They had a whole week to stew on it, and man it must have pissed them off.
The line of Emil Bemstrom, Boris Katchouk and Ville Koivunen, snake bit the last time these teams sqared off last weekend, erupt for three goals and four assists as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins roll the Bridgeport Islanders 5-0 on Friday night in Wilkes-Barre.
Oh yeah. Joel Blomqvist had a tidy 23 save shutout, his first of the season and the Pens third overall. Some of his saves were excellent and timely, notably with about there eminutes left in the game, where referees Jack Young and Rob Hennessey decided it put the Islanders on a full two minute man advantage. We’ll get to that in a minute.
Lineup Notes: No lines for the Islanders. I miss Mike Fornabaio covering this franchise. For the Pens, unchanged up front but Sebastian Aho was back from injury, Phip Waugh was sent back to Wheeling and Justin Lee was in for Isaac Belliveau.
I guess it spells well for a fellow like Nikolai Knyzhov, who is in town on PTO. He has been fine and honestly, they should just sign him to an AHL contract, but getting healthier on D may make the guy expendable. Problem is, one of the 31 other AHL teams is going to see this and sign the guy.
First Period: Wilkes-Barre out to a 2-0 start with goals from Avery Hayes and Emil Bemström, scoring in similar fashion.
In between goals, Joel Blomqvist had the save of the night on a rebound attempt by future AHL Hall of Fame and Islanders captain Chris Terry.
Second Period: No scoring, but the Penguins had the play in the period, highlighted by a 4:00 double minor power play opportunity for the Islanders where the Penguins put on a masterclass of penalty killing and had, in my opinion, the better of the chances during the special teams time.
Oh, and another timely, big time save by Jarry with a blocker in traffic kept Bridgeport off the board.
Third Period: You didn’t want to see them let off and they didn’t, in my opinion, probably their finest period of the season to date.
First a second goal from Emil Bemström and the inspiration for tonight’s headline.
Raivis Ansons and Tyce Thompson fought and it was the loudest the building was all night.
Then Bridgeport goalie Jakub Skarek comes 15 feet out of his net and Avery Hayes runs over him. Out of the melee, Jonathan Gruden is involved. Refs Hennessey and Young put Bridgeport on a full two minute two man advantage.
It didn’t matter.
The Penguins would knock sticks into passing lanes, block shots (as Justin Lee did with a big one) and Joel Blomqvist continued to dazzle and would not be denied his shutout bid.
In a moment of karma, after the Penguins successfully killed the penalty, Hayes and Gruden get spring out of the box. This happened next…
All that was left was to see if they could hold on for a shutout for their goaltender and they did.
Three Stars: 3) Boris Katchouk (goal, assist) 2) Emil Bemström (two goals, assist) 1) Joel Blomqvist (23 saves)
The Good: They responded to their coach who likely challenged them this week in a big way and handled a team that gave them fits the last two times they met.
The Bad: Nothing to see here.
Turning Point: The save Blomqvist made on Terry back in the first gets it here. If Terry scores it’s tied at one. Who knows what happens from there.
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Chirps from Center Ice 