolk has 33 points in third. Syracuse has 27 points and Binghamton 22.

Conference: 1-WBS (37) 2-StJ (36) 3-CT (35) 4-MCH (36) 5-HER (35) 6-NOR (33) 7-WOR (30) 8-ADK (30)

Norfolk busses overnight here for a 7:05 start. Hershey busses home to host Bridgeport.

Doing more with less is what Wilkes-Barre is doing. Stupendous goaltending right now.

Gameday will be up tomorrow at 3 p.m. Let’s Go Pens!