Chirps from Center Ice

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Check this tweet out from Pens color man Nick Hart on Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins goaltender Anthony Peters.

A 4-0 win by the Penguins tonight. 18 save shutout for Peters, who finally gets his pound of flesh and wins when his team this past weekend lose on an overtime game winner in Hartford and a power play goal Saturday in Providence all while not allowing anything more than that as well as not scoring at all, getting shutout in the two games in Connecticut.

Wilkes-Barre has a problem on its hands. Anthony Peters is playing out of his mind right now while NHL contracted goaltenders Michael Leighton and Tristan Jarry are ready to go. Leighton is close to a return from injury and Jarry was reassigned today. More on that in a minute but how on earth do you, if you are Head Coach Clark Donatelli, take Peters out of the lineup if he hasn’t given up an even strength goal in over four games?

I tweeted this during the game tonight and it rings true…

Pens got to first place in the Atlantic with Peters in the drivers seat. AHL is a development league for the NHL and the NHL will always be the bigger picture and rightfully will call the shots, but I just don’t see how; 1) Peters ever goes back to the ECHL without at least first signing an AHL pact to Wilkes-Barre and 2) Clark Donatelli takes Peters out of the lineup.

And from what I have gathered, yes, Wilkes-Barre could sign Peters to an AHL deal and send him back to ECHL Cincinnati, which holds his rights at that level. He can’t go to Wheeling because at the ECHL level, he has an ECHL contract with the Cyclones.

Ah, it’s the old saying, “I don’t coach or manage the team, I just blog about them.” – Interesting days ahead for the braintrust at 40 Coal in Wilkes-Barre.

Lines were…

Zach Aston-Reese — Greg McKegg — Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Daniel Sprong
Adam Johnson – Jarrett Burton – Colin Smith
Thomas Di Pauli – Teddy Blueger – Christian Thomas

Andrey Pedan – Kevin Czuczman
Jarred Tinordi – Zach Trotman
Chris Summers – Frank Corrado

Anthony Peters – Charlie Williams

Peters opposed Pheonix Copley.

Lineup Notes: The Pittsburgh Penguins sent Tristan Jarry back to the AHL after the AHL announced earlier in the day that Bridgeport’s Christopher Gibson would replace Casey DeSmith at the All-Star Classic in Utica this coming weekend. The two weren’t directly related, but you knew with Matt Murray back in town after his father’s death coupled with the hot play of Casey DeSmith with Pittsburgh, that Jarry was going to be the odd man out.

First Period: On a delayed penalty, McKegg muscles a puck into the zone and centers to Zach Aston-Reese who scored the first goal in 127:27 of game action to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead…

Jarrett Burton would double the lead when he followed his own shot and threw a puck in on Copley from a tight angle.

Off of the ensuing face-off, Garrett Wilson skated in and  Anthony Peters straight up looked him in the eye and denied him with the pad.

Wilkes-Barre would get outshot 9-4 in the period but led where it counted heading into the…

Second Period: Sleepy period, with each team ending the period with 13 shots, but Anthony Peters stopped three two one ones and three power plays for the Bears.

Third Period: Pens tack on two more goals. Here’s the first from Christian Thomas. A knee drop one timer in the slot that made it 3-0.

Tyler Lewington and Garrett Mitchell fought after this sequence, for no apparent reason. Radio said it may have been something said to Liam O’Brien.

Pens didn’t waste any time in making it 4-0 when Daniel Sprong left a drop pass for a trailing Zach Trotman.

Bears tried to mix it up with the Penguins after every whistle, but with time dwindling, were not able to score. The Penguins didn’t get a single power play all night until the very end, and that iced things away for Peters.

Three Stars: 3) Zach Aston-Reese (game winning goal, +1) 2) Frank Corrado (two assists, +2) and 1) Anthony Peters (18 save shutout)

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley beats Providence 3-2 at home. Pens are there Friday….Bridgeport beats Springfield 3-1. Everyone else was off.

Standings: Penguins (.675 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.640) — Providence (.619) — Charlotte (.583) — Bridgeport (.571) — Hartford (.477) — Hershey (.477) — Springfield (.444)

Wheeling Update: Nailers win at home against Kalamazoo by a 6-2 score. Reid Gardiner had a pair of goals. Cody Wydo had a goal as well.

Video Highlights:

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No idea where Wilkes-Barre goes from here. Ride the hot hand of Peters against Lehigh Valley in Allentown or are the marching orders handed down from up top in Pittsburgh and it’s Tristan Jarry out first at 6:20 Friday night at PPL Center? Stay tuned, I guess.

But for anything breaking Thursday, check out the Gameday setup here on the blog at 3 p.m. Friday.

Let’s Go Pens!