Chirps from Center Ice

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3                               8

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So if you are counting last night, where they scored seven in Hartford, eight more Saturday for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins after an 8-3 throttling of the Belleville Senators at home, that is fifteen goals in the last two games with yet another game to be played Sunday against Syracuse.

I think they are back. And getting Sam Poulin who had a third period natural hat trick to go with an assist and Joona Koppanen, who had three assists strengthens that argument. It looks like a different team at present, a team that is playing with swagger getting goals from every corner of the lineup. Twelve skaters put points on the board for the Penguins Saturday.

No, I am not going to go through every goal here, but, working backwards, here are the the video highlights:

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Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Stillman made his WBS debut for Mathias Laferriere up front and Sebastian Aho had a planned day off and was replaced by Colton Poolman on defense. Jack St. Ivany was sent back to Wilkes-Barre and Gabe Klassen and Matty De St. Phalle went back to Wheeling.

First Period: Penguins on the board first with a power play goal from Rutger McGroarty and Wilkes-Barre was off and running.

I know I said I wasn’t going to post every goal, but I have to post this one here where Avery Hayes sauced a loooooooong pass to Vasily Ponomarev for a goal and a 2-0 lead.

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But then Angus Crookshank beat Sergei Murashov for a goal and the B-Sens were on the board.

It would become a trend for a bit.

Second Period: Here’s Avery Hayes feeding Ville Koivunen for a goal and the entire arena drowning in the sauce on the pass from Hayes.

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But then Zack MacEwen bled a shot through Murashov that made it a one goal affair again for the visitors.

Tristan Broz answers for a goal, his first in a bit, and that was the end of Leevi Meriläinen, enter Malcom Subban…

…who gives up a goal on the first shot he sees off the stick of Nikolai Knyzhov, and it’s 5-2 Penguins.

It was here that the thought of the team being back hit me. Getting a goal from a defensive defenseman like Knyzhov? Getting goals from all over the place, too? Yeah. I think we need to get the word out there, we are back up.

Third Period: MacEwen gets Murashov again to give the B-Sens a faint hope and it’s a two goal lead again. We aren’t doing this again, are we?

Sam Poulin said nope.

A natural hat trick for Poulin, with him capping it off with 6.3 seconds left and it’s fifteen goals scored for the Penguins.

Three Stars: 3) Joona Koppanen (three assists) 2) Ville Koivunen (goal, two assists) 1) Sam Poulin (hat trick, assist)

The Good: They are drubbing opponents right now at an opportune part of the season.

The Bad: I want to see them win a tight game. I know it isn’t related to the category, but I want to see. them win a nailbiter.

Turning Point: The Knyzhov goal gets it here because that is when the epiphany of, “we are back” hit me.

Around the Division: Hershey and Charlotte win their respective games over Cleveland and Lehigh Valley. Springfield beats Providence 2-1 clean and Toronto beats Bridgeport in OT 3-2.

Standings: Hershey 75 – Penguins 70 – Providence 70 – Charlotte 68 – Springfield 64 – Lehigh Valley 63 – Hartford 53 – Bridgeport 31

Wheeling Update: Nailers get revenge on Adirondack beating them 6-4. Instant impact for Matty De St. Phalle, who had a goal and two assists.

I gave you the video highlights above.

Don’t forget to turn the clocks forward.

More tomorrow with Syracuse.

Let’s Go Pens!