Chirps from Center Ice

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It’s cold as ice in Pennsylvania in a brutal, brutal, winter that seems like it is never ending and relentless.

But Avery Hayes is hotter than the surface of the sun.

He scored two goals in his NHL debut Thursday and on Saturday night in Hershey he scores a hat trick, and with his final shot, breaks his stick and wins the game for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins in overtime on the power play. Penguins win 4-3 in overtime.

Wilkes-Barre hits the All-Star break on 68 points, still three off Providence in the Atlantic Division.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Tanner Howe was given a scheduled day off. He was not injured. This was part of the plan. Ryan McAllister and Zach Gallant however, are injured with upper body injuries (likely concussions) with no timetables but “hopefully nothing too bad” per Nick Hart on radio.

Avery Hayes, Rutger McGroarty, Nolan Renwick were in for those three and Chase Pietila was in for Emil Pieniniemi on defense.

First Period: Avery Hayes didn’t have an NHL hangover. He scored a power play goal and followed that up with a shorthanded goal that gave the Penguins a quick 2-0 lead.

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First shorthanded goal of Hayes’ career.

But the Penguins again, as has been their modus operandi, go out to a quick lead and then it’s a stick foul fest. Ilya Protas finally settled the disastrous power play for Hershey and scored to cut the lead to 2-1.

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Second Period: Ivan Miroshnichenko misses a wide open net but atones and scores on a carryover power play for Hershey that ties the game at two.

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But then the Penguins respond with Melvin Fernström’s first AHL goal that edges the Penguins back ahead 3-2.

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But then Alex Suzdalev ties the game at three and like the Phantoms the night before, the Bears were not going away.

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The silly stick fouls continued, even when the Penguins were on a power play!

Third Period: They went back and forth for the entire period in what was a clean period until when there was :12 left and Ville Koivunen was high sticked. The Bears fans were upset at this because it put the Penguins on a late 4:00 power play that carried over to….

Overtime: Matt Dumba did slash a stick out of a Hershey players hand but the refs let it go (the same Mike Dietrich and Alex Lepkowski from the night before in Allentown) and the Bears fans were irate at this as well, and then Avery Hayes ended it…

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Three Stars: 3) Ilya Protas (goal, assist) 2) Rutger McGroarty (two assists) 1) Avery Hayes (three goals, overtime game winning power play goal)

The Good: Got the sense that the Penguins were more in control of the game tonight then they were Friday in Allentown. Friday was fly by the seat of your pants. Saturday was more controlled chaos, as it were.

The Bad: Two tripping penalties and a double minor for high sticking. Stick fouls! Cool it with the stick fouls! Your luck will run out!

Turning Point: Hayes’ third goal is the obvious choice here.

Around the Division: So of course the Providence Bruins also go to overtime and win, but this was in a shootout 2-1 over the Hartford Wolf Pack….Springfield loses 5-1 in Toronto…Charlotte loses 5-2 to Grand Rapids….Lehigh Valley loses 5-1 in Bridgeport.

Standings: Providence 71 – Penguins 68 – Charlotte 55 – Herhsey 48 – Lehigh Valley 46 – Bridgeport 45 – Springfield 38 – Hartford 38

Wheeling Update: The Nailers had a big night at home, winning 6-0 over the Cincinnati Cyclones. Max Pavlenko had a 31 save shutout. Daniel Laatsch had a goal, Matty De St. Phalle had two assists, Zach Urdahl had a goal, Brayden Edwards had a goal and an assist. Yeah, a big night.

Video Highlights: No one told me I could go straight to YouTube and look for video highlights straight from the team! Going forward, as long as they are there when I get to this point of the blog, I should be able to run them here.

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Enjoy the All-Star break. Pens are back in action next Saturday against Syracuse on Valentine’s Day the home against Cleveland next Sunday looking to chase down Providence. Have a great week, and I will be back here next Friday with the Weekend Preview.

Let’s Go Pens!