Chirps from Center Ice

In a game that was meaningless in the large scope of things, really a good game to watch as a fan. Back and forth, fluid action with little stoppages. The Penguins lose this one 3-2 and look forward to the “second season” opening Friday in Wilkes-Barre vs. Hershey.

The Penguins and Bridgeport Sound Tigers have had wars in the past with one another when the Sound Tigers once resided in the East Division. I wasn’t around for any of it, but wouldn’t it be fun to see these Sound Tigers again this season?

That paragraph is disrespectful to both Hershey Bears fans and Connecticut Whale fans alike. Both are formidable clubs and will not be pushovers for the two teams which played today.

Scott Munroe vs. Kevin Poulin – laundry list of lineup changes with Black Aces shuffling in for a lot of regulars who weren’t on the trip.

First Period: Lots of good flow, back and forth action to open the game. It appeared to me that both clubs were playing good, conservative hockey. A shot saved by Munroe trickled away from him and very slowly towards the net but was shoved away by Peter Merth. Teams would eventually go 4 on 4 with no scoring in the period.

Second Period: Brandon DeFazio would open things in the scoring department when he picked the pocket of a Sound Tiger at his blue line, skated in and scored top shelf on Poulin falling down. Later, Penguin killer Tyler McNeely would tip home a Steve Oleksy shot from the blue line. McNeely has 4 goals and an assist in the series with the Penguins. Later, Tomas Marcinko scored a really weird goal. He fanned on a shot, didn’t get what he wanted on it and the puck just rolled past everyone and into the net. Then Zach Sill was high sticked and cut open and the Penguins had a 4:00 power play to toy with but soon after Cal O’Reilly took a penalty.

Third Period: All that penalty mess from the second period was killed off then Bryan Lerg scored in a scrum to even things. Then, Robert Bortuzzo high sticks David Ullstrom and in the power play Matt Donovan shot a pass to Rhett Rakhshani and Rakhshani scored from a ridiculously low angle. Penguins had a power play late, best chance coming when Andrew Hotham stickhandles through a couple of guys and dishes to Ben Street who fanned on an open net. Penguins never got Munroe to the bench and the game was over.

Three Stars: 3) Kevin Poulin (31 saves on 33 shots) 2) Tyler McNeely (goal, +1) and 1) Rhett Rakhshani (goal, assist, +1)

Around the Division: Hershey loses in Worcester 3-2. The Bears finish the season on a 0-6-0-2 streak but none of that matters come Friday. Norfolk finishes off a season with it’s 28th consecutive win. Cory Conacher scores late to push the Admirals to victory over the Adirondack Phantoms 4-2. Syracuse wins and is in, defeating Albany 2-1 this afternoon.

Final East Division Standings go as follows: Norfolk 113, Penguins 95, Hershey 88, Syracuse 84, Binghamton 65.

Playoffs are set in the East. They look like this. 1-Norfolk vs. 8-Manchester; 2-St. John’s vs. 7-Syracuse; 3-Bridgeport vs. 6-Connecticut and 4-Wilkes-Barre / Scranton vs. 5-Hershey.

Four East Division teams make the playoffs. One likely to make it to the Calder Cup Finals. Maybe one to win the Calder Cup?

Schedule for content this week is lively! Original content from me each day with piggybacking any major news from the professionals. Schedule will look something like this:

Monday: Final Grades
Tuesday: Western Conference Calder Cup Preview
Wednesday: Eastern Conference Calder Cup Preview
Thursday: Penguins / Bears Series Preview with a prediction.
Friday: Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Gamday vs. Hershey!

Now the real fun starts. Buckle up.

Let’s Go Pens!