Chirps from Center Ice

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No, it’s not a poop joke. Matt Brown, a call up from the ECHL affiliate of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms the Reading Royals and the Royals leading scorer, used a trick move and beat Joel Blomqvist in the top of the fourth inning in the shootout on Friday, the Penguins first shootout of the season and Wilkes-Barre loses 5-4.

Brown only has 5 AHL games, total, under his belt. That’s 5 more than you or I, and that move took some stones man. Nothing you could do but just stare in awe.

Anyway, it’s a game that they battled back from two goals on in the third period and they get another point and have the rest of the weekend off and will be back at it Wednesday morning in Toronto.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Jesse Puljujarvi signed an NHL contract with Pittsburgh. The Penguins sent Raivis Ansons to Wheeling on Thursday and recalled Dillon Hamaliuk and Lukas Svejkovsky. Reason? Marc Johnstone and Sam Poulin are injured:

They can live with Poulin and St. Ivany being day to day. You can manage that. They will miss Marc Johnstone. The kid did everything. Played with his hair on fire every shift. If it’s a separated shoulder (he was tripped hard into the boards) it’s a 3 month (May 2024) recovery period. If it’s a broken collarbone it could be sooner, but you have to immobilize. I’m not going to play doctor.

First Period: One thing I noticed off the jump was that the power play was immediately better with Lukas Svejkovsky on it.

It was Wade Allison opening the scoring late while they were four on four.

Off the bar and in.

:33 later, while the Penguins were on a power play, Vinnie Hinostroza had an immediate response and tied the game at one.

Couple seconds after that, Peter Abbandonato would whiff o a wide open net but would get himself in position to tip in a shot and give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.

Three goals in 1:43. A frenetic finish.

Second Period: Penguins got jumped for three goals in a 112 second span.

On a power play, Bobby Brink wheels around the net and connects with teammate Rhett Gardner for a tap in goal that tied the game at two.

Then Xavier Ouellet was covering Brandon Furry in front, falls down and Furry continues to hack and whack for a goal that makes it 3-2 Phantoms.

Then the Phantoms put on the three man weave like in basketball and JR Avon scores to make it 4-2.

Remember how I kept banging the drum on when the Penguins would be  down in a  game and would benefit from cashing on a power play?

They had two opportunities in the period and looked good. They generated shots, but weren’t able to crack Felix Sandstrom.

Third Period: At the expiration of a power play, Vinnie Hinostroza scores to bring the Penguins to back within one.

1:10 later, it was Ty Smith with a bomb from the point that tied the game.

Relentless forecheck from Austin Rueschhoff to set the whole damn thing up.

They went back and forth some more then the Penguins found themselves in more penalty trouble with 3:29 left to play but got out of it OK. No scoring the rest of the way and it was off to…

Overtime: They never seemed to get out of the chute the right way and I thought it was curtains on them a few times but Joel Blomqvist made a hell of save that preserved the deadlock. It was then off to the…

Shootout: First of the season for WBS. Here’s where they miss a guy like Puljujarvi or Poulin.

– JR Avon with a nifty pull the string backhand roof job in round one.
– Alex Nylander made too many moves.
– Bobby Brink made a hundred moves and didn’t get a good shot off.
– Lukas Svejkovsky had a neat stutter step and scored.

Then Wade Allison makes a move in Round 3, falls and bumps into Blomqvist and the puck goes in. After a brief conference by the officials, Patrick Hanrahan and Jackson Kozari consulted video review and ruled no goal.

After all that waiting, Vinnie Hinostroza stepped up and lost the handle.

Then Matt Brown stepped up and did his thing. Scroll back up and watch that again. Peter Abbandonato had to score and couldn’t. Phantoms win.

Three Stars: 3) Matthew Brown (disgusting shootout goal) 2) Vinnie Hinostroza (goal, two assists) 1) Wade Allison (goal, assist)

Honorable Mention: Jonathan Gruden had three assists.

The Good: Dug deep and gritted out a point when they were down two goals coming into the third.

The Bad: They did this against the seventh place team in the division, Hershey or Providence doesn’t allow this to happen.

Turning Point: The Ty Smith goal that gets them the point gets it here. The Shootout is a circus act that just guarantees a winner.

Around the Division: Charlotte with a big 4-3 OT win in Cleveland….Hartford wins 4-1 in their 2,000th AHL game over Bridgeport who they have played 1750 times out of those 2000 it seems….Hershey beats Providence in a battle of division heavies 3-1.

Standings: Hershey 76 – Providence 61 – Penguins 55 – Hartford 53 – Charlotte 48 – Springfield 47 – Lehigh Valley 45 – Bridgeport 31

Wheeling Update: Nailers have 11 straight wins. Justin Addamo scores the overtime game winner and the Nailers beat the Reading Royals 2-1. Taylor Gauthier with another win.

Video Highlights: Not up yet. AHL VideoCenter is likely your bets bet.

Weekend Preview returns to its regular scheduled slot likely Tuesday night to get it out front of the Wednesday morning game in Toronto. Talk to you then.

Let’s Go Pens!