Chirps from Center Ice

 vs.

4                                            3

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Penguins come into the third period of Saturday’s game and I know what you are thinking because I thought it too. Here we go again, time for them to blow the lead and lose.

Sam Houde takes a shot and scores a goal and Wilkes-Barre goes up 3-1.

But then, that was kinda it for the shots for the Penguins, who muster only two more for an aggregate of three in the period, Syracuse scores two to tie and then in overtime to win 4-3 in overtime.

It’s a tired trope, a seen scene. It’s getting old and frankly, it’s irrelavant because two weeks from now they will be done and headed for an early summer.

Here’s how they lined up…

Yeah, they were the Old Forge Pizzas Saturday. Part of a five year plan to rebrand for one night as a local cuisine. Plymouth Pierogis anyone?

No lineup changes, save for goal.

First Period: Drake Caggiula was their best player for them Saturday and had a lot of chances shorthanded because referees Jordan Deckard and Jake Kamrass made an absolute mess of the game, but Caggiula gets a shorthanded goal to open the scoring for the home team.

Second Period: Ex-Penguin Felix Robert scores with a second left on a power play for the Crunch and Syracase ties the game at one.

But the Penguins would respond in kind on a power play of their own, just :06 in, when Ty Smith goes bar down and in for a 2-1 Penguins lead.

Third Period: Said it again…

Then Sam Houde scores on a dart to make it a two goal lead for the Penguins.

But then Syracuse clamped down hard and allowed the Penguins just two more paltry shots, I think after they tied the game at three. Here’s how they did that…

Overtime: Ty Smith gets worked for a puck and Phil Myers scores to give the Crunch the win.

Three Stars: 3) Drake Caggiula (goal) 2) Alex Barre-Boulet (two goals, two assists) 1) Phil Myers (OT goal)

The Good: Season will be over in two weeks.

The Bad: The twelve power plays doled out by the referees was unnecessary. Failing to mark and allowing Barre-Boulet to factor into every goal is terrible.

Turning Point: The Myers goal that ended it. Let’s not overthink things.

Around the Division: Hartford continues to win, beating Lehigh Valley 5-1….Springfield beats Charlotte 6-5 in overtime….Hershey gets 40 wins in a season (remember those days?) with a 4-1 win in Cleveland….Bridgeport beats a suddenly slumping Providence team 5-2.

Standings: Are meaningless. Pens are in last and cooked. That’s all you need to know.

Wheeling Update: So the team the Nailers are playing, the Cincinnati Cyclones, lost 11-0 to the South Carolina Stingrays. Well, wouldn’t you know it, the Nailers are currently losing (the game is still going on when the blog post went up, box here) to the Cyclones.

More Wednesday. I’m traveling to Virginia Thursday morning and may sit the game out and just watch on AHLTV, if I don’t see you at the game Happy Easter.