Chirps from Center Ice

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They did it Friday, and they repeated the same feat again Saturday. Going down early, battling back late and winning in a shootout. This time 3-2 in a shootout against the Springfield Thunderbirds Saturday.

Seems like they are getting their swagger back too. It doesn’t look like anything can faze this team. They never seem out of it, etc.

Give these loser points to out of division opponents though. They gave a loser point to the Phantoms last night and the Thunderbirds Saturday. These two teams aren’t going anywhere.

Dustin Tokarski, fresh off his 200th AHL win Friday, got the night off and it was Filip Lindberg for the Pens in net against Joel Hofer for the Thunderbirds.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Corey Andonovski for Lukas Svejkovsky up front, Jon Lizotte for Taylor Fedun on defense.

First Period: Teams traded power plays but no scoring. There were an eye popping 27 shots recorded on net in the period (14 for the home team, 13 for the visitors) and one of them went in for the Thunderbirds with Hugh McGing scoring with under a minute to play with a shot. Seemed like a blown defensive coverage with a lot of standing around and pointing.

Second Period: Pens tie it on a Sam Poulin goal off of a face-off on a tip of a Lizotte shot…

But then Springfield ties it again in the final minute of the period. Will Bitten.

Third Period: I guess the way to beat the Penguins is to go up three or more goals on them because if you let them hang around they will find a way.

Valtteri Puustinen gets a glint of daylight and scores. Tie game.

That’s enough to get them to…

Overtime: Probably the most exciting one to date. Multiple chances for the Penguins to score. They couldn’t and neither could Springfield, so it was off to a…

Shootout: Both sides score in the first. No one scores in the second and Sam Poulin scores in the bottom of the third to win it for the Pens and takeaway two points from Springfield.

Three Stars: 3) Hugh McGing (goal) 2) Filip Lindberg (33 saves) 1) Sam Poulin (goal, shootout winning goal)

The Good: They never seem out of it.

The Bad: Yeah, the Cardiac Penguins are soooo back, man.

Turning Point: They bang and bang and bang and knock the door down and Valtteri Puustinen delivers for them and ties the game to get them the rest.

Around the Division: Utica beats Charlotte 3-2 in overtime…Hershey beats Hartford 1-0 in a shootout. Both goalies get shutouts in that situation. Providence beats Syracuse 6-5 in overtime. Lehigh Valley dominates Rochester 5-1, outshooting them 40-15.

Standings: Providence 29 – Hershey 26 – Charlotte 25 – Bridgeport 24 – Penguins 22 – Lehigh Valley and Springfield 18 – Hartford 15

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off Saturday.

Video Highlights: Again the AHL VideoCenter is probably for best bet for this.

Back at it Tuesday in Hershey.

Let’s Go Pens!