Chirps from Center Ice

          vs.          

3                                              6

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They looked the Pens of yore this afternoon in Wilkes-Barre, winning 6-3, rather convincingly mind you, against a Hershey side which as been the class of the division for pretty much the entirety of this shortened 2021 season.

Unflappable, physical and unrelenting. The Penguins of old, for sure.

Alex D’Orio opposed Pheonix Copley.

On D’Orio, he has earned the net in my opinion and has made the most of the opportunity afford him this season. Sign a vet in the offseason and let D’Orio eat next year.

Here’s how they lined up:

First Period: They came out throwing the body. Remember those Penguins who would physically wear down an opponent by just beating the crap out of them? That’s what they looked like today.

Philippe Maillet opened the scoring on a 4-on-3 that put the Bears on the board first.

But Chase Berger tied it on this ridiculous angle goal and then Josh Currie worked off a give and go that gave the Pens a lead heading into the second period.

Second Period: Remember yesterday when I said that the Penguins lacked a pure goal scorer? You want to know what a pure goal scorer looks like?

That’s a pure goal scorer. Matt Moulson will be in the AHL Hall of Fame some day.

Wilkes-Barre jumps ahead again when Jon Gruden’s intended pass for Kyle Olson turns into a shot for a goal on Pheonix Copley.

Axel-Jonsson Fjallby scored a short handed goal. Inopportune time for that to happen. All the momentum in the world, and you give up a short handed goal.

Josh Currie added a power play goal to give the Pens a 4-3 lead heading into the third.

Third Period: The Pens came out firing and got a goal from Jon Lizotte. No GIF on this one.

Pens took a couple of penalties and were able to navigate through fine. Anthony Angello added the put away goal with under five minutes to play to ice the game away.

Three Stars: 3) Kyle Olson (two assists) 2) Jon Gruden (goal, assist) 1) Josh Currie (two goals, assist)

Nick Hart with some tidbits:

Captain steps up, gets help from up and down the lineup from all facets and the rookie goaltender shoves aside an assault from the best team in the division. Great Sunday.

The Good: More of this please. Would like to see more. Did J.D. Forrest coach this out of this team or did they all just say enough is enough? Guess we will find out together this Wednesday at home against the Phantoms.

The Bad: Nitpicking in hindsight, but the penalties in the third are something you do not want when nursing a lead against the divisions best team.

Turning Point: Josh Currie’s power play goal gave the Pens a lead they wouldn’t relinquish and set back the Bears. Hershey was up to the challenge, but the Pens stayed firm and didn’t break.

More of this please against Lehigh Valley Wednesday.

Let’s Go Pens!

Stay safe.