Chirps from Center Ice

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1                                4

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I mean if there ever was a way to start a hockey game, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins followed the blueprint to a tee Saturday night.

Starting on time and getting a goal from Avery Hayes at 7:09 of the first period followed by a Rafaël Harvey-Pinard goal 1:26 later, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins ride that momentum to a 4-1 win over the Syracuse Crunch Saturday night.

The Penguins also got scoring from Gabe Klassen and Matt Dumba, so all the important guys in these four added offense and Sergei Murashov made 26 saves.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Back to the standard 12 forwards. 6 defensemen, Brayden Edwards and Zach Urdahl were back in the lineup for the recalled Rutger McGroarty and the seventh defenseman. Emil Pieniniemi made his AHL debut. Scooter Brickey was scratched and David Breazeale was sent to Wheeling.

First Period: Started on time as mentioned in the open, here’s the Hayes goal off a nice give and go with Owen Pickering.

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Continuing to pepper Fanti, Harvey-Pinard scores to extend it to 2-0 less than two minutes later.

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Things leveled off from there.

Second Period: Things were pretty level and it was falling into a bit of a blah game. Matt Dumba takes a penalty AFTER the Penguins were awarded one, putting the teams on four on four. Just dumb.

But then Dumba atones for the gaffe, and scores here to make it 3-0.

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Sophia…who’s Sophia? Context…

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Can she come to every game?

Third Period: Crunch get one on a power play when Conor Geekie busts up the would be Murashov shutout with a goal here.

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Momentum was starting to slip, as the Penguins were back on a penalty kill. But then Gabe Klassen scores this goal shorthanded to make it 4-1 Penguins.

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Syracuse pulled their goaltender with about four minutes left but didn’t find any goals. Sergei Murashov tried for the empty net, missed wide by about fifteen feet.

Three Stars: 3) Sergei Murashov (26 saves) 2) Gabe Klassen (goal, assist) 1) Matt Dumba (goal, assist)

The Good: Easy when the plan comes together right? Get on them early, stay on them, force mistakes, win the game.

The Bad: Didn’t like how careless they were with the penalties.

Turning Point: The Klassen shorthanded goal took all the air out of the Crunch sails.

Around the Division: Providence wins in Charlotte 4-1….Hershey wins in overtime in Utica 4-3….Springfield beats Hartford 4-1…Lehigh Valley beats Bridgeport 5-3.

Standings: Providence 63 – Penguins 60 – Charlotte 53 – Hershey 47 – Lehigh Valley 46 – Bridgeport 40 – Springfield 38 – Hartford 37

Wheeling Update: Nailers batted back to get it to overtime but lose in Worcester 3-2.

Video Highlights: 

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More Sunday evening after the Pens visit Allentown to take on the Phantoms.

Let’s Go Pens!