Chirps from Center Ice

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So we are running out of superlatives to describe the play of Joel Blomqvist in goal for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. He’s won five straight games and has only given up a goal in each game. With All-Star rosters set to be announced for San Jose any day now, Blomqvist is making an extremely strong case to be one of the goalies named.

Wilkes-Barre wins 2-1 Sunday afternoon over Hartford, who beat Hershey the night before snapping the Bears nine game winning streak. A gritty, gutsy win for the Pens, who take five of six points this weekend. A shorthanded goal by Jonathan Gruden in the second period stood up as the game winning goal and Blomqvist did the rest.

I mean this is how good teams win games. Are we there yet? I don’t know, but I think we are getting closer.

Here’s how they lined up. Hartford didn’t post any lines.

Lineup Notes: Jack Rathbone and Will Butcher out, Owen Headrick and Xavier Ouellet in on defense and Alex Nylander was out, not injured, and Jesse Puljujarvi was back in.

First Period: Dylan Garand stops a Colin White shot but Sam Poulin, who was promoted to the top line with Nylander out, cashed in on the rebound.

The Penguins jumped all over the Wolf Pack to start, limiting Hartford to just five shots in the period.

Second Period: Penguins find themselves on a penalty kill, but eight seconds later Jonathan Gruden scores on a nice snapshot that doubled the Penguins lead.

The Penguins had 1:43 of two man advantage they got close on a few times but could not cash in on. I think it is too soon to say that they miss the traded Rem Pitlick because he was with them in Springfield Friday night, but the Pens didn’t score any power play goals this weekend, for what it’s worth.

The bottling up of the Wolf Pack continued, limiting the visitors to just three shots.

Third Period: Wolf Pack blitz for thirteen shots on goal, finally getting one to go when Ryan Scanlin scores from the point on a shot that Blomqvist was screened on that put Hartford on the board.

But with Garand pulled and with a time out, the Wolf Pack did not find the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Sam Poulin (goal) 2) Joel Blomqvist (20 saves) 1) Jonathan Gruden (shorthanded goal)

The Good: You are going to need homegrown replacements when you give away your leading scorer for essentially nothing, and it was good to see Sam Poulin get a goal being put on the top line Sunday. Does he stick? If he sticks does he continue to thrive?

The Good Part Two: Five of six points isn’t anything to bat an eye at. I think this is a pivotal point in their season and to collect five out of six is pretty good. It shows that there is there there with the team. You want to see it continue. Can they catch Hershey? Unlikely, but can they catch Hartford and be a two seed? Absolutely. That should be the goal.

The Bad: But seriously, when is the team going to get Blomqvist his elusive shutout?

Turning Point: The Gruden shorthanded goal gets it here.

Around the Division: Bridgeport wins 4-3 in overtime against Charlotte….Herhsey does the same against Lehigh Valley 3-2….Providence doubles up Springfield 6-3.

Standings: Hershey 58 – Providence 42 – Hartford 41 – Penguins 40 – Charlotte 38 – Springfield 37 – Lehigh Valley 34 – Bridgeport 23

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off today, they play Orlando again Monday.

Video Highlights: 

Three on the road next weekend, starting Friday in Providence. If there is notable stuff this week I will have it for you here, otherwise have a great week.

Let’s Go Pens!