Chirps from Center Ice

Penguins get two bang bang goals :20 apart from Paul Thompson and Brandon DeFazio to surge ahead late in the third period down 2-1 to win their only game of the weekend in comeback fashion 3-2.

Scott Munroe vs. Michael Leighton

Lineup notes: This was Leighton’s fourth straight start for the Phantoms in where he was 3-0 with a 1.33 GAA and a 0.962 save percentage. Steve MacIntyre, Cody Wild and Philip Samuelsson were not on the trip. Scratched was Matt Rust for Bryan Lerg and Carl Sneep for Alex Grant. Grant is 19th in defensemen scoring.

First Period: You couldn’t tell that the Phantoms played two prior games and that the Pens were off all weekend. The Phantoms jumped on the Pens early but Munroe held the fort early. Then Oliver Lauridsen fired a puck on the goal line from the corner at goal which popped to Matt Ford which he nudged in to give the Phantoms a 1-0 lead.

Second Period: Brandon Manning put a hook in on Nick Petersen. In the ensuing power play, Ben Street would backhand one home past Leighton to even the score at 1. Phantoms would later come in two on none on a slow developing play and I tweeted at the time that Munore had been sharp. Well, next sequence with Brian Strait breaking his stick trying to clear the puck out of his zone, Matt Ford would score from the slot to put the Phantoms back out ahead 2-1.

Third Period: Penguins would get two power play chances but did not score on any of them. Then, Paul Thompson scored in a scrum to tie the game then Brandon DeFazio would score on Leighton’s doorstep to push the Pens up 3-2. The Phantoms were then denied by a spawling save by Scott Munroe on his back from a Shane Harper shot from the low left circle. Adirondack would pull Leighton but were unable to find the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Garrett Roe (two assists, +1) 2) Ben Street (goal, -1) and 1) Matthew Ford (two goals, +1)

Notes: Adirondack was undefeated leading at home after one period (10-0-0-1) Penguins get their overall third come from behind and AHL leading 21st road victory. O’Reilly on faceoffs is amazing. Mark my words him in the dot come late in the season is going to be an enormous asset to have. Penguins missed Alex Grant in power play situations I think today, going only 1 for 5.

Around the Division: The Hershey Bears win in overtime 2-1. Ryan Potulny netted his 22nd goal at :22. He also wears number 22. The St. John’s IceCaps avenge their loss to the Bingahmton Senators last Tuesday by winning 5-2 in the Southern Tier of New York. Syracuse beats Albany 2-1. Norfolk is idle till this Friday.

Standings: Norfolk leads the Division, Conference and League with 81 points. Penguins are second in the Division with 73 points. Bears draw two back with 71. Crunch have 56 points and the B-Sens 50.

Conference: 1-NOR (81) 2-StJ (75) 3-BRI (68) 4-WBS (73) 5-HER (71) 6-CT (68) 7-ALB (63) 8- WOR (61)

Tomorrow is Clear Day, or the AHL’s equivalent of the trade deadline. Depending on moves, I will probably have something here in the form of a blog post tomorrow evening. Of course, for immediate reactions, please follow me on Twitter @nafsnep

Pens most likely will have off or a light skate tomorrow. St. John’s in town for the first time ever as the IceCaps Tuesday.

Let’s Go Pens!