Chirps from Center Ice

          @      

  3                                              0

–

We’re in.

Gotta be honest, after this showing from earlier in the season, didn’t think the Pens had it in them.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have made the playoffs for the 11th consecutive year.

Could this be the year?

Penguins won tonight 3-0. Jeff Zatkoff another shutout. That’s 126:44 of shutout hockey for Zatkoff. Stink can be made for Zatkoff not making first or second team in the AHL. Defense is rock solid. Penalty kill has been the best in the AHL all season long and oh, by the way, there’s a new toy waiting back at Coal Street when the Penguins return from The Rock named Derek Nesbitt.

Penguins clinch playoffs where theirs ended last season. Talk about full circle.

Never ever take for granted this feeling of playoffs in the American Hockey League. This is unprecedented, what the Penguins have done. Eleven straight seasons.

Getting to this point is something that, for me at least, starts in July and free agency. Goes on from there. Who did the competition sign? Oh, they got that guy. How will they matchup against the Pens? Then the season starts. Constantly monitoring other teams feeds, scoreboards, NHL counterparts. Call-ups. Send downs. Watching Pittsburgh play praying no one gets hurt. Getting here is half the battle. The other half is the Calder Cup. That, is the ultimate goal.

Could this be the year?

Time, always tells.

IceCaps were 7-2-1-0 in their last ten and playing much better than their divisional and conference standings would indicate.

Jeff Zatkoff vs. Mark Dekanich — no lineup changes for the Penguins for this game. Steve MacIntyre was among the “names you know” scratches.

First Period: IceCaps come out in the first minute or so and hit a post after a Wilkes-Barre turnover at the blue line. Pens get two separate chances at a power play, but the IceCaps completely shut down any efforts. It seemed, in jest, like the power play was left at the border and didn’t clear customs. Shots at one point were 6-1 IceCaps. It seemed like the Pens were sleepwalking through this period. The IceCaps, having played back-to-back home games this week, looked sharper. Then, the line of Bobby Farnham, Zach Sill and Dominik Uher start hitting guys and forechecking like beasts. Sill digs a puck out of the corner to Farnham who throws it at the net where Uher is parked and the Penguins rookie tips one in.

Good teams find ways to win?

Second Period: Had more action in the opening five minutes then all of the first twenty minutes. Trevor Smith and Chad Kolarik on a two on one. Wide open net for the IceCaps followed by a wide open net for the IceCaps all in a twenty second span. Then, Dominik Uher gets another tip-in goal, this time off of a Brian Dumoulin shot from the blue line. 2-0 Penguins. IceCaps come out and nearly get a goal on a Jason Jaffray backdoor offering but Zatkoff got over. Then Trevor Smith finds Paul Thompson on a long outlet pass from the Pens defensive blue line. Thompson accepts the pass and scores on Dekanich. Penguins really looked out for blood this period, shots were 11-4 for the Pens in this span of twenty minutes.

Third Period: Completely uneventful for the fan that enjoys offense. Really eventful for the fan that enjoys fisticuffs. Zach Sill and Matthew Tousignant fight early. Then Kael Mouillierat elbows Brian Gibbons and hell breaks loose. Cody Sol and Joey Mormina get thrown out of the game. Then Jeff Zatkoff steals the show with the IceCaps, knowing they are going to lose the game throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Zatkoff but the Penguins goaltender keeps them out and preserves the clean sheet.

From the AHL Communications Department, this is the fourteenth time the Penguins have held an opponent to under 20 shots on goal.

The motto this year is all in….

Three Stars: 3) Adam Lowry (no idea) 2) Bobby Farnham (two assists, +2) and 1) Dominik Uher (two goals, +2)

Around the Division: Syracuse wraps up home ice for at least the first round by thumping the Rochester Americans 5-1. Nathan Lawson and the Binghamton Senators shutout the Albany Devils 5-0. The Norfolk Admirals beat the Worcester Sharks 4-3 in overtime. The defending champions are making a strong push and are getting hot at the right time, tied for seventh in the conference now. Then there is the Hershey Bears, who are going completely in the wrong direction, losers 4-3 in regulation to the Manchester Monarchs. The Bears have lost four in a row in regulation and are out of playoff contention as things break Saturday night.

Standings: Syracuse 93 — Binghamton 91 — Penguins 86 — Norfolk 79 — Hershey 75

Conference: 1) PRO (93) 2) SPR (93) 3) SYR (93) 4) BNG (91) 5) WBS (86) 6) POR (81) 7) NOR 79) 8) CT (79)

SendToNews Highlights: Are packaged here.

Rematch tomorrow on The Rock vs. the IceCaps. Gameday for the 2:30 Wilkes-Barre start will be here on the blog at 10:30 a.m.

All in.