Chirps from Center Ice

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3                                                1

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No third period magic tonight.

Rather, it was Norfolk who had it late, and skate out of town with a 3-1 win.

Are the call-ups to Pittsburgh starting to show? I don’t really think so. Every game so far has been close, for the most part. It’s not like Wilkes-Barre is losing games 5-0 or 6-1. They have been close. But you need offense to win games and it just isn’t happening.

I’m actually doing a disservice to Admirals goaltender John Gibson, who was outstanding this evening. He was the reason that Norfolk won the game tonight. He kept his club in it, preserved their lead and made saves when called upon.

Jeff Deslauriers vs. the aforementioned John Gibson.

Personnel wise, Tom Kuhnhackl found himself a healthy scratch, Brad Thiessen for Norfolk was an injury scratch. CJ Severyn was an injury scratch for the Pens as well.

First Period: Nice back and forth between the two teams as it settled into a defensive battle. Then, Ric Rackell shoots from the point and Max Friberg collects the rebound and jams it home for a 1-0 Norfolk lead. Other than two fights, Joe Cramarossa vs. Paul Thompson and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond vs. Zack Stortini, a pretty uneventful period.

Second Period: Nolan Yonkman shoots from the point. As the puck was headed toward the net it deflects off of Cody Sylvester’s stick and changes the angle on Jeff Deslauriers and goes in for a 2-0 Norfolk lead. Nothing you could do about that one.

Then, the Pens stepped on it. Tom Kostopoulos steals a puck from Chris Wagner and scores to make it 2-1.

But Gibson was up to the task. 3 on 1? Save Gibson. Torquato feeding Farnham to a wide open net, right? Tie game you say? No, you’re wrong! Save Gibson. The last 10 minutes was the John Gibson Show.

Third Period: Strong start for the Pens, but Norfolk weathered whatever was thrown at the Penguins. I am half out of my seat waiting for a goal to come but never got up as Dave Steckel rushes down ice along the near board, waits for the traffic to pass, finds Steven Whitney all alone in the slot who scores late to push the Admirals to a 3-1 lead. Ballgame.

Three Stars: 3) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, +1) 2) Nolan Yonkman (game winning goal, +2) and 1) John Gibson (26 saves on 27 shots)

Around the Division: Syracuse beats Hershey 3-2, Binghamton gets a late power play goal to push past Utica and win 4-3.

Standings: Binghamton 39 — Penguins 37 — Norfolk 35 — Syracuse 30 — Hershey 29

Conference: 1) MCH (47) 2) SPR (44) 3) BNG (39) 4) ALB (39) 5) WBS (37) 6) PRO (36) 7) NOR (35) 8) STJ (33)

There is little room for error. 9 and 10 are Adirondack and Syracuse respectively with 30 points. Binghamton is off until New Years Eve. With a win tomorrow in Hershey, the Pens will tie the Sens in points again and may lead the division.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers are in the Carolinas this weekend and lost 4-1 to the Gwinnett Gladiators.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here.

Pens go to Hershey tomorrow for what I am expecting to be a very interesting matchup. Hershey seems to be reeling, and the Penguins are slowing down and / or feeling the effects of the call-ups hard. 7 pm start in Chocolatetown which means the Gameday setup drops on the blog at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!!!