Chirps from Center Ice

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Tyler had a tweet right after a 4-2 Penguins loss to the Toronto Marlies on Sunday afternoon which summed up the game perfectly I thought.

Now, it was a bit of a different game in stark comparison to a few weeks ago against Syracuse. The Crunch were tops in the AHL in just about every category, but the Penguins bottled up the Crunch (after an awful first period) and were able to beat the Crunch. Use the boiling a frog technique.

But Sunday against Toronto, it was an avalanche that the Penguins got buried in and never dug out of.

Toronto scored at the expiry of a five on three power play when Chris Mueller finally banged home a back door pass in the first period that gave the Marlies a 1-0 lead.

But then Adam Brooks cleaned up a rebound of a Jeremy Bracco shot that gave the Marlies a 2-0 lead in the second period.

Jimmy Hayes finished off a loooooong pass by Tristan Jarry that made it a 2-1 game. The Penguins had the Marlies right where they wanted them, a goal away and a new period to play in the third.

Only Toronto scored two goals in :19 in the periods final minute to extend the lead to 4-1. A Jarrett Burton shot off of a long rebound left by Marlies starter Michael Hutchinson made it 4-2, but the Penguins would get no closer.

That’s basically it. There weren’t any GIFs of the Penguins goals and while Toronto did GIF theirs, I doubt there are many Marlies fans living in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Tristan Jarry opposed the aforementioned Hutchinson. Jarry started his tenth straight. I don’t think he was the reason the Pens lost the game today. It’s his job to stop the puck yes, but when your team takes a two man disadvantage and then falls asleep in the final minute of the second period, no goaltender, I don’t care if he is as fresh as a daisy, is going to be successful.

Wasted opportunity for the Penguins who burn a game in hand on the Bruins and stay five off of the fourth place and idle Bruins. They will burn off that game in hand on Providence Tuesday when they head to Hershey.

Gameday setup hits the blog for that matchup against the Bears, last of the regular season, Tuesday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!