The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, coming off of a bad performance last night, stared down ol’ buddy and folk hero Brad Thiessen in net tonight and managed to win 2-1 in a shootout. Tom Kuhnhackl broke a 0-0 deadlock in the eight round and snapped a shot past Thiessen and Eric Hartzell stopped all shooters sent his way and, with a Binghamton loss, the Penguins are right back where the started Friday evening, a point behind the B-Sens for the division lead.
Eric Hartzell vs. Brad Thiessen
Lineup Notes: The top line of “Tom Nick and Harry” was broken up as John Hynes jumbled the lines tonight. Out were Anton Zlobin and Zack Torquato and in was Carter Rowney and Denver Manderson.
First Period: The Penguins threw everything they could at Brad Thiessen and the Norfolk defense but Thiessen was like the Thiessen of old, making spectacular saves and keeping his team in it when they needed him most. Finally, a Scott Harrington blast from the point hits a bunch of bodies before Mike Carman sweeps the puck in to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Reward for Wilkes-Barre, pressing like they did to open and a tough break for Thiessen, who got beat on a fluke goal.
Second Period: More of the same for Wilkes-Barre, puck possession and offensive zone time to open. At one point, the Penguins were outshooting the Admirals 21-8. By contrast, the Admirals only allowed the Penguins 21 shots all game on Friday.
Then Norfolk springs to life. Mike Carman takes a high stick with a minute left to play in the period and who other than Devante Smith-Pelley scores on a rebound to put Norfolk even again with the Penguins at 1-1.
Third Period: Pens find themselves on a penalty kill early but kill it. Wilkes-Barre does not manage a shot on goal for the first eight minutes of the third. All of a sudden, Wilkes-Barre is the one to spring to life but right on call, the Brad Thiessen Magic is there and the Penguins are unable to find the go ahead goal. Penguins get a late power play but are unable to score.
Then a scary moment. Zach Sill trips Nolan Yonkman and in the process, this happens. Eyewitnesses in Norfolk advised me on Twitter that an EMT rushed into the Pens locker room. Sill would not return for the remainder of the game.
Overtime: The Sill tripping penalty spilled over here but Wilkes-Barre was able to kill it. Not before Eric Hartzell robs Emerson Etem with a highlight reel save. It was onto the…
Shootout: Nothing happened in the first seven rounds. Tom Kuhnhackl scored in the top of the eighth on Thiessen and Hartzell stops ex-Penguin Alex Grant to seal it for the Pens.
Three Stars: 3) Devante Smith-Pelly (goal, even) 2) Brad Thiessen (25 saves on 26 shots) and 1) Eric Hartzell (33 saves on 34 shots)
Audio: My blog pal @VAPuckHead sent me the audio of Thiessen’s post game media scrum. Take a listen:
Around the Division: Hershey defeats Syracuse 3-2 in a feisty one in Chocolatetown. The Bears have won four straight, seven at home and are 6-0 in Giant Center in 2014. Wilkes-Barre stops by for a 5:00 visit Sunday afternoon….Binghamton loses 5-2 to Rochester at home.
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