Chirps from Center Ice

With no Penguins game to write about tonight, I wanted to use this post to drop in and fill in the news of the day and get to some final scores. First the news of the day.

Wilkes-Barre was scheduled to practice today, but it turned into an optional practice. Players who participated in the games in Charlotte used the day off Friday to recover.

Meaning no hitting, but why would you this late on into a season.

Tyler had words from Clark Donatelli on Ethan Prow’s status…

Josiah Didier, the Charlotte player who hit Prow, was suspended one game. Charlotte hosts Binghamton Saturday and Sunday.

In my opinion Ethan Prow is the last player that the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins could afford to lose. He is a vital piece to the team.

Tyler noted the rest of the walking wounded today…

My thought on Michael Leighton is that the Penguins are saving him for the playoff run, depending on what happens with Matt Murray in Pittsburgh. Assume Casey DeSmith comes down. Penguins would feel less confident riding Anthony Peters as their Round 1 starter I feel, with Peters’ lack of playoff experience and all. Leighton has been there. Of course if DeSmith is available, he would get the nod I feel over both Leighton and definitely Peters.

Around the Atlantic…

Thursday night, Bridgeport fell behind 4-0 to Rochester and won 6-4. Recall they did the same thing to Springfield this past Sunday.

The Sound Tigers were in Hershey tonight and lost 3-2. Penguins magic number should drop to 19.

Third place Providence hosted Rochester and won 5-3. Bruins will inch closer to the Pens for second in the division, but Wilkes-Barre will have two games in hand.

Tomorrow’s opponent Hartford hosted division leader Lehigh Valley and beat the Phantoms in shootout 4-3. Lehigh Valley goes 10 up on the Penguins who have four games in hand.

Here’s where they stand heading into Saturday…

Lehigh Valley (.68 percentage points) — Penguins (.650) — Providence (.637) — Charlotte (.586) — Bridgeport (.556) — Springfield (.492) — Hartford (.484) — Hershey (.477)

Gameday setup for tomorrow’s matchup against Hartford will hit the blog Saturday at 3.