Chirps from Center Ice

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From the sound of what I was following along with on Twitter tonight since I was at a dinner and didn’t watch nor tweet the action tonight, it looked like the Penguins fought hard to give away a 3-2 lead that they had in the third period.

Casey DeSmith would have none of it.

DeSmith would go on to stop 40 shots, Andrew Agozzino, Thomas DiPauli and Stefan Noesen scored, Noesen twice and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defeat the Springfield Thunderbirds by a score of 4-2 Friday to win their sixth straight.

Oh, and with Hartford’s 4-0 loss in Rochester, the Penguins are just three off the top spot in the Atlantic with a game in hand.

They lined up this way.

Lineup Notes: Zach Trotman was recalled Thursday morning because Justin Schultz has a bad groin, so that opened up a veteran spot for the Penguins which meant that Ryan Haggerty and Andreas Martinsen both saw game action. Pierre-Olivier Joseph returned from his mono illness and took Trotman’s spot.

I’m just going to on the fly this because like I said at the top I didn’t watch the game or follow along other than Twitter.

In the first, the Pens jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Andrew Agozzino and Thomas DiPauli.

Nice setup here on the Agozzino goal by Sam Miletic.

And I like how DiPauli floats in through a mass of bodies to casually place the puck in the net here in this sequence that gave the Pens a 2-0 lead.

DiPauli’s first goal of the season.

The second started like this…

Which was a bit of foreshadowing, but not before Andrew Agozzino scored his second of the night that made it 3-0.

Puck deflected of off a Thunderbird and Noesen, who was nearby, pointed to his teammate and told him to go through the tap line first. Scoresheet, for now, has it as Noesen’s goal, but that may change.

Paul Thompson scored on this play here that was reviewed twice but was allowed to stand.

Shinsuke Nakamura is the WWE Intercontinental Champion currently and his finisher is the knee to face kinshasa, similar to what Thompson did to DeSmith there. They do tell you don’t try wrestling moves at home.

Wilkes-Barre carried a 3-1 lead into the third.

Springfield make it 3-2 on a two man advantage with this snipe from Henrik Borgstrom.

I mean, that is a sweet goal. Look at that release. DeSmith had 95% of the net covered on the angle and Borgstom in one fell swipe snaps off a shot that not only DeSmith doesn’t react to, but has no chance on because it’s 5% of the net that he left exposed. Just filthy.

Pens were nursing the lead, Springfield outshot them 16-7 in the period. DeSmith continued to be solid in net.

Finally, with Driedger pulled for the extra attacker, Stefan Noesen scored from way downtown to seal it for the Penguins.

Three Stars: 3) Blaine Byron (goal) 2) Henrik Borgstrom (goal) 1) Stefan Noesen (two goals)

No good, bad and turning point here. Unless you want to go with the resiliency to jump ahead as good, the letting them back in as bad, and maybe a save to two by DeSmith in the third to keep it a one goal lead as a turning point.

Around the Division: Hartford loses in Rochester 4-0….Providence shuts out Bridgeport 5-0….Lehigh Valley edges Charlotte 5-4 in overtime. Hershey was off.

Standings: Hartford 27 — Penguins 24 — Springfield and Providence 22 — Lehigh Valley 21 — Hershey 20 — Charlotte 15 — Bridgeport 12

Wheeling Update: Nailers beat Indy 3-2 out in Indianapolis. Blake Siebenhaler had a late goal with under two minutes to play to push the Nailers ahead and Alex D’Orio made 41 saves two pick up the win.

Pend are back at it Saturday at home against Charlotte. Gameday setup is here Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!