Chirps from Center Ice

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The Crunch are missing some key pieces which got them to first place in the division.

No one in a Wilkes-Barre / Scranton sweater cared tonight.

Anchored by a strong performance by Simon Despres, the Penguins roll the Crunch 5-3 in Syracuse tonight.

I was “out” and didn’t tweet the game in its entirety. If you were in the blog earlier, you saw that I amassed a list of those who did and I will build this postgamer off of that.

Jeff Deslauriers vs. Riku Helenius.

Two roster moves today. Anton Zlobin to Wheeling and Zach Sill to Pittsburgh.

Adam Payerl was the lone “healthy” scratch.

First Period: Simon Despres gets the party going for the Penguins with a low shot that beat Helenius to give the Pens a 1-0 lead.

Then, a strange sequence. The Pens would take a penalty and Brian Gibbons on the next face off would draw the Crunch into a penalty. This happened twice in the period. Wilkes-Barre would get a goal on the first part of 4×4 when Jayson Megna, fresh from the NHL, would score to put the Pens ahead 2-0. Then, on the late back half of a Pens power play, Despres would throw it at the net ant it would deflect off of Gibbons for a 3-0 lead.

Second Period: Pens get some pushback from the Crunch when Vlad Namestnikov scored to put the Crunch in the board at 3–1. Then, Tom Kostopoulos would score to re-establish the three goal lead for the a Penguins. Late, with :18 left, Evan Rankin would score to cut the deficit in half for the Crunch. 4-2.

Third Period: Brian Gibbons scores top shelf to put the Pens back up three. Then Danick Gauthier scores to put the Crunch behind two. Felt like at this point time was not ticking down as much as the Pens would like. The a Pens also got caught standing, watching the Crunch battle and score their third goal.

Teams would trade power plays late. No dice. Crunch would pull Helenius but couldn’t capitalize.

With the win, the Penguins are back in front of the East Division.

Three Stars: 3) Vlad Namestnikov (goal, assist, +1) 2) Brian Gibbons (goal, two assists, even) and 1) Simon Despres (goal, assist, +2)

Around the Division: Binghamton gets by Adirondack 4-2 and Norfolk beats Providence 4-3. Hershey was idle.

Standings: Penguins 20 — Binghamton 20 — Syracuse 19 — Norfolk 19 — Hershey 14

Conference: 1) MCH (23) 2) WBS (20) 3) SPR (19) 4) BNG (20) 5) SYR (19) 6) NOR (19) 7) ALB (17) 8) PRO (16)

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 5-1 over Elmira. Chaz Johnson scored a hat trick.

SendToNews Highlights: Aren’t up yet. If I remember tomorrow morning I’ll throw a link up if ones available.

Hershey tomorrow. Should be a blast. Gameday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!!