Chirps from Center Ice

        @        

5                         2

–

Wilkes-Barre wins 5-2 in Bridgeport against a last place Islanders team that has only won five times at home all season and re-establishes second place in the division and are five off Hershey for the division lead. They can punch their ticket to the postseason with a win Wednesday at home against Hartford.

What a few hours for the Penguins, huh? OT win against the Bears Saturday and then today’s result. Makes the 10-2 thrashing Friday at home against Providence seem like a distant memory, right?

Here’s how they lined up – Bridgeport didn’t post the lines and never do. Where have you gone, Mike Fornabaio?

–

Lineup Notes: Chase Pietila and Dan Renouf for Scooter Brickey and Mac Hollowell on defense and Sam Poulin for Mathias Lafferiere at forward.

First Period: Penguins were peppering Jakub Skarek and scored four times.

Sam Poulin opened the scoring then also chipped in two more assists. Matt Nieto tipped in a Filip Kral shot to make it 2-0, then Valtteri Puustinen layered in a power play goal to make it 3-0 and then Boris Katchouk scored in the final minute to make it 4-0.

It was a boffo period for the Penguins, who had four goals on just eight shots, and the end of Skarek’s services in net. Here’s the goals….

–

Second Period: Henrik Tikkanen took over and calmed things down for the Islanders who clawed back at the tune of two goals from Marshall Warren from a tip from the point and then Alex Jeffries beating Filip Larsson that made what was a comfortable lead on a Sunday afternoon a bit of a nail biter.

Note about these goals, it was the first time the Islander scored a goal against the Penguins since November 16.

Normally now the next goal is vital in these situations.

Zach Gallant, who earned himself a second game, was wrecking shop behind the Islanders net and this chaos found its way to Chase Stillman, who wired home his first as a Penguin to make it 5-2 and give the Penguins some much needed room.

–

Third Period: Quiet period. Penguins killed two penalties and the Islanders got no closer.

Three Stars: 3) Matt Nieto (goal, assist) 2) Sebastian Aho (three assists) 1) Sam Poulin (goal, two assists)

The Good: 3) They go 2-1 on the weekend after getting smashed 10-2 Friday at home against Providence and Filip Larsson gets a confidence building win. They have a chance to punch a ticket to the postseason Wednesday at home against Hartrfod.

The Bad: Did they let off or were they really that bad in that second period where Bridgeport was in control and got two goals?

Turning Point: Obvious here, Stillman’s goal that made it 5-2 gets it here. It was a very big goal.

Around the Division: Shocking that on a Sunday, there were no other teams in action in the Division.

Standings: Hershey 83 – Penguins 78 – Providence 77 – Charlotte 76 – Lehigh Valley 69 – Springfield 66 – Hartford 61 – Bridgeport 35

Wheeling Update: Nailers are out in Indiana taking on the Indy Fuel. Box here.

Video Highlights: Your best bet is here if you really want to see them, but I pretty much gave you the details above.

Power Rankings will be up Monday afternoon. Please check them out when you can.

Let’s Go Pens!