vs.      

 1                                       4

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It looks like the perfect mix of offense at the right time and defense at the right time for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, who won this game tonight by a score of 4-1. The game was much tighter than the score line would indicate. Make no mistake that St. John’s is a good, young team that will win hockey games and contend and most likely will be a playoff contender when all is said and done in the Spring.

But folks, don’t get it wrong, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are a great team. There isn’t anything that fazes them and they find ways to win. Example: St. John’s had been wearing down the Penguins in the second period of the game tonight leading 1-0. 6’6 center Michael McCarron was all over the place, creating and taking chances available to him. There was a scrum in front of Matt Murray’s net, which was an all too common occurrence all game long with the IceCaps taking liberties after a whistle.

This happened:

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/662804607467417600]

Then this happened:

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/662804875156332544]

That is your captain, Tom Kostopoulos, fighting the behemoth McCarron. He got him off the ice for a Penguin power play plus five more for fighting.

If the Penguins don’t cash on the power play, then St. John’s probably goes on to score again and the Penguins lose this game.

It didn’t happen.

The Penguins league best power play saved the day again and the Pens had tied the game and took all the momentum away from St. John’s and played a complete third period that saw them score three goals in the span of 2:23 late in the third to roll to the easy 4-1 win.

Longest lede in the history of the blog I think, but the Penguins have won eight in a row and are the best team in the AHL.

Matt Murray opposed Eddie Pasquale

Lines were…

Conor Sheary – Kael Mouillierat – Scott Wilson
Kevin Porter – Carter Rowney – Dominik Simon
Dominik Uher – Oskar Sundqvist – Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Kuhnhackl – J-S Dea – Josh Archibald

Derrick Pouliot – Steve Oleksy
Reid McNeill – Dave Warsofsky
Tim Erixon – Will O’Neill

Matt Murray – Tristan Jarry

Lineup Notes: I was surprised by the Murray start. I would have figured that Tristan Jarry would have gotten the nod but the Pens don’t play again till next Friday, so why not start your number one….Derrick Pouliot returned to the lineup after being scratched last game…Niclas Andersen sat in place of Pouliot. Andersen leads the defensemen on the Penguins with a +7, which is good for Top 15 in the AHL right now. Tom Kuhnhackl actually leads the Pens with a +8 but my, oh my! The depth on this team right now where you are scratching a player who leads your defensemen in +/-. Matia Marcantuoni took the warmup but was also scratched.

First Period: St. John’s jumped to a 1-0 lead with a play in close. Dominik Uher tried to play a puck back to Murray to cover but Daniel Carr was there to poke it past to give St. John’s a 1-0 lead. Pens had a power play late but didn’t send out the first unit instead opting for the second unit and it didn’t work.

Second Period: Penguins took over and if you go back and look from there you will see that no matter what, the Penguins were going to find a way to win the game, only allowing St. John’s a grand sum total of 10 shots the rest of the way. Shots became a premium. Lots of icing calls. Late, Kostopoulos fights McCarron, who picked up an additional two minutes and the Penguins cash on the ensuing power play off a nice setup with Dominik Simon finishing it with a goal over Pasquale’s shoulder for a tie game.

Third Period: Simply put, the Penguins took over. Long offensive zone shifts. But once again, it was Matt Murray that set it all up 200′ down the other end of the ice.

Murray made a save with his mask on a redirect of a Greg Pateryn shot from the point. The Penguins collected and took off the other way. Steve Oleksy fed Tim Erixon who fired a low angle shot that went off of an IceCap defenseman and in for a 2-1 Penguin lead.

Before St. John’s knew what hit them, it was 3-1. Carter Rowney crashed the net and made it 3-1 1:16 later.

St. John’s pulled Pasquale and Derrick Pouliot scored the empty netter from deep in his own zone for a 4-1 lead and the rout was on.

It truly is amazing what can happen when you have a coach that is not all defense, defense, defense. This is not a knock against John Hynes in the least, but it is refreshing to see the Penguins give up more shots in the interest of creating more offense and chances when available. The power play is tops in the AHL? Wilkes-Barre has won eight straight to blast to the best team in the AHL in the middle of November? You take it, and hope that it continues all the way to June.

Three Stars: 3) Tim Erixon (game winning goal, +1) 2) Dominik Simon (goal, even) and 1) Carter Rowney (goal, +1)

Around the Division: Hershey beats Lehigh Valley in Allentown 4-2. Stan Galiev scored a goal down on a conditioning assignment from Washington. Reports from there say that he will be down for the maximum two weeks allowed so you will see him if you come to the game next Friday when the Penguins host Hershey…Springfield crushed Portland 6-1. The Falcons offense has all of a sudden come to life. In the first five games, the Falcons only scored 5 goals. In the last 4 games? Try 22. Bridgeport, Providence and Hartford were all off.

Standings: Penguins (.900 points percentage) — Bridgeport (.667) — Hershey (.636) — Hartford (.591) — Springfield (.500) — Providence (.450) — Lehigh Valley (.400) — Portland (.333)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers lost at home to Kalamazoo 4-3. Ty Loney had a goal for third star honors. Sahir Gill had a goal and an assist. Anton Zlobin and Paul Cianfrini both had assists.

Here is the infographic and the postgame video highlights:

[tweet https://twitter.com/WBSPenguins/status/663025692490231808]

[youtube https://youtu.be/5w6jida6KCM?list=PLjK7Vm3sJ6fqmpXXcHT-C9FN1GRme4DIB]

Pens are off now until next Friday when they host Hershey. Nailers travel to Norfolk tomorrow, so maybe I will take a look at them and blog about them Saturday. Stay tuned. If not, the Power Rankings will be here Monday at 4.

Let’s Go Pens!

          vs.      

 2                                       5

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We may have something special brewing here.

The Penguins used a great start in the second period to roar past the St. John’s IceCaps to a 5-2 final tonight. J-S Dea (1-3-4), Will O’Neill (3 assists) and Tom Kuhnhackl (2-1-3) all had strong games. The Penguins improve to 8-1 on the season and have won seven straight and sit atop the Atlantic Division.

The opponent doesn’t seem to faze the Penguins. Hard nosed Hartford? Obliterated 4-1. Young up and coming St. John’s? Blasted tonight 5-2.

I noticed, especially in the first period when it was back and forth, that the Penguins adjusted to the opponent. St. John’s wanted to go up and down and the Penguins simply adjusted. In prior years, maybe you see the opponent come out a certain way and the Penguins try to ride out the pace and try to swing it into the way that they want to play and come out on top. This year? Seems like they adjust to the style that the opponent wants to play and take advantage of their opportunities.

Matt Murray opposed Zac Fucale.

With this being a work night, taking the veteran option on the lines for tonight:

Kevin Porter made his Wilkes-Barre debut.

Derrick Pouliot was scratched tonight. This report from Jonathan Bombulie explains part of it. If you don’t want to click off, I’ll explain. He was cited on November 1 for public drunkenness in Wilkes-Barre, taken to Wilkes-Barre police headquarters and released a sober adult.

The other part is he also is apparently dealing with a lower body injury, picked up in yesterday’s practice.

I am not going to touch this story anymore than I have. Moving on…

First Period: IceCaps usually score first because they take advantage early and pump a lot of shots on net. The Penguins matched that tempo with shots of their own. Finally, Tom Kuhnhackl got a step on a guy and blasted a shot past Fucale for a 1-0 Penguin lead. It was Kuhnhackl’s fifth straight game with at least a point.

St. John’s would find themselves on a power play and 6’6 center Mike McCarron would waste no time in redirecting a shot from Bud Holloway in front of Murray for a tie game.

Late, Zac Fucale absolutely robbed J-S Dea on the far side. Fucale had no idea where the puck was before the last minute when he blindly dove over to deny Dea’s attempt.

The first period was an absolute track meet, with 22 total shots, 12 for St. John’s, 10 for the Penguins.

Second Period: It was an offensive explosion for the Penguins in every sense of the word.

At :44, Carter Rowney floats to the slot and rips one past Fucale. 2-1 Penguins.

At 2:30 on a power play, Will O’Neill drew everyone to his side and dished to J-S Dea who blasted one past Fucale and in for a 3-1 Wilkes-Barre lead.

Tom Kuhnhackl finished a breakaway on a backhander at 3:29 that chased Fucale, who did not register a save in the period. Enter Eddie Pasquale, who hasn’t seen AHL live fire in over a year.

Three goals in a span of 2:45 by the way.

Dave Warsofsky picked up his 100th AHL point with an assist on the Dea goal. Later, he picked up his 101st with a goal from the blue line through a screen that beat Pasquale for a 5-1 Penguin lead.

St. John’s put ten more shots on Murray, but he make quick work of all of them.

Third Period: St. John’s would pump 21 shots at Murray in the period and he would only get beat on one of them when Christian Thomas swept in a rebound. Pens would only manufacture 5 shots on net in the period.

I don’t know if it was laxity on the Penguins part or desperation on the St. John’s part, but Murray looked taxed and playing like it was a one goal game.

Three Stars:  3) Will O’Neill (three assists, +2)  2) J-S Dea (goal, three assists, +3) and 1) Tom Kuhnhackl (two goals, assist, +3)

Around the Division: Hershey beat Bridgeport in a kids day game up in Connecticut by a score of 4-2…Toronto shutout Hartford 5-0 in the Connecticut capital and Utica beat Portland 3-2.

Standings: Wilkes-Barre (.889 points percentage) — Bridgeport (.667) — Hershey (.600) — Hartford (.591) — Providence (.450) — Lehigh Valley (.444) — Springfield (.438) — Portland (.375)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers are off until Friday.

Here are the video highlights…

[youtube https://youtu.be/DoXCtNZ0msI?list=PLjK7Vm3sJ6fqmpXXcHT-C9FN1GRme4DIB]

St. John’s and Wilkes-Barre rematch Friday night.

Let’s Go Pens!