Chirps from Center Ice

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Two rivals going after it in the First Round of the Calder Cup Playoffs is a tale as old as time, as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and Hershey Bears write another chapter in their story when the best of three series kicks off Friday night in Wilkes-Barre.

I don’t know if you pay attention to anything that the AHL puts out on social media, but they have been posting infographics, so instead of me typing out a schedule, here it is in visual form. Click the image to enlarge if you can’t see it all the way on whatever device you are taking in this blog from:

And the infographics, which have ALL the good stuff:

It will be Tommy Nappier in net for the Penguins, backed up by Samuel Harvey, who the Penguins signed from the Fort Wayne Komets this week after Casey DeSmith left Game 1 of in the series with the New York Rangers. Alex D’Orio went up Wednesday to back up Louis Domingue, who started Game 2.

Much quieter for the Hershey Bears, who get the services of Joe Snively on a conditioning loan for the first round only. It’s bending the rules, as Snively wasn’t on a the roster at he trade deadline for the Bears, it’s a loophole that Washington / Hershey exposed that anyone can. It’s smart business.

What the Penguins need to do to beat the Bears: Stay out of the penalty box, defend home ice, punish their forwards, don’t take risks defensively. The Penguins were a hot team on home ice down the stretch. Don’t let Hershey’s power play numbers fool you. There are going to be penalties, that’s a fact of life, so minimize the stupid stick fouls, keep cool post whistle and don’t beat yourself.

What the Bears need to do to beat the Penguins: Get to Nappier with a ton of shots. There is no viable backup, as Wilkes-Barre is thin without Louis Domingue. Just pump shots, wear down the Penguins defense, get the crowd out of it early and get your forwards rolling.

X-factor for Wilkes-Barre: Filip Hallander. A rising tide floats all boats. Get Hallander going and you get Poulin going. Get Poulin going and you get Valtterti Puustinen going. It trickles down from there.

X-factor for Hershey: Bears leading scorer Mike Vecchione. You are probably going to see a line of Vecchione, Garrett Pilon and Joe Snively at some point during this series, if not right out of the gate on Friday.

This all said, it may be a defensive struggle.

What are they saying: If they you mean I, I like the Penguins in three. It’s not going to be easy. Probably won’t finish in a sweep after a tumultuous week of transactions and it’s going to be edge of your seat action from bell to bell. Don’t expect a 6-4 result. Expect 2-1 or lower. That favors the Penguins. That means Nappier is dialed in and shots aren’t getting through. But, the longer this goes, especially when you are in an overtime situation, one shot ends your season.

Who is running the show? Game 1 crew is Cody Beach and Jeremy Tufts with Mitchell Hunt and Patrick Dapuzzo on the lines. In Game 2, Beau Halkidis and Jim Curtin get the assignment with Jud Ritter and Jon Rey on the lines.

More later after Game 1.