Chirps from Center Ice

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A few seasons ago, Alex Nylander ended the Hershey Bears season in an overtime playoff game playing for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

Sunday night in Game 6, he did it again, but this time he was playing for the opposing Toronto Marlies.

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Wilkes-Barre loses 2-1 in overtime and their season is over in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games. The Marlies, a four seed in the North Division, will advance to the Calder Cup Finals.

Don’t get it twisted, this was their best chance to win a Calder Cup in 27 years. They had it all. They had hot shot prospects at forward, they have a goalie that will be in the NHL next season and they had a solid defense that was tested and next man up. They had no pressure from in front with Pittsburgh making a recall either.

All that goes away when Avery Hayes, Rutger McGroarty, Harrison Brunicke and Sergei Murashobv graduate to full time NHL work next season. My knee jerk reaction is that they are lucky to be a playoff team next season but there’s a whole ECHL team that lost in their Easter Conference Finals that are loading, so all may not be lost.

Still, a disappointing end to a promising postseason ends in heartbreak and disappointment. Again.

Saw a younger fan, maybe in his 20s, utterly gutted and distraught and weeping after the game. I felt like going upon to him and saying, “get used to it kid.”

But that would be rude.

So we have, albeit a shorter summer, to wonder what might have been for this team and this franchise.

Aidan McDonough scored for Wilkes-Barre just six seconds into a power play to give the Pens an early 1-0 lead.

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Where would we be without Aidan McDonough?

In the second, an Easton Coawn goal at 9:11 tied the game.

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The teams stayed cool and Beau Halkidis and Mike Sullivan let them decide it on their own which is admirable, but some things got let go where maybe they shouldn’t have. In Game 6 of an Eastern Conference Finals game is no time to be trying to settle scores on teams full of fake fighters.

In the third, it seemed like the Penguins were on the front foot the entire period but were stymied time and  time again by Artur Akhtyamov in net for Toronto.

In overtime, Sergei Murashov bailed his club out twice, but couldn’t save them deep in overtime after an offensive face off from the Marlies which ended up on the tape of Alex Nylander and into Murashov’s net to end the season.

Three stars were Easton Cowan with a goal, Artur Ahktyamov with 39 saves and Alex Nylander with the series clincher in that order Thanks for the fish.

For posterity and old times sake, here’s how they lined up:

Alex Alexeyev returned from injury. They also swapped Tristan Broz and Gabe Klassen at center.

Here’s the highlights…

101 points and a first round bye is good and all and playoff wins over Hershey and Springfield are fun times, but running into a “hot team” at the “wrong time” always seems to happen here for the Penguins.

I don’t want to complain, because when I complain I start to get sour and when I get sour I question why I do it all. I don’t want to do that. Congrats to the Marlies, the were the better team. Congrats to the Pens on a hell of a season. Them’s the breaks sometimes.

Thanks for reading and following along this season as always if you have been for a while or for the first time. I’m just trying to capture the spirit of the thing.

Talk to you next month on the schedule release, sooner if there is news on realignment which is worth noting and we will do this all again in the fall.

Where’s my bathing suit? I’m jumping in the pool.

Let’s Go Pens!