Chirps from Center Ice

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Another lead going into the third period and another victory for the opponent. It’s like clockwork for this team and the result again on Friday night as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins lose 4-2 to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Oh, and the Penguins didn’t have a shot on goal till about 4 minutes left to play when they were trailing 3-2.

Let’s just get into the recap.

Here’s how they lined up…

Lineup Notes: Buncha AHL debuts for Jagger Joshua and Justin Lee who the Pens signed to contracts so you will see them next year and Owen Pickering, who you won’t’ because he’s still too young for full time AHL work, so it’s either NHL or back to juniors for the guy next season but because his junior season is over, Pens brass wants to get the kid pro reps so here he is. Why they paired him with Taylor Fedun is beyond my comprehension, but it is what it is.

Filip Hållander, Colin Swoyer and Josh Maniscalco came out for the guys listed above.

The above is meaningless, because they will be done in two weeks anyway.

First Period: About half way through Valtteri Puustinen finds Drake Caggiula for a wide open net that gives the Penguins an early 1-0 lead.

Nice play.

But then Tyson Foerster scores a power play goal for the Phantoms with about three minutes left to play to tie the game at one.

Foerster is the Phantoms power play ace and it shows why here. Point shot through two guys.

Second Period: Wilkes-Barre scores on a two man advantage against the dead last penalty kill in the AHL when Ty Smith finds pay dirt with a blast from the point that puts the Penguins up 2-1.

Dustin Tokarski was dialed in during the period and had some of his finest work on display with the save right here.

Terrible foreshadowing…

Third Period: Clockwork.

Ex-Penguin Jordy Bellerive with a shot, Tokarski the initial save but Tokarski follows up and finds the puck and scores to tie the game at two.

Later, Bobby Brink scores when Ronnie Attard’s shot is blocked. This pulls Tokarski out of his crease and he either rover commits or something and that leaves the puck loses for it to be swept over to Attard who has a wide open net to shoot into.

First shot of the period comes with around four minutes to play already down one. They didn’t get a power play to work on to try and tie the game and with ti me dwindling and desperation setting in, they aren’t able to find the equalizer and instead Bobby Brink scores his second on an empty net.

Three Stars: 3) Jordy Bellerive (goal) 2) Valtteri Puustinen (two assists) 1) Bobby Brink (two goals)

The Good: Decent 40 minutes.

The Bad: Terrible last 20. No shot on goal for about 16 minutes? Come on guys.

Turning Point: The Bellerive goal was inevitable. The first Brink goal was inevitable.

Around the Division: Does it matter anymore? Springfield beats Charlotte 3-2 in overtime…Hartford shuts out Providence 5-0.

Standings: Providence 90 – Hershey 87 – Springfield and Charlotte 77 – Lehigh Valley 74 – Hartford 71 || Bridgeport 68 – Penguins 62

Wheeling Update: Nailers are out in Indiana and lost 3-1 to the Indy Fuel.

Back at it on Pizza Night against the Crunch. More then.