Chirps from Center Ice

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4                                1

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The idea of the headline is that when I got back into the car to head home after watching the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins lose 4-1 to the Belleville Senators on Tuesday, America’s “Tin Man” was playing on SiriusXM Radio. It’s a song I commonly hear out by the pool on a lazy summer afternoon listening to Yacht Rock Radio.

So I looked up the idea of a Tin Man Argument and I think I am onto something here. You are defending a position or an argument that doesn’t hold in the end.

Tuesday, the Penguins blitzed the Belleville Senators to a 7-2 shot count which included an Atley Calvert tip in of of a Matt Nieto shot. Belleville’s Leevi Meriläinen was under siege while the Penguins Filip Larsson was in his crease knitting a sweater. It looked like the Penguins were on cruise control.

But then Valterri Puustinen was slashed, or wasn’t, which led to a rush up the ice and Hayden Hodgson scoring a goal that tied the game and changed the complexity of the game entirely.

That’s because the Senators would get called for a penalty and go on to score a shorthanded goal from Zack Ostapchuk which afforded them a lead and Meriläinen to settle and dial in. Belleville never looked back from there. In the second Xavier Bourgault pounded on a juicy rebound of a shot saved by Larsson from Jorian Donovan and it was. then 3-1.

Wilkes-Barre continued to pepper Meriläinen to the tune of 15 shots in the third, but could not get another one past him. With Larsson pulled, Maxence Guenette scored a 190 foot empty net goal.

I looked up Meriläinen’s stats. 11-5-3 with 3 shutouts coming in on 23 games played. He’s good. The Senators would be in a much better position in the North Division standings if he played more. He may have been hurt because I believe this is the first time the Pens saw him all season.

Wilkes-Barre is missing straw stirrers such as Joona Koppanen and Jonathan Gruden who I heard from someone who was slightly later than I to the game are day to day. Good, because this little slide here started when Gruden went out of the lineup. The sooner this pair is back, the better.

Wilkes-Barre went 0/2 on the power play, giving up a shorthanded goal in the first and failing much offense late in the third down a pair. Belleville didn’t have a power play all game. A rare good game from ref Rob Hennessey, depending on who you ask and how much of a slash / no slash there was on Puustinen in the first.

Here’s how they lined up…

Notes: Laferriere for De St. Phalle up front and Aho returning from injury for Brickey, who was put on the injured list. Sergei Murashov backed up tonight, being recalled earlier in the day. Tristan Jarry went up, Joel Blomqvist came down.

Here’s the goals in the order they were scored.

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Three Stars: 3) Atley Calvert (goal) 2) Jorian Donovan (two assists) 1) Zack Ostapchuk (goal)

The Good: I think they stunk top to bottom.

The Bad: 0/2 on the power play and giving up a shorthanded goal in an otherwise tight affair.

Turning Point: Ostapchuk’s shorthanded goal sucked all the air out of the balloon in one fell swoop. Leevi Meriläinen locked it down from there.

Around the Division: Springfield does the Pens a solid, shutting out Charlotte 3-0.

Standings: Hershey 71 – Providence 68 – Penguins 66 – Charlotte 64 – Lehigh Valley 63 – Springfield 62 – Hartford 51 – Bridgeport 30

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: 

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Back at it Friday in Hartford. I’ll probably run the Weekend Preview in the morning to stay out of the noise which is the NHL Trade Deadline.

Let’s Go Pens!