Chirps from Center Ice

vs.

1                                    4

–

Jack St. Ivany’s postgame interview with in arena host Rachel Malak gave me the headline idea tonight.

Malak asked St. Ivany what led to a 4-1 Penguins win over the Hartford Wolf Pack on Wednesday night and he answered the question by stating the team started on time.

Two goals before the game is 3:45 old and the Penguins race out to a hot start and again ride another strong performance by Joel Blomqvist but fall short of getting him his first career shutout, and they are two off of Providence and four clear of the aforementioned Wolf Pack who now have a five and a half hour drive out to Cleveland for a pair of games with the North Division leading Monsters.

Work night, school night. let’s get this show on the road already!

Here’s how they lined up. Hartford is one of the few teams in the AHL who don’t post lines.

Lineup Notes: Matt Filipe for Dillon Hamaliuk up front and Will Butcher for Xavier Ouellet. Still no Jonathan Gruden, classified as day to day last I heard.

First Period: 65 seconds in and Jesse Puljujarvi scores to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

Hell of a shot here and one that you’d think Domingue makes the save on.

Assault continues and as pretty as a play you will see with the passing of the puck and Alex Nylander scores to make it 2-0.

Look at all the space and the time Nylander has here. You give him all that space and a sniper like him is going to score and he did.

Shots were 9-1 Penguins to this point. Looked like they were going to run it up.

It leveled off from there, however.

Second Period: Jack St. Ivany is feeling his oats.

That’s a hell of a shot right there from a guy you don’t expect that from. If you get a guy like St. Ivany, a defensive defenseman, warm on the offensive side, look out!

Another pretty play as Jesse Puljujarvi and Sam Poulin connect to make it 4-0.

A great first step by Puljujarvi, a pass to Poulin he doesn’t connect with entirely but stays with, stabs at the puck and it flips into the air and past Louis Domingue.

Domingue did not have a great game, by his standards.

If they could pull a move to where they recall both Poulin and Puljujarvi at the same time, they have to keep them together because they are better on the ice as a pair. Puljujarvi has lifted Poulin’s game tenfold of recent and these two are steering the team up the standings.

Third Period: Corey Andonovski takes too many damn penalties.

His second of the game costs Blomqvist a shot at a shutout, as Brennan Ohtmann scores to put Hartford on the board.

That minor blemish spoiled what was overall a complete game by the Penguins who showed up and got the job done.

Three Stars: 3) Joel Blomqvist (27 saves) 2) Jesse Puljujarvi (goal, assist) 1) Jack St. Ivany (goal, assist)

The Good: They started on time, and not just because it was a work / school night, but because they were up against a team that has five games in hand on them and are breathing down their necks for third in the division. They smacked back at that Wednesday, and you want to see them ascend up the standings even more.

The Bad: Seriously Andonovski has 63 PIMs and takes way too many. Four more minutes tonight.

Turning Point: The St. Ivany goal turned it into a laugher.

Around the Division: Hershey hosted Springfield and beat them 4-1.

Standings: Hershey 66 – Providence 51 – Penguins 49 – Hartford 45 – Charlotte 44 – Springfield 41 – Lehigh Valley 40 – Bridgeport 27

Wheeling Update: Just down the road, the Nailers were in Reading and took on the Royals and beat them 5-4 in overtime. Big night for Lukas Svejkofsky, who had a pair of goals including the OT game winner. Taylor Gauthier, who is tearing up the ECHL this season, was in goal and got the win. Gauthier was named ECHL Goaltender of the Week for the second time this season on Monday.

Video Highlights: 

Back at it Friday in Allentown at an advertised start at 7:05, but more like 7:18. The Phantoms, unlike the Penguins Wednesday night, never start on time,

Let’s Go Pens!