Chirps from Center Ice

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You have heard me say recently that the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are consistently inconsistent.

Tonight was a perfect example.

Wilkes-Barre and Providence are scoreless through two periods. Providence put 13 shots on starting goaltender and down on conditioning Alex Nedeljkovic but just two (one in the second, one thus far in the third) and then the Penguins find themselves up 3-0. They were on cruise control.

Until they weren’t.

Bruins score two goals :22 apart to make it a one goal game.

But, the Penguins goaltender came to the rescue. No, it wasn’t a timely save or a jaw dropping post to post dive on a one time laser.

It was this:

Wilkes-Barre wins 4-2. Nedeljkovic becomes the first goaltender in AHL history to score two career goals.

Penguins stop the Bruins three game winning streak. With how consistently inconsistent this team is, look for Brandon Bussi to shut the Penguins out, Providence wins 8-0, J.D. Forrest can’t stop pulling the goaltender and Bussi scores a hat trick.

I digress.

Solid game played by Wilkes-Barre who withstood the Bruins assault in the first period, locked down the Bruins in the second period while Providence had a 4:00 power play. Penguins replicated it again in the third, holding the Bruins to just one shot and got three goals from Jagger Joshua, Ty Smith on a power play and Valtteri Puustinen. Here are those goals…

Second goal in as many games for Joshua.

Power play goals in 10 of the last 11 games for the Penguins.

Long pass from Jack Rathbone which connected with Puustinen for the breakaway goal. Nice play, great vision by Rathbone and excellent finish by Puustinen to put the game seemingly out of reach.

Bruins pulled starting goaltender Brandon Bussi and get two goals in :22 from Georgii Merkulov and Justin Brazeau.

(Providence didn’t post videos)

Nedeljkovic had enough of getting scored on and decided to score one himself. See video above.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Matt Filipe was out, as was Jack St. Ivany. The Pittsburgh Penguins sent Alex Nedeljkovic and John Ludvig down for conditioning so J.D. Forrest so Ludvig jumped in the lineup with Ty Smith.

Injured are Sam Poulin, Sam Houde, Avery Hayes and Colin White week to week. Alex Nylander is still ill.

Three Stars: Ty Smith (goal, assist) 2) Valtteri Puustinen (goal, assist) 1) Alex Nedeljkovic (17 saves, goal)

The Good: Holding the Bruins to essentially two shots before a furious rally after the first period is pretty, pretty good.

The Bad: You just know they lose 5-1 tomorrow. Consistent inconsistency! It’s the Penguins way!

Turning Point: Nedejkovic’s marching orders when he was sent down for conditioning was probably just get reps in, try to put the AHL squad in a position to win, see you in a week. His goal put it away for the Penguins tonight and shows that he’s just playing with his opponents at the AHL level.

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley wins 3-2 in Laval…Hershey survives a late rush from Bridgeport to win 5-4….Syracuse drops Hartford 5-3 and Springfield beats Utica 2-1 in overtime. Charlotte is still out on the West Coast and play the San Diego Gulls late. Box on that here.

Standings: Again because Charlotte is late Friday can’t post these with accuracy. Penguins are on 16 points. Things are tight. It’s a good division.

Wheeling Update: Nailers fall in Indianapolis 4-1 to the Indy Fuel.

Video Highlights: Assume they will be up soon and if I can get back around will edit them in.

Back at it again Saturday for the rematch. More then.

Let’s Go Pens!