Chirps from Center Ice

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Scoreline was closer than the game itself would indicate but the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins pump 39 shots at Joseph Woll and lose 5-3 Tuesday night. It was 4-0 up late for the Marlies before the Penguins scored two late but then Toronto netted an empty netter to ice the game away, not that there was any real doubt of a collapse what with the way their goaltender was playing.

What I don’t get is how the Penguins can play the best team in the league, Hershey, better than any other opponent that the Bears face yet struggled with the Marlies tonight with going down 2-0 in the first then 4-0 in the second. Is it reps? They see Hershey a lot so they are a better matchup over a team they see just twice in a season? Maybe. This was a game in hand the Pens burned off on the rest of the idle division. The good news is they have a lot of them, the bad news is that it’s a lost effort to gain ground for free.

Woll opposed Dustin Tokarski.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Filip Hållander and Lukas Svejkovsky were back for Sam Houde and Ty Glover up front and Ty Smith was in for Colin Swoyer on defense. Sam Houde picked up a knock and is listed as day-to-day but partook in the Tuesday morning skate.

First Period: Marlies goaltender Joseph Woll played like a wall, literally, in the first period and the first place Toronto Marlies used what got them to the top spot in the North Division by scoring two goals.

After a two pad stack on an offering by Tyler Sikura, former Penguin Joseph Blandisi scores to put the Marlies up 1-0.

I don’t think there is a goaltender in the AHL that could have stopped that shot. That was a snipe.

Drake Caggiula creates a turnover on Woll similar to what he did Saturday against Hershey but this time, Alex Nylander could not score because Mac Hollowell stood in the way.

Ryan Chyzowski, who sounds like a kid from Nanticoke, scores on rebound of a Max Ellis shot and it’s 2-0 Toronto.

Second Period: Wilkes-Barre plays a great fort half of the period, and then a terrible second half and it costs them two more goals. Marlies power play, which is #1 at home, was an abject disaster here and the Penguins had two short handed chances. But the Penguins continued to take bad penalties and Noel Hoefenmayer scored a power play goal which made it 3-0 Marlies.

Then a puck deflects off of the knee of linesman Shawn Oliver which plays to the Marlies benefit and Marshall Rifai rips one home for a 4-0 Marlies lead.

Third Period: They kept Toronto off the board and got two quick goals, one from Xavier Ouellet, his first of the season and another from Alex Nylander to make things interesting.

But ran out of time when they couldn’t get the third to go (they got close) but it was Nick Abruzzese with the empty netter to seal it away for the Marlies.

Three Stars: 3) Noel Hoefenmayer (goal, assist) 2) Joseph Blandisi (goal, assist) 1) Joseph Woll (37 saves)

The Good: They limited the #1 power play at home Marlies to just one power play goal.

The Bad: Going down 4-0 against a top team in any division is a recipe for disaster.

Turning Point: If the Hoefenmayer power play goal wasn’t it, the Rifai goal, where it deflects off of the linesman and stays in, was.

Around the Division: One of the seemingly endless games in hand that the Penguins are playing on their divisional foes. Busy night for a Tuesday with eight Pacific Division teams in action, but no one else from the Atlantic Division was in action.

Standings: Hershey 41 – Providence 38 – Bridgeport 33 – Penguins 30 – Lehigh Valley and Charlotte 27 – Springfield 25 – Hartford 23

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off Tuesday.

Video Highlights: Most likely a morning update.

Back at it Wednesday in Belleville. I miss Binghamton.

Let’s Go Pens!