Chirps from Center Ice

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So like I called it in my Weekend Preview, the Wilkes-Barre  / Scranton Penguins take 3 out of a possible 4 points away from the Hershey Bears with a 2-1 overtime loss Saturday night. The series is dead even at 4 games a side won by each team.

And the Penguins earned this one tonight because the Bears defense was smothering and Clay Stevenson was awesome when he needed to be. Hershey limited the Penguins to just 24 shots.

Hershey may be the best team in the AHL, but they have a  Penguins problem. Wilkes-Barre knows how to play this team.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Colin Swoyer for Ty Smith, who is down with the sickness (not COVID) He, Lukas Svejkovsky and  Filip Hållander are out with the sickness (not COVID) as well.

First Period: Penguins muster just three shots. Hershey had substantially more, and one of them went  in via Mike Sgarbossa.

Second Period: No flow in this period what with the 900 icings. It was the Clay Stevenson Show in the period and there was an announcement with about five minutes left to play that if the Penguins don’t score that the Teddy Bear Toss would happen at second intermission. That kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? The Penguins would need a big goal from someone known for scoring big goals against Hershey, wouldn’t they?

Alex Nylander.

A boffo turnover by Stevenson, one of his rare misses on the night, and the Penguins are tied with the Bears.

They played the remaining 1:12 after they cleaned the bears off the ice (the stuffed ones) and resurfaced it.

End of the Second, Third Period: No further scoring for the second period, goalies switched ends and they went four-on-four then 1:51 of four-on-four i n two different times during the period. No one scored. The Penguins flipped the tables on the Bears and outshot Hershey 10-4 in the period.

Overtime: Looked like they were destined for a shootout when Mike Sgarbossa went end to end and ended it.

Bummer.

Three Stars: 3) Clay Stevenson (23 saves) 2) Filip Lindberg (30 saves) 1) Mike Sgarbossa (two goals)

The Good: Three out of four points from Hershey is good, all things considered.

The Bad: Seems like the effort they put forth wasn’t the best? But that’s underselling a very good Hershey team that isn’t going away any time soon.

Turning Point: The Sgarbossa overtime winner gets it. An overtime game winning goal always gets it.

Around the Division: Providence comes back to beat Lehigh Valley 2-1 in overtime…Rochester blanks Charlotte 4-0…Syracuse beats Bridgeport 4-3…Utica thumps Springfield 7-3. Hartford loses 3-2 out in Rockford, Illinois.

Standings: Hershey 39 – Providence 38 – Bridgeport 33 – Penguins 30 – Charlotte 27 – Lehigh Valley 27 – Springfield 25 – Hartford 123

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 7-4 out in Fort Wayne Indiana. Matt Alfaro and Chris Ortiz with three assists each. Josh Maniscalco with a goal and assist.

Video Highlights: 

More Tuesday North of the Border.

Let’s Go Pens!