Chirps from Center Ice

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The Penguins had the Cleveland Monsters dead to rights all game.

But hockey is a one shot game most nights and despite firing just 17 shots all game at goaltender Joel Blomqvist, it is Shot 16 that ties it with an extra attacker in the third period and Shot 17 that wins it for Cleveland on the power play. Penguins lose 3-2 in overtime.

I mean they get a point, will stay at least third for another day, but this is a point they will wish they had in a few weeks and adjustments that they will need to make. If you double up a team in shots (the Penguins had 34 shots) you should be expected to win.

They didn’t, have about 26 hours to stew on it before they rematch with the Monsters on Monday night.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Unchanged up front, Jack St. Ivany (NHL recall) and Owen Headrick were out, Ryan Shea and Taylor Fedun were in on defense.

Injury Updates: J.D. Forrest told Pittsburgh media after the Penguins stopped by Cranberry, PA Saturday en route out to Cleveland that Marc Johnstone could be back by the end of the season and Peter Abbandonato could be ready for playoffs and that Sam Houde is out with upper and lower body injuries.

Isn’t the end of the season and the start of playoffs the same thing? Anyway…

First Period: No scoring, teams went 0/1 on the power play and 0/1 on breakaways. Sam Poulin had one shorthanded.

Second Period: :25 in, Justin Pearson scores on a pretty feed form Roman Ahcan. Pearson, left unmarked in the slot, makes no doubt and scores for the Monsters.

The Penguins would respond in kind :14 into a power play when Vinnie Hinostroza would score to bring the teams level.

About those breakaways, Joel Blomqvist stopped three to this point and here is one highlighted by the team he works for:

Third Period: Sam Poulin scores to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead. Ty Smith whiffed on a shot, Vinnie Hinostroza was down low, collected the whiffed shot, bumped it back to Smith who found Poulin streaking down the slot for a wide open shot.

The Penguins had a power play about halfway through the period and I said at the time that they could really inflict damage if they could score in the sequence. They didn’t.

Trent Vogelhuber pulled his goaltender, called time out and ex-Penguin now coach Mark Letestu drew up a play and the rest is history.

Owen Sillinger wins a face-off back to Marcus Björk, who finds David Jiricik one the far side at the point. Jiricik rips a shot and it goes in.

So it was off to overtime. You know how this goes if you follow this team.

Overtime: Nick Hart mentioned at the start that it was the 20th overtime for the Monsters this season. That’s a lot.

Radim Zohorna was called for interference and in the ensuing power play, Stanislav Svozil scores at 2:57 to give the Monsters the seeming impossible, stunning comeback.

Here’s that goal and the Jiricik goal that tied it late for Cleveland.:

Another overtime loss for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

Three Stars: 3) Stanislav Svozil (overtime game winning goal) 2) David Jiricek (goal) 1) Justin Pearson (goal)

The Good: Despite the outcome, the Penguins were in control for 90% of the game against a division leading team, albeit that team is missing 5 of 6 of their top scorers to injury or recall.

The Bad: With how tight three through five is right now in the Atlantic, that extra point could have come in handy for the Penguins come mid-April.

Turning Point: I’m going to go off the wall here and say the missed power play chance halfway through the third period already up one gets it here as a 3-1 game is a steeper hill to climb for the Monsters when shots were at a premium for them. Alas, here we are.

Around the Division: Springfield beat Charlotte 6-4 in earlier action and Hershey shuts out a sliding Hartford Wolf Pack club 4-0. The Wolf Pack are winless in their last five contests.

Standings: Hershey 93 — Providence 77 – Penguins 69 — Charlotte 68 – Hartford 67 – Lehigh Valley 60 – Springfield 59 – Bridgeport 47

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: I’ll see if Cleveland or the Penguins run them and if they do will work the edit in.

Happy Monday, talk to you then.

Let’s Go Pens!