Chirps from Center Ice

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It’s the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins 40th win of the season, second time that Kirk MacDonald has achieved same as the Penguins outlast the Laval Rocket 3-1 on Saturday night.

I think that Avery Hayes is the straw that stirs the drink and it’s no coincidence that they are winning again with Hayes in the lineup.

But the bigger story is where would the team be without Aidan McDonough? More on that in a minute.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Next time I am putting the Weekend Preview out five minutes before puck drop because Avery Hayes and Joona Koppanen were sent back to Wilkes-Barre and it was Rutger McGroarty that went up. Melvin Fernstrom (injured), Ville Koivunen and McGroarty (recall) out, Zack Urdahl, Nolan Renwick and Raivis Ansons in. No changes on defense.

First Period: Wilkes-Barre held Laval without a shot till 13:56, outshooting the Rocket 8-0 at that time but it squared up after that.

An Avery Hayes shorthanded goal made it 1-0 Penguins.

Hayes scored on Hunter Shepard, and you’ll never convince me that he doesn’t look like Groucho Marx.

Also, no one under 50 gets the reference but let’s move on….

Second Period: Laval fired 17 shots on Sergei Murashov and he kept the Penguins in it and the Rocket out of the net.

But then the Penguins started running into problems with the officiating, Jack Young in particular who awarded the Rocket three consecutive power plays. He called a tacky tack hook call on Atley Calvert like it was a 5-0 whitewashing and this further incensed the Penguins when Alex Belzile scored.

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Wilkes-Barre will see Young again Sunday, just so you know.

Remember when I was saying about Aidan McDonough?

14 seconds later…

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Easily the MVP of the team min my opinion. Where would the Penguins be if not for Aidan McDonough? Time and time again he has come through in the clutch for this team.

Third Period: An excellent defensive play by Finn Harding in his own zone and outlet pass to Avery Hayes sees Hayes score his second of the game and give the Penguins a 3-1 lead that Laval would never be able to overcome.

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Late, a yeoman like shift turned in by Alex Alexeyev who, without a skate blade, manages to block a couple shots and keep Laval from scoring with Shepard pulled.

Three Stars: 3) Aidan McDonough (goal) 2) Sergei Murashove (33 saves) 1) Avery Hayes (two goals, assist)

The Good: Playoff like atmosphere and playoff like intensity from two teams who have already punched their ticket. Last regular season meeting between these two teams, perhaps they meet up again in about two months?

The Bad: I don’t want to whine about officiating in a 3-1 win so I won’t, but it was questionable at best at times.

Turning Point: That McDonough goal gets it here and I get a sense it may be bigger then just a turning point in this game, but a turning point in the season.

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley beats Hershey 4-2…Charlotte beats Hartford 2-1 in overtime..Providence beats Bridgeport 6-4.

Standings: Providence 99 – Penguins 88 – Charlotte 81 – Hershey 65 – Bridgeport 64 – Lehigh Valley 62 – Springfield 62 – Hartford 55

Wheeling Update: Nailers lead the Worcester Railers 2-1 late in the third when this goes up at about 9:50 p.m. on the blog. Box here.

Video Highlights:

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More Sunday after the Phantoms drop in.

Let’s Go Pens!