Chirps from Center Ice

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So we had the, “where would we be without Aidan McDonough?” question in the regular season as the Penguins owe a large part of their regular season success to the Penguins forward.

Now, especially in this best of five Atlantic Division Finals series against this never say die Springfield Thunderbirds team, the question becomes where would we be without Bill Zonnon?

Another goal for the 19 year old in this series stands as the game winner as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins win Game 3 2-1 and have a 2-1 series lead and can advance to the Eastern Conference Finals with a win in Game 4 on Wednesday.

You know that the Thunderbirds will be playing with fire in their pants and will not go away quietly, so dial in and hope you don’t have to prepare for a clench your butt deciding Game 5 Saturday in Wilkes-Barre.

Here’s how they lined up….

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Lineup Notes: Boko Imama for Raivis Ansons was the only change on the fourth line.

First Period: Had a Game 1, Period 1 vibe that I picked up early on with the two teams seemingly feeling each other out or at the very least reacquainting themselves since last playing last Thursday.

Both teams killed each others power plays then Springfield went on a late power play and then Rutger McGroarty capitalizes here…

Second Period: Wilkes-Barre outshoots the Thunderbirds 12-4, Rutger McGroarty has another breakaway, but Georgii Romanov denies all comers in a period where it felt like the Penguins threw the kitchen sink at the Thunderbirds and it was still a one goal lead.

One thing I noticed was that we have a ton of smooth skating defensemen that can wheel around guys like they are standing still, but refuse to shoot when they have an open lane. Why not? Is it fear of a big rebound caroming the other way? Maybe. I still find it mildly annoying however.

Third Period: Wilkes-Barre was up 3-0 heading into the third period in Game 2 and coughed it up and the Thunderbirds rallied and won the game.

I didn’t see those same mistakes in the third period of this game, and largely in part to the fact it was just a 1-0 game.

Enter Bill Zonnon.

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So this should cement Kirk MacDonald’s lines for the remainder of this series at least. I think he made a bit of a mistake going with Raivis Ansons in Game 2, and I kind of feel sorry for Ansons as he’s like the odd man out. Boko Imama put it on a platter for the Penguins neophyte, and he buried it.

It ended up being a big goal, as Springfield would get another fluke late goal when Juraj Pekarcik’s shot somehow finds its way in.

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I don’t know how, but as has been the case in these Calder Cup Playoffs, Springfield finds a way.

The teams traded a pair of late goaltender interface calls and with Thunderbirds goaltender Georgii Romanov pulled, Springfield was not able to find the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Juraj Pekarcik (goal) 2) Rutger McGroarty (goal) 1) Bill Zonnon (goal)

The Good: Methodical road victory for Wilkes-Barre / Scranton who were dialed in from the drop, faced late adversity but didn’t break and can exterminate their opponent on Thursday.

The Bad: Nitpicking your goaltender not getting a shutout in a game where he kind of deserved one with the way he and his team played is a stretch.

Turning Point: Wouldn’t know it at the time, but the Zonnon goal early in the third gets it here.

Ice Chips: It was in the low 90s in Springfield and I thought they were giving the appearance of skating in sand for stretches in the period….refs Ben Betker and Mike Sullivan stayed out of the way for the most part, I didn’t like the late goaltender interference penalty on Gabe Klassen and felt it was take it or leave it but it set the table for Dylan Peterson’s goaltender interference penalty on Murashov at 17:08, so what was good for the goose was good for the gander.

Video Highlights: 

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Pens can play Orkin men (or Terminix, or Ehrlich, you get the idea) on Thursday and can put this pesky Thunderbirds team away for good with a solid sixty minutes.

More Thursday with a shot to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Let’s Go Pens!