Instead of a bad Bjork or break. Hey, it’s something.
The Penguins and Wolf Pack nearly skated to a stalemate in Wilkes-Barre Friday. There were chances aplenty for each side but no finish for either as the Penguins and Wolf Pack needed overtime to decide this one. A goal by Kasper Bjorkqvist is the deciding goal and the Penguins win 2-1 in overtime and improve their record to 2-1 on this very young season.
Filip Lindberg opposed Keith Kinkaid.
Here’s how they lined up:
Hartford didn’t post theirs. Hell, they didn’t even send a radio broadcaster. Keith Kincaid got the start, as I predicted. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and again.
Lineup Notes:
No need to recall anyone for Tristan Jarry as it was a false positive. Jarry practiced today in Pittsburgh.
First Period: Both teams navigated through a penalty kill. Penguins break through off a rush where Filip Hallander scored on a rebound of a Nathan Legare shot. First pro point for Legare. First non-Finn goal scored for WBS.
With :23 left, a puck from the point hits PC Labrie who corrals it and passes to Anthony Greco who snaps it past Lindberg for a goal that tied the game at one heading into the…
Second Period: Forgettable. They had just three shots in the period despite three power plays. The power play looked disjointed, and that’s saying something after watching 10 years of this team trying to properly execute a power play.
Third Period: Better fortunes for the Penguins shot wise. Not a lot of penalties but for an offsetting roughing call. You got the sense as the game wore on that it was going to be next shot wins.
Nothing developed in the period but for this near miss by Nathan Legare that went off the post.
Seemed like there were a lot of breakaways in the game, but no one wanted to score.
Overtime: Hartford with a good 90 seconds of possession and shot after shot after shot. Then the Penguins regained possession and then were able to slowly gain entry to the offensive zone. Jordy Bellerive flips a shot that goes off of Keith Kinkaid’s pads and, well I will just let the pictures tell the rest of the story:
Three Stars: 3) Filip Hallander (goal) 2) Filip Lindberg (30 saves on 31 shots 1) Kasper Bjorkqvist (overtime game winning goal)
The Good: They managed a way to win. It was not pretty by any means, but sometimes that is what it takes.
The Bad: You can take the last sentence from above and apply it here. Seemed like the Penguins had more talent on paper but Hartford was just better in a few areas. Get a team in with more talent than Hartford and you can run into a problem.
Turning Point: The obvious goal by Bjorkqvist.
Around the Division: Charlotte beats Hershey in the Checkers home opener 5-3….Utica clips Providence in overtime 2-1….Springfield is off to a 3-0 start with a 3-1 win over the Islanders.
Standings: Still too early for these. Pens bump from 6th to 4th in the division.
They are off Saturday and back at it Sunday at 3 in Allentown. More after then.
Let’s Go Pens!
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