Chirps from Center Ice

A fan blog about the AHL's Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins

In Search Of… – Pens LOSE 1-0

Leave a comment Posted by on March 23, 2012

Going to just let it flow tonight and see what happens tonight with this recap.

Pens lose 1-0 tonight and were shutout by a very outstanding Michael Leighton. They were in search of a few things:

  • A goal. Nothing was happening tonight. Shooting it into skates and when the puck did get to the net, Leighton stood on his head and absolutely made ten bell save after ten bell save, highlight coming in the third period diving with the glove to absolutely rob Alex Grant out of thin air.
  • Stability on defense. Alex Picard cut his leg in the first period then came out late in the second. How many 2-on-1’s did the Pens give up tonight? Too many. That needs to change.
  • An actual power play. This mess of a drop pass to an invisible teammate in the neutral zone then dump and chase, watch the Phantoms clear it has got to change.
  • Face-off wins. To my last point a bit, losing a face-off in the offensive zone on a power play and watch the Phantoms clear it.
  • Lines that fit like puzzle pieces. I don’t like this idea of letting off because we know we can’t get better than a four seed and we can’t dip lower than six. Some guys just looked lost tonight.

For what it is worth Scott Munroe was on par with Leighton, making his own ten-bell saves. He was beaten in the first period when Jason Akeson received a pass off the wall from Tye McGinn and stuck it past him. That was it. Brandon DeFazio and Mike Testwuide had a spirited scrap in the first period also with DeFazio edging Testwuide with a harder right than his opponent as both were tossing heavy blows.

Pens had the best chances in the third period on Leighton, including the Alex Grant robbery. I was half way out of my seat before  I realized Leighton made the save.

If you saw it different tonight, please leave me a comment in the blog.

Three stars were Tye McGinn (primary assist, +1) 2) Jason Akeson (game winning goal, +1) and 1) Michael Leighton (24 save shutout)

Around the Division: Norfolk wins 19 straight beating the Albany Devils 2-1. This stat from the AHL PR Twitter feed is scary:

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Albany led briefly, 1-0.

Syracuse won a track meet vs. St. John’s 5-4. Syracuse is now the 7 seed. Binghamton edged Rochester in overtime 5-4. Hershey was off.

Standings: Admirals 95 / Penguins 83 / Bears 80 / Crunch 70 / Senators 59

Magic Number: The number to get there is 91 in the Eastern Conference. It remains 8 for the Pens, but remember I am horrible at math.

Conference: 1-NOR (95) 2-StJ (84) 3-CT (76) 4-WBS (83) 5-HER (80) 6-BRI (73) 7-SYR (70) 8-MCH (69)

Pens get the St. John’s IceCaps tomorrow. Gameday for these proceedings up here at the blog at 3 p.m., for puck drop from Wilkes-Barre at 7.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

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