Chirps from Center Ice

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The mayor of Wilkes-Barre is a man by the name of Tony George.

If there is a snarky person who is a fan of the Providence Bruins, they may change that fact on Wikipedia to Providence Bruins goaltender Zane McIntyre.

McIntyre, you will recall, was the hero in Game 5 last Spring in the Quarterfinals of the Calder Cup Playoffs and sent the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins to an early Spring after a 50 save performance in April 2017.

He has now shutout the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins in back to back games. 4-0 tonight. The Providence Bruins win their fifth straight game on home ice. The Penguins four game win streak goes out with tomorrow’s trash.

Styles may make fights. Recalls to Pittsburgh may or may not have something to do with it. But as said time and time again, if you do not score, you have no chance at winning. I mean it’s just that simple.

Zane McIntyre will likely get Saturday off as the Providence Bruins head to Bridgeport Saturday while the Penguins have the night off meaning that we may be seeing McIntyre Sunday afternoon again in the rematch. Wilkes-Barre will need to concoct something to get pucks past him if they wish to end the Bruins winning streak at home.

McIntyre opposed Casey DeSmith

Lines were…

Thomas Di Pauli – J-S Dea – Reid Gardiner
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Daniel Sprong
Adam Johnson – Greg McKegg – Colin Smith
Troy Josephs – Jarrett Burton

Kevin Czuczman – Frank Corrado
Jarred Tinordi – Chris Summers
Andrey Pedan – Ethan Prow
Lukas Bengtsson

Casey DeSmith – Anthony Peters

Lineup Notes: Lukas Bengtsson was back in the lineup for the first time since December 8. Troy Josephs made his Wilkes-Barre season debut. The Penguins went with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen because Teddy Blueger was recalled to Pittsburgh yesterday.

First Period: The Penguins faced a blitzkrieg of shots by the Bruins. 22 in total, and only trailed 1-0 after the break. This wild sequence by reigning AHL MVP Kenny Agostino was the only blemish on Casey DeSmith, on an otherwise yeoman like period by the Penguins netminder.

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The Penguins had the only power play of the period, but that was the only positive to come out of this one sided period, other than the play of their goaltender.

Second Period: A better period for the Penguins in terms of offensive zone time from the drop of the puck. Ex-Penguin Adam Payerl picked up on this and dropped the gloves with Jarred Tinordi.

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Both goalies traded some big saves in successive sequences.

The Penguins later found themselves on a penalty kill, their first of the night, and all was going well until Andrey Pedan decided to play the hero….

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Instead of going for the straight up clear, Pedan tries to make moves past two Bruins, is stripped, and Colton Hargrove scores to make it 2-0 Bruins.

Third Period: Here’s where the game was lost for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. After a bright start for the Penguins, down a pair looking to get something going, they get a power play early. Then, Anton Blidh blocks a shot and then clears it from his own defensive zone to give the Penguins a 5-on-3 for :20. Turkey is on the table for the Penguins here to get back into the game.

So what do they do?

Fail to register a single shot on goal, and the power play comes and goes.

Insult to injury, Tommy Cross scores from the high slot to make it 3-0 which essentially put the game away for the Bruins.

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Not for going down without a fight, Clark Donatelli double or triple shifted Daniel Sprong as the Penguins rookie prospect was out there for virtually every shift at the end of the game.

Ex-Penguins Adam Payerl scores to make it 4-0 to turn it into a laugher for the Bruins.

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Three Stars: 3) Jordan Swarz (two assists, +2) 2) Zane McIntyre (22 save shutout) 1) Kenny Agostino (goal, +1)

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley trounces Hershey 5-1. Hartford clips Syracuse 4-3 in a shootout. Charlotte pounds Springfield 5-2. Bridgeport was off.

Standings: Penguins (.674 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.653) — Providence (.617) — Bridgeport (.564) — Charlotte (.561) — Hartford (.530) — Springfield (.460) — Hershey (.439)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers lost 5-2 in Orlando. Cody Wydo and Freddie Tiffels scored for Wheeling in the loss.

I doubt Providence will put highlights up. If they do and I can work an edit in they will go here.

Pens are off Saturday and rematch with the Bruins Sunday at 3 p.m. Gameday setup hits the blog Sunday morning at 11.

Let’s Go Pens!