Chirps from Center Ice

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Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins drop a 2-1 overtime loss to the Belleville Senators on Saturday night. A couple things about this match:

• Belleville gives up the most goals to Eastern Conference teams.
• Their penalty kill was 31st in the AHL.

So Wilkes-Barre scores a late, extra attacker goal via Tyler Sikura and go 0/3 on the power play and don’t score an even strength goal.

If you are wondering about the headline, there was a couple in my section who reeked of marijuana. If you followed along on Twitter Saturday, I made as many cheap weed as I could.

I don’t mind, by the way, as long as it’s in moderation.

Wilkes-Barre pumped 39 shots at Dylan Ferguson, making his debut for the Senators after a trade with the Toronto Marlies. Ferguson stole the game for the Senators tonight, plain and simple.

Taylor Gauthier started for the Penguins and showed himself well. It’s not a goaltending issue. Captain Taylor Fedun was directly responsible for both goals scored by Belleville.

Loses a puck battle behind the net and before he realizes where the puck is he’s out of the play and the red light comes on.

That was the overtime winner. Yikes.

Tyler Sikura scored for the Penguins on an NHL94esque wraparound that tied the game late with Gauthier pulled.

Wilkes-Barre will take the point, but are stymied by a Belleville team that has their number this season.

Here’s how they lined up:

They swapped Devane and Ansons back in for Ty Glover and Justin Addamo again and Swoyer for Ortiz on defense.

Three Stars: 3) Tyler Sikura (goal) 2) Dylan Ferguson (38 saves) 1) Cole Reinhardt (overtime game winning goal)

The Good: Nice to see the barn packed with people.

The Bad: Too bad the product on the ice sucked.

Turning Point: The Reinhardt goal, as most overtime goals would, is the turning point.

Around the Division: Charlotte beats Bridgeport 5-2 (which is good for the Penguins) — Hershey beats Lehigh Valley in a shootout 4-3 (Phantoms get a point, not good for the Penguins) — Hartford beats Syracuse 4-1 (terrible for the Penguins) — Rochester beats Springfield 7-1.

Standings: Providence 72 – Hershey 71 – Charlotte 65 – Springfield 56 – Lehigh Valley 56 – Hartford 55 – Bridgeport 54 – Penguins 52

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 6-3 over Norfolk.

Video Highlights: 

Pens hit the road against Hershey this Wednesday. More then.

Let’s Go Pens!