Chirps from Center Ice

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5                                2

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The problem that they had Wednesday was that they were the better team at five on five but ran into a hot goalie and had a $2.6M/ year defenseman do them no favors and they lost in overtime.

They were the better team Friday in Hershey and scrapped and clawed to even it in the third and win it in a shootout.

They were not the better team Saturday, as the Charlotte Checkers come in and pummel the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins 5-2.

It was men against boys in the second period where the Checkers outshot the Penguins 20-3 and scored on two delay of game penalties that the Penguins took.

Joel Blomqvist started and wasn’t the problem. The game would have gotten way out of hand if not for his efforts. The Checkers needed dirty goals to beat him and got them on deflections with sticks and defensemans skates.

The honeymoon at the top of the division is probably over as well, as the lack of true scoring was prevalent and teams, Charlotte included, that have games in hand on the Penguins.

We’ll see. What matters really is the top two spots in the division for the bye. Winning the division would be great but is overall meaningless in the broader scope.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Zach Urdahl took warmups, but he comes out for Scooter Brickey as they went seven defensemen.

First Period: Penguins nose ahead on a Gabe Klassen goal after a yeoman-like keep in from Rutger McGroarty who passed to Ville Koivunen who shot it and Klassen was there for the rebound goal that put Wilkes-Barre on the board first at 13:10.

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But then the Checkers even it up in the final minute of the period when Hunter St. Martin centers a puck to MacKenzie Entwistle which deflected in.

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Second Period: The avalanche!

Checkers score :31 in as Ben Steeves deflects a Michael Benning shot and it’s 2-1.

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Joel Blomqvist had highlight save after highlight save, keeping his team in it. Finally Finn Harding takes a puck over glass penalty and Jack Studnicka scores and then Scooter Brickey did the same and a Robert Mastrosimone pass across the low side is deflected off of the skate of Matt Dumba that makes it 4-1.

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No, before you ask, I am not burying Dumba there. Just bad luck and a worse time.

Third Period: Aidan McDonough takes an Avery Hayes centering pass and the Penguins are back within two.

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Penguins have a late power play to get it within one, but the Checkers kill it and the guy that took the penalty (Wilmer Skoog) comes out of the box and Jack Studnicka finds him for an empty net goal.

No GIF here but there was some bad blood and some fighting. They showed more fight here then they did the whole third when they were having their heads indirectly kicked in.

Same thing at the buzzer, where Boko Imama had words and needed to be held back by linesman John Rey (who is jacked by the way) against a handful of Checkers players. Again, more fight where it doesn’t matter vs. fight where it does.

Three Stars: 3) MacKenzie Entwistle (goal) 2) Noah Gregor (two assists) 1) Wilmer Skoog (goal, assist)

The Good: I thought Rutger McGroarty played well when he was out there, but he didn’t really have a lot of help. He also tries the same shot all the time.

The Bad: They are not good against Charlotte. I didn’t like the lack of a pushback when it was shift after shift after shift in their own zone in the second.

Turning Point: The Mastrosimone goal that went off of Dumba’s skate gets it here. Different story if they kill it off there and get the McDonough goal.

Around the Division: Providence comes back from down 0-2 to win 4-3 in a shootout against Bridgeport….A Jan Jenik goal is all the Belleville Senators need to beat the Springfield Thunderbirds as they win 1-0. Leevi Meriläinen, who beat the Penguins Wednesday, makes 40 saves and what the hell, it gives me another blog entry to type out Leevi Meriläinen.

The rest of them are still in the third as this goes up. Toronto leads Hartford here and Lehigh Valley leads Herhsey here.

Standings: Providence 59 – Penguins 58 – Charlotte 51 — the rest we really can’t do because they are still in action.

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 5-2 to Reading. Max Pavlenko started the game but was replaced to start the second by Taylor Gauthier, who took the loss, stopping 15.

Video Highlights: Are probably out there if you want to find them. I gave you the pertinents above.

They get a week off and hopefully can get guys back because this isn’t sustainable.

I may have something for you this week on the blog I have been kicking around idea wise. Stay tuned.

Let’s Go Pens!