Chirps from Center Ice

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5                              2

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Two goals by Atley Calvert, including one in the third period which gives the Penguins a cushion again and a power play goal snipe by Avery Hayes in the second see the Penguins start the season 3-0 with a 5-2 win Friday night in Hartford.

They were in control in the first period, going up 2-0 on a goal from Calvert and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, go up 3-0 in the second on the Hayes power play goal then Hartford makes it too close for comfort by getting tip in goals from Gabe Perrreault in the second and Adam Sýkora in the third before Calvert scores a big goal to make it 4-2. Tristan Broz’s 180′ empty netter ices the affair.

I don’t want to call it battle tested three games into a 76 game haul, but it seemed that way Friday. We will see how they do Saturday in Bridgeport.

Here’s how they lined up. The Wolf Pack didn’t post a lines graphic.

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Lineup Notes: Gabe Klassen, Matty DeSt Phalle and Valtteri Puustinen drew out for Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, Raivis Ansons and Aaron Huglen. Pinard replacesd Puustinen, Ansons; Klassen and Huglen; DSP. No changes on defense.

200th AHL game for Sam Poulin.

First Period: Wild early sequence. Penguins had :59 of two-man advantage. Hartford killed that off and then Sergei Murashov had to make a shorthanded stop on a breakaway.

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Right after that, Chase Pietila finds a streaking Harvey-Pinard down the slot and he scores.

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I want to see him get going and make it impossible to take him out of the lineup. He counts as a veteran and the Penguins have a ton of them.

Then Hartford gets loose in trying to clear and then Atley Calvert makes them pay.

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But for that little shorthanded blip, a good start!

Second Period: Avery Hayes continues to stay hot with another power play goal to show for his young season early in the period…

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NHL type release there. It will not be long until he’s playing there too.

I don’t know if Hartford slowed the game down by speeding it up or if this sentence makes a lick of sense, but the momentum started to shift a tad as the period wore on and then Gabe Perreault scored on a tip in front that put Hartford on the board at 16:24.

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First five-on-five goal allowed by the Pens this season.

A strong finish was not only needed but required.

Third Period: A bit of a stronger response by Hartford was the result to start the final frame when Adam Sýkora scored on a double deflection in front to bring the Wolf Pack to within one.

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Fifteen seconds later, Phil Kemp was in the box for a high sticking infarction. I thought Matt Mannella and Riley Brace were fine by the way the way they ran things. Careless penalty by Kemp, but Wilkes-Barre manages to get through unscathed.

Atley Calvert with a big, big goal at 11:53 gives the Penguins their multi-goal lead again.

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Just throw it at the net sometimes and it will find its way in.

Penguins take a puck over glass infarction (Calvert) but managed to survive that with Garand pulled for the extra attacker. Tristan Broz scored from about 180′ away into the empty net to ensure that the Hartford home opener is spoiled.

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Three Stars: 3) Avery Hayes (power play goal) 2) Gabe Perreault (goal) 1) Atley Calvert (two goals)

The Good: They are capitalizing on mistakes the opponent is making, forcing those mistakes and winning hockey games. It’s a honeymoon period that usually happens around these parts this time of year. Keep it going.

The Bad: I don’t Hartford is going to be good this year, but they nearly coughed up a 3-0 lead to a team that they would have had no business coughing up anything to. A 3-0 start is aces, but still a lot of stuff to fine tune as the season gets going.

Turning Point: The Calvert third period goal is the obvious choice here and a very big goal given the circumstances. Teams that get off to starts like these have guys that are mainstays in the lineup. Calvert is making a claim to be one of those guys you pencil in night after night.

Around the Division: Hershey and Springfield were idle. Lehigh Valley shuts out Cleveland in the Monsters home opener 3-0 behind 35 saves by Alexei Kolosov….Providence stays undefeated with a 5-3 win in Bridgeport and Charlotte beats the still winless Iowa Wild 6-2.

Standings: Penguins and Providence 6, Lehigh Valley and Charlotte 4, Bridgeport 3, Hershey 1 and Springfield and Hartford 0.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers see their season get going Saturday in Cincinnati against the Cyclones. Cyclones in Cincinnati? Huh?

Video Highlights: To the AHL VideoCenter you will go once the highlights post there. I don’t know why teams don’t tweet links. I’m glad the Penguins do.

Back at it Saturday at 7 in Bridgeport. Talk to you then.

Let’s Go Pens!