Chirps from Center Ice

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A pair of third period goals by Tristan Broz lift the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins to a 4-1 win in Allentown against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and give the Penguins a 2-0 start in the season.

Broz also assisted on a first period Aidan McDonough power play goal and it is great to see Broz hit the ground running this early into the season.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: 

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Aaron Huglen and Sebastian Aho (veteran) are the only two healthy players that didn’t see Opening Weekend ice. Scooter Brickey and Taylor Gauthier are week to week with lower body injuries.

First Period: Better start in comparison to last night’s opener. Penguins get a power play and Aidan McDonough nets a goal with a nice shot from the wing that beats Carson Bjarnason that gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

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Phantoms trailed for the first time all season after a pretty dead even period that the Penguins had the slight advantage on due to the McDonough power play marker.

Second Period: Avery Hayes connects on his first of the season on a power play goal, the second of the game for the Penguins.

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I know I said in the Weekend Preview that I didn’t think they would score a power play goal this weekend and they scored two. They look dangerous on early returns and pesky on defense.

Then the Phantoms would score their only goal of the game when Anthony Richard comes flying down the wing like a bat out of hell and gets a shot on Larsson that that the Penguins net minder stops. Avery Hayes sweeps the loose puck out of the crease but right to Helge Grans who fires one past a still swimming in the crease Larsson.

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So the Penguins get beat on two fluke goals this weekend. A tic tac toe goal by Trey Fix-Wolansky last night at home against Hartford and then this sequence with Grans getting a goal.

You’ll take it.

Third Period: Question became if Lehigh Valley scored, it would be a totally different game.

Thankfully, Tristan Broz had other plans.

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Terrible clear attempt by Phantoms captain Garrett Wilson that the Penguins capitalize on. That’s the sign of a good team, a team capitalizing on another puck miscues. How many times did a failed Penguins clear end up getting fished out of their net?

Time dwindled, teams traded some more power play chances, but then Broz scored into an empty net while the Phantoms were chasing hope.

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Good start, I would say. Okay if you like perfect.

Three Stars: 3) Helge Grans (goal) 2) Avery Hayes (goals, assist) 1) Tristan Broz (two goals, assist)

The Good: Perfect start for the team. They clamped down defensively and I think are firing on all cylinders.

The Bad: I know I harp on Wednesday games, but I kind of wish they could stay in the groove here and get back out there Wednesday. We all have to wait until this Friday in Hartford.

Turning Point: The first Broz goal that made it 3-1 gave the Penguins the multi goal lead in the third they desired, and deflated the Phantoms hopes of a comeback after their captain just blindly gave it away. 700+ AHL games for Garrett Wilson, you would think by now he would know better.

Around the Division: Bridgeport gets in the win column with a 6-2 win over the now 0-2 Belleville Senators….Providence beats Charlotte 6-3 and the Bruins are off to a 2-0 start also. Hershey hosts Syracuse for a 5 pm start, box here.

Standings: Still too early, standings page here if you want to look during the week or after that Bears game goes final.

Wheeling Update: Nailers off, get going this weekend this coming Saturday in Cincinnati.

Video Highlights: You will probably need to peck around on the AHL VideoCenter if you really want to see them.

The AHL Power Rankings are back on the shelf. They never turned the numbers I wanted views wise and were too much work for me to put together. Apologies in advance if you looked forward to these. FloHockey has a much more in depth rankings list if you so desire.

Talk to you next Friday for the Weekend Preview.

Let’s Go Pens!