Chirps from Center Ice

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So full credit here to the Belleville Senators who got smashed by the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins 6-1 on Friday night and saw the visiting Penguins put the game away essentially on the games first three shots which resulted in goals.

The Senators put up a hell of a fight, lost two forwards in the process and a late power play goal by Wyatt Bongiovanni with 2.2 seconds to play in regulation is enough to edge Belleville to a 4-3 win over Wilkes-Barre / Scranton on Sunday afternoon.

I will say it was a very gritty performance by the Senators who never went away on the Penguins with whatever Wilkes-Barre threw at them.

Result is bad for the Penguins because it is a game in hand up in smoke against the Hershey Bears and no ground made up on the division leading Bears and no separation from against the rest of the division.

Onto Laval Wednesday…

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Isaac Belliveau for Nathan Clurman was the only lineup change. I didn’t catch any type of an update provided by Nick Hart pregame because I was out on a walk.

First Period: Emil Bemstrom scored at 10:44 after working a nice give and go with Boris Katchouk and the Penguins were off to the races.

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But they weren’t as Wyatt Bongiovanni scored on a Belleville power play that tied the game at one.

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Foreshadowing!

Teams were tied heading into the…

Second Period: Avery Hayes scored on the Penguins first power play of the game and juked Senators All-Star Jeremy Davies out of the building with this move that put the Penguins ahead 2-1…

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The Penguins were being badly outshot I think 20-9 but stepped on the gas with the help of that power play goal and continued to bomb Michael Simpson with shots.

Third Period: Bongiovanni would net his second of the game with a far shot a few steps down from the blue line that would tie the game at two.

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But then Emil Bemstrom would score again the same way he scored in the first period by working some nice tic tac toe with lineman Boris Katchouk and the Penguins edged ahead 3-2.

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But about 90 second later Stephen Halliday scored to tie the game at three again for the Senators.

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If that dogged determination wasn’t apparent with that goal, let me tell you as someone who watched the game it was there all game. Belleville was just not going away and the Penguins needed to find a way.

But the Penguins took a double minor penalty when Nikolai Knyzhov was assessed a double minor penalty with 91 seconds left in regulation. So the Penguins needed to find a way to grit the Senators to overtime.

Wyatt Bongiovanni had other plans.

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2.2 seconds left, so no time to respond for the Penguins.

Damn, or stronger words that my cats heard that I can’t repeat in print.

Three Stars: 3) Michael Simpson (25 saves) 2) Stephen Halliday (goal, two assists) 1) Wyatt Bongiovanni (hat trick and game winning goal)

The Good: Really can’t think of anything here after an eight game point streak. They clearly weren’t ready for what a desperate opponent kept throwing at them. The Bemstrom / Koivunen / Katchouk line is their best and I think they miss Tristan Broz a lot.

The Bad: A lost opportunity to get closer to the Hershey Bears. Sure, they have a lot of games in hand, but games in hand don’t mean jack if you don’t win them. This loss sucks.

Turning Point: The Bongiovanni power play goal gets it here.

Around the Division: Springfield – Hartford and Lehigh Valley – Bridgeport started two hours after the Penguins – Senators game. Boxes on each here and here, respectively.

Standings: Will be incomplete, but the Penguins stay in second with 43 points and are six off idle Hershey with 49 and a point ahead of idle Charlotte.

Wheeling Update: Nailers started an hour later than the Penguins and are hosting the Worcester Railers. Box on that game here.

Video Highlights: AHL VideoCenter is your best bet for this if you are interested.

Penguins head to Laval, Quebec next for a Wednesday road game. I’ll have the AHL Power Rankings up Monday and then the Weekend Preview setting up the game with the Rocket and the rematch at home back with these Senators Saturday night on Wednesday.

Let’s Go Pens!