Chirps from Center Ice

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After losing 5-1 Friday night to the Providence Bruins, the Penguins were not happy. You are never happy when you lose.

It showed in Portland last night, as the Pens cruised to a 4-2 win over the Pirates.

Sunday afternoon, it showed again, only this time with a bit more fervor.

The Penguins blitzkrieg the Providence Bruins in the first period, scoring three goals, then use defense and more goals in the third period to steamroll the home team and repay Friday’s 5-1 beat down by Providence with a 5-1 pounding of their own.

Eric Hartzell vs. Jeff Jakaitis

No lineup changes from last night for John Hynes.

First Period: In sum, the best first period played by these current Penguins in some time. The Penguins came out and stifled the Bruins in all aspects to begin. Anton Zlobin opened the scoring on a dart to put the Pens on the board 1-0. Pens get two power plays but don’t score then what appeared to be Dominik Uher scoring on the doorstep of Jakaitis turned out to be Zack Torquato making it 2-0 Penguins. Then the Penguins ended up on the wrong end of a 4:00 power play, but were able to keep the Bruins away from all the scoring areas and managed to kill it. Oh, and for good measure, a Simon Despres pass meant for Denver Manderson deflected in off of a P-Bruins skate and into the net for a 3-0 Penguins lead.

Second Period: Providence looked out of synch to start the period, which could have been carryover from the first but they did get it together and started getting after it. Not much offense this period for Wilkes-Barre, but with a 3-0 lead why pile on? Pens had some good defensive plays and whatever got through to Hartzell he saw with laser-like focus.

Third Period: Providence came out and jumped on the Pens. Both teams were in the final period of a three in three and the Bruins looked fresher. Then, the Penguins took two penalties and were all of a sudden down 5-on-3 for a full 2:00. Ex-Penguin Joe Morrow slammed one home at the top of the far circle to put the Bruins on the board and the score was 3-1. Then, the Penguins had to kill another penalty. The thought here is that if the Bruins get a second, they will probably get a third.

It didn’t happen. Instead, the Pens would kill the penalty, and Tom Kostopoulos would strip Jeff Jakaitis behind the net and dish to Nick Drazenovic in the slot who scored on an open net and it was 4-1 Wilkes-Barre. Later, Kostopoulos would score on a breakaway to make it 5-1 and essentially put the game away for the Penguins.

Three Stars: 3) Joe Morrow (goal, -1) 2) Eric Hartzell (33 saves on 34 shots) and 1) Harry Zolnierczyk (two assists, +3)

Five different Penguins scored goals. Five different Penguins had multiple point nights. Spread the love!

Around the Division: Hershey finds themselves down 3-1 at one point early in the third to come back to tie it and win 4-3 in the shootout vs. the Albany Devils. The Norfolk Admirals and ol’ buddy Brad Thiessen lose in a shootout to the Charlotte Checkers 4-3 also. Thiessen faced 52 shots and stopped 49 of them, which is tied for the most saves in the AHL this season.

Standings: Pens get back to a point behind the B-Sens with the same amount of games played. Binghamton 53 — Penguins 52 — Norfolk 48 — Hershey 44 — Syracuse 40

Conference: 1) SPR (58) 2) MCH (58) 3) BNG (53) 4) WBS (52) 5) ALB (52) 6) NOR (48) 7) PRO (48) 8) HER (44)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off today.

SendToNews: Checked on the edit, Providence didn’t have them. Use your imagination or just watch the Vines I made.

The Week 16 Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings will run tomorrow at noon, instead of their regular 4 p.m. That’s because there are a bunch of afternoon games because of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Please adjust your blog viewing schedules.

Let’s Go Pens!!!