Chirps from Center Ice

         @        

5                            1

–

I guess I spoke it into existence in the Weekend Preview when I mentioned that Tristan Broz’s dry spell was concerning. A goal and two assists in the last ten games for Broz.

Friday night in Charlotte, though, a completely different story.

Broz records a goal and three assists, and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins rout the Charlotte Checkers 5-1. Sergei Murashov had 21 saves. Matt Dumba led the defensemen with a +3 rating in his best game as a Penguin. Just an overall fantastic night and a hell of a way to snap a three game losing skid.

Here’s how they lined up:

–

Lineup Notes: Gabe Klassen returned from injury. Ville Koivunen returned from Pittsburgh and Zach Urdahl made AHL debut. Max Graham, Brayden Edwards and Raivis Ansons were out. D pairings were exactly the same from Saturday in Syracuse.

Raivis Ansons was injured in Syracuse and is week to week with an upper body injury. The rest of them are status quo. Daniel Laatsch week to week lower. Aidan McDonough day to day upper. Sebastian Aho week to week lower. Alex Alexyev day to day upper. Avery Hayes week to week upper. No word on why Joel Blomqvist isn’t backing up.

First Period: At the expiration of a power play, Tristan Broz scores a goal that gives the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

–

Great back check, steal and snipe by Broz. Well overdue.

Zach Gallant trucked Cooper Black late in the period with help on a back checking Jack Devine. All hell broke loose after that and Gallant was assessed a penalty. I thought that this action had a direct affect on the next thing I am about to describe to you that happened in the…

Second Period: Matt Dumba ripped a shot that beat Cooper Black, but Zach Gallant was in the crease of the Charlotte goaltender. Referee Damian Figueira washed the goal out immediately.

No one knows what goaltender interference is and you are lying to yourself if you know what it is. But I thought that was interesting that Gallant’s hijinks in the first may have had some bearing on whether Figueira let the goal stand or not.

Boko Imama ripped a shot that left no doubt…

–

Big goal for the Penguins who get some breathing room and it’s always fun like a guy like Boko Imama scores on the opposition.

Third Period: The Penguins jump out to a four goal lead and Tristan Broz led the charge.

He sets up Gabe Klassen for this goal here that makes it 3-0.

–

Good to see Klassen pick up where he left off before his injury with the hot stick.

Broz then set up Valtteri Puustinen who scored on a backhander and it was 4-0….

–

Off the face-off, ok sure whatever Alex Steeves scores to spoil the. would be Murashov shutout.

–

But then Broz picks up a secondary assist on an Atley Calvert goal that came of off a rebound of a Valtteri Puustinen shot.

–

Three Stars: 3) Valtteri Puustinen (goal, assist) 2) Atley Calvert (goal, assist) 1) Tristan Broz (goal, three assists)

The Good: Great to see them all pulling the same rope in this game, which resulted in a rout of their opponent.

The Bad: 0/5 on the power play. What was once a power play in the top half of the AHL in efficiency, has fallen all the way down to 31st out of 32 teams.

Turning Point: It’s the Imama goal that gets it here. Close game on a razors edge and here’s Imama like a bull in a china shop trucking his way in and scoring a goal. This opened the game up a bit and Broz took advantage.

Around the Division: Providence beats Bridgeport 4-1 and Springfield smokes Hartford 7-4.

Standings: Penguins and Bruins 49 – Lehigh Valley 40 – Charlotte 38 – Hershey 33 – Springfield 32 – Hartford and Bridgeport 27

Wheeling Update: Nailers with a nice 4-3 win at home against Trois-Rivières. Brent Johnson and Tommy Budnick with goals, Taylor Gauthier stopped 24 of 27.

Video Highlights: AHL VideoCenter is your best bet.

Back at it Saturday at 6 in Charlotte. Fun fact for you, the home team has yet to win in this series. We will see if that changes tomorrow. Talk to you then.

Let’s Go Pens!