Chirps from Center Ice

Flashback to the evening of February 28. The Penguins had just been shutout by the Syracuse Crunch in Syracuse and were reeling.

Jeff Deslauriers had a terrible month in goal. He put up a 2-4-1 record with a robust 3.43 goals against average and a tepid 0.863 save percentage.

Rookie Eric Hartzell, the reigning January Goaltender of the Month, fared worse. A 1-3 record, with an even higher goals against average (4.45) and lower save percentage (0.838).

The Penguins as a whole, went 3-5-3 and were in fourth place in the East Division with 65 points and in a three way tie with the Hershey Bears and Providence Bruins for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Playoffs, seemed like a longshot.

Enter Peter Mannino.

Mannino, suspended by the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins in November for failing to report to the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers, later reported to the Nailers in January and was re-assigned to the Penguins on February 28 in a swap for Eric Hartzell.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Mannino was named the March AHL Goaltender of the Month today. His March numbers are nothing short of staggering: 7-2-1 record, 1.09 goals against average and a 0.950 save percentage. In the 11 games Mannino appeared in, he never allowed more than two goals. The two losses to Utica and Providence were 2-1 defensive setbacks where, had the offense clicked better, we would have been talking about a goaltender that plays 10+ games in a month without losing a single one, with those numbers.

The Penguins now? Two points off of the division lead and solidly in playoff contention, sitting in the 5th seed in the ultra-competitive Eastern Conference. The magic number the night of the 4-0 blanking at the hands of the Crunch was a robust 43. Mannino’s magical month trimmed that number to a paltry 10.

The Penguins can, with help, wrap up their 12th consecutive trip to the Calder Cup Playoffs this weekend and enter the postseason with the League’s hottest, best goaltender. Other teams better take notice.

Let’s Go Pens!