Chirps from Center Ice

The subject line tonight was overheard by me from a small child telling his father that he didn’t hear the Penguins goal horn for two straight nights. Whomever that young child is, I would like to thank him for telling his father that and giving me the idea to use that phrase as my blog title this evening.

Nothing childish, however, about the Penguins lack of scoring. 2-0 loss tonight, now shut out in back to back periods and goalless for 127:32 going back to Geoff Walker’s goal last Sunday vs. Binghamton, provided my math is correct.*

Scott Munroe vs. Eddie Pasquale

Before the game, the Hershey Bears announced that they will be hosting an outdoor game at Hersheypark Stadium next January 20. I have a blog about it one post down, or here with full details.

First Period: Penguins would get two power plays but could not muster anything with them. Really the story of the night and the goalless drought with the power play ineffectiveness. Some power plays the Pens couldn’t muster even a shot. Ray Sawada hit Aaron Gagnon on a stretch pass which sprung Gaganon on a breakaway he scored on in the final minute.

Second Period: Penguins caught on their heels a bit as the IceCaps pressured and pressured. Finally Jason Gregoire scored on a sneaky play by him where he snuck in behind the D, gets a pass from John Albert and goes top shelf on Munroe to put his team up 2-0. St. John’s would continue to have firing squad mentality but Munroe never let in another one. Penguins had sustained pressure late but were unable to find the back of the net.

Third Period: Uneventful in terms of goals. Pasquale left rebound after rebound of the nine shots the Pens pumped his way this period but no single goal was found. Pens pulled Munroe and weren’t able to score with the extra man.

Thoughts: Munroe has actually played outstanding these last two nights. If I tell you at 5 o’clock Friday that after two games, he only lets in a total of three goals, you probably take it and run. Penguins are just not skating. I don’t know if it is line combinations or what it is now, hopefully it gets fixed and fixed quick.

Magic Number: Think stays at 7. Scenarios with the logjam at the 8 seed make it hard for me being a folly at math.

Around the Division: One more and the streak will be old enough to drink. The Norfolk Admirals run it to 20 in a row, defeating the Albany Devils by a 4-3 score. Hershey comes back to nip Charlotte 2-1. Syracuse loses to Rochester in a shootout, 4-3.

Standings: Norfolk 97 / WBS 83 / Hershey 82 / Syracuse 71 / Binghamton 59

Conference: 1-NOR (97) 2-StJ (86) 3-CT (76) 4-WBS (83) 5-HER (82) 6-BRI (73) 7-MCH (71) 8-SYR (71)

Springfield is in Sunday afternoon for what is sure to be an interesting affair with Steve MacIntyre being eligible to return from suspension. You may want to get there early to see what boils up in warmups.

Gameday for that matchup will be here on the blog at 11 a.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

* – stop laughing.