Chirps from Center Ice

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Sergei Murashov is now 3-0 at the AHL level after a very strong showing in net Saturday night for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, shutting down the Utica Comets three power plays and stopping 29 of 30 shots. Penguins win 2-1, snapping their four game losing streak.

Back at it Sunday afternoon at home (sigh) against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Mac Hollowell for Scooter Brickey on defense; Corey Andonovski for Marc Johnstone up front. Isaac Belliveau was sent to Wheeling Saturday afternoon.

First Period: Sergei Murashov was tested early and often as the Comets boat raced the Penguins to a tune of 10 shots to 1 at one point, then Shane Bowers connected for a goal at 13:34.

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I initially thought it was goalie interference, but that angle showed otherwise.

A minute and change later, Rutger McGroarty connected on a tic tac toe pass and scored to make it 1-1.

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I don’t know why the folks in attendance clapped at the end of the first period, that was an awful period for the home teams who were lucky that their goaltender was dialed in.

Second Period: Murashov dazzled with a stop through bodies and a screen then slid over to stop the rebound attempt with the pad. Wilkes-Barre was starting to come unraveled a bit because Utica was getting all the calls (refs Rob Hennessey and Jake Kamrass did not give Utica a single penalty all night) but that boiled over at the end of the period.

Third Period: Vasily Ponomarev this time connects on another tic tac toe pass play and scores to push the Penguins ahead 2-1.

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Utica did not find the equalizer with the net, tended by Nico Daws again in back to back nights, emptied.

Three Stars: 3) Rutger McGroarty (goal) 2) Sergei Murashov (29 saves) 1) Vasiliy Ponomarev (goal)

The Good: Nice to see them snap out of it and grit out a win. Utica plays better then its record and place would indicate.

The Bad: The AHL’s servers. You will note that this is blog piece is short scores from out of town or links to boxes. It’s 2025 and we have major hockey operations have server issues. I can’t get the scoreboard to load and am not going to continue to try.

Turning Point: The Ponomarev goal that put them ahead gets its here.

Hopefully the League gets new servers or pays the bill tomorrow so I can update standings and an out of town scoreboard for you.

Wheeling Update: Nailers are getting hammered at home by the Kansas City Mavericks. Box here. Hey, the ECHL’s servers are just fine!

Video Highlights: AHL VideoCenter, provided they also have the bandwidth, likely your best bet as Coal Street hasn’t posted them yet.

Back at it Sunday afternoon against Lehigh Valley.

Let’s Go Pens!