Chirps from Center Ice

         vs.        

4                               3

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In what seemed like a 12 round prize fight where you had two really good teams exchanging blows all fight, it was Cleveland Monsters Captain Brendan Gaunce’s overtime game winning goal that puts the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins down for the 10 count as they lose 4-3 in overtime Sunday afternoon.

There was a lot to like in comparison to Saturday’s fiasco, but that is clearing a low bar. The Providence Bruins keep winning, and they did again today in overtime against Bridgeport and extend their lead on the Penguins even more now.

I heard someone say that the Penguins are happy with being in second and I think that’s a lie. Why would you be content with second? They want to win the division, but with the games in hand Providence has and the points lead, coupled with the fact they can’t seem to lose, it’s an uphill battle. Maybe in mid-April with a handful of games left, sure I may agree with you but not when you have a whole half of the season to go yet.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Aaron Huglen for Atley Calvert was the only lineup change.

First Period: Shades of the night before, the visitors get an early goal, this time with Max McCue scoring his first of the season that gave the Monsters an early 1-0 lead…

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But in comes Rutger McGroarty who scored at the expiration of a Penguins power play to even things at one a side.

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In contrast to the night before, I thought McGroarty had a fine game. Again, low bar in comparison.

:22 into a Monsters power play Owen Sillinger scored to edge Cleveland ahead 2-1…

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However a cross up defensively by Cleveland sees Ville Koivunen score into an empty net that tied things at two…

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Punch, counterpunch type of period.

Second Period: Low shot at 9:56 from Mikael Pyyhtiä beats Joel Blomqvist and that was all for him, enter Sergei Murashov.

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I think that something needed to be done as a culmination of how the weekend and this game in particular had gone. Not so much an indictment on the play of Blomqvist as much as an indictment of the team in whole.

It seemed to work because the Monsters didn’t get another shot in the period but the Penguins didn’t score either.

The punching and counterpunching continued but the Pens were down on all the cards heading into the…

Third Period: The Penguins lost Matt Dumba in the second period after Dumba took a puck straight in the mouth that cast some of his teeth onto the ice. That means that they had to go five defensemen.

Emil Pieniniemi stepped up and scored his first goal of the season that tied the game at three.

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Full disclosure with this next one, I didn’t know that Avery Hayes had this in his repertoire….

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Wow.

Anyway, about as even as you can get type of a game that went into…

Overtime: Monsters win a defensive zone draw, skate it up the ice and well…

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Ballgame.

Three Stars: 3) Mikael Pyyhtiä (goal) 2) Ville Koivunen (goal, assist) 1) Brendan Gaunce (goal, two assists)

The Good: In spite of the weekend, they got a point that they probably didn’t deserve.

The Bad: How much time to I have? The power play is a disaster despite scoring on one today and now the penalty kill is slipping into a bad area as well. Despite having a goal and and assist, I thought Ville Koivunen had a frustrating weekend and was selfish in overtime when he could have passed to Hayes for a good opportunity.

Turning Point: Gaunce’s goal gets it here, as they normally do.

Around the Division: Gave you the Providence result at the top. It was 2-0 Providence, Bridgeport made a goalie change, scored the next two, but the Bruins win 3-2 in overtime….Hartford and Charlotte got postponed to tomorrow on account of a leaky roof in Charlotte and Lehigh Valley loses 3-1 to Syracuse.

Standings: Providence 75 – Penguins 69 – Charlotte 55 – Hershey 50 – Bridgeport and Lehigh Valley 46 – Springfield 42 – Hartford 40

Wheeling Update: Nailers and Reading Royals are tied late as this goes up at 7 p.m. Sunday. Box here.

Video Highlights: 

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Back at it Wednesday in Springfield. Weekend Preview here around lunchtime Wednesday. Talk to you then.

Let’s Go Pens!

          vs.          

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Not much to this one, a 5-0 Syracuse Crunch throttling of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins on Saturday night where the Penguins put up a tepid 16 shots on goal the entire game. Light and easy work for Syracuse goaltender Brandon Halverson, who wasn’t tested at all and wasn’t named one of the three stars.

No, that honor went to Cooper Flinton, who had a pair of goals and was named first star of the game.

Just an absolute, lifeless, tepid effort out of the Penguins who do not match up well against Syracuse and Charlotte, two teams I do not give them any shot at getting past if they meet in a Calder Cup Playoffs matchup.

Nothing went right, every line sucked, and Sergei Murashov is the only reason the game wasn’t 15-0.

Here’s how they lined up, I’ll give the Syracuse goals and then let’s toss this one in the bin where it belongs and get ready for Cleveland on Sunday.

https://twittter.com/SyracuseCrunch/status/2022805552238145687

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Lineup Notes: Tanner Howe and Joona Koppanen (back from injury) for Aaron Huglen and Nolan Renwick up front, Emil Pieniniemi for Alex Alexeyev on defense. Renwick and Scooter Brickey were sent back to Wheeling earlier in the day. Alex Alexeyev was listed again as injured.

Okay Blog Boy, show me the Syracuse Goals: Flinton got the scoring started for the Crunch at 8:10

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And then Matteo Pietroniro scores with 8.3 seconds left in the first off of a puck that ricochets off of Murashov which made it 2-0.

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In the second, :15 into a Pieniniemi offensive zone penalty, Dylan Duke nets his league leading 14th power play goal (he’s tied with other players) that made it 3-0.

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They put up more of a defensive pushback in the period, but received no offense.

They score two goals four minutes apart in the third period on a back end of a two man advantage as Mitchell Chaffee scored and then Cooper Flinton scored his brace that made it 5-0.

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Ay, Carumba!

Three stars were Conor Geekie with three assists, Jakob Pelletier with three assists and Cooper Flinton with his two goals in that order.

The Good: Sergei Murashov kept it semi-manageable late.

The Bad: They seemed disjointed top to bottom. Missing passes, overskating, just not into it. A crowd of almost 6,000 tonight? Way to make fans, guys.

Turning Point: The Pietroniro goal that made it 2-0 killed any momentum they were building or tried to build.

Around the Division: Providence erases an 0-2 deficit in Bridgeport to win their 11th straight game 4-2 to put more daylight between first place which they occupy and the Penguins….Charlotte loses at home 3-2 to Hartford. Cleveland (here Sunday) beats Lehigh Valley 5-2 and Hershey beats Belleville in Ontario 6-3. Springfield beats the Iowa Wild 8-6.

Standings: Providence 73 – Penguins 68 – Charlotte 55 – Hershey 50 – Lehigh Valley 46 – Bridgeport 45 – Springfield 42 and Hartford 40

Wheeling Update: Box for the Nailers / Royals game is here as this is still in action as this blog goes up around 9:45 p.m. on Saturday night.

Video Highlights:

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Back at it for a hopeful better result against Cleveland Sunday. More then.

Let’s Go Pens!

          @          

4                            3

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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!

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6                              5

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It would have really sucked if the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins squandered a Matt Dumba hat trick of all things and somehow found a way to lose Friday night in Allentown against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

But it’s the third Dumba goal that stands up as the game winner as Wilkes-Barre wins 6-5 in a nail biter that shouldn’t have been over the Phantoms.

Glass half full, the Penguins were in control all night and the issue was never in doubt.

Glass half empty, they took way too many penalties and gave the Phantoms a pathway to mount a comeback.

Look, they are only going to run into better teams come playoff time with really good power plays. They can escape against middling Phantoms and Bears teams but when they run into a Providence, Charlotte or a team with a top five power play (Rochester, Belleville) they are going to run into problems.

Kirk MacDonald is a hell of a coach, so I have full confidence he can coach this out of them.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Tons of news here. Daniel Laatsch was assigned to Wheeling yesterday. Ryan McAllister was signed to an AHL contract by the Penguins yesterday. Previously he had been with the Charlotte Checkers and had his contract terminated by NHL Florida. Avery Hayes went up to Pittsburgh, scored two goals, and was re-assigned with Rutger McGroarty Friday. Those two were out of the lineup because you can’t have Hayes play four straight games. Brayden Edwards and Zach Urdhal were shipped to Wheeling Friday.

Jeez. That’s a lot. But we aren’t done yet.

Alex Alexeyev and Tristan Broz returned from injury, Ryan McAllister and Melvin Fernström made their AHL debuts. They replaced Nolan Renwick, Avery Hayes and Zach Urdahl. Chase Pietila came out for Alexeyev on defense. Broz ends up missing 7 games, Alexeyev, 22.

Kirk MacDonald has his hands full with these lineup decisions.

How to Read Tea Leaves: When the AHL announced a number of changes to the Atlantic Division All-Star lineup and Tristan Broz wasn’t replaced, that gave me hope that he would play in this weekends games. Turns out I was right.

First Period: Matt Dumba and Ville Koivunen scored in the first 4:11 of the game. Melvin Fernström went to the top line with Broz and Koivunen and that line produced the first two goals of the game in their first two shifts of the game.

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But then the Penguins started taking dumb penalties again but navigated through them cleanly. They were awarded a power play but Emil Pieniniemi misplays a puck which leads to a Tucker Robertson shorthanded goal that put the Phantoms on the board.

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Second Period: Phantoms tie the game on a Max Guenette goal from around the same spot that Dumba scored from in the first period.

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Matt Dumba scored his second of the night off a really nice feed from Melvin Fernström again and the Penguins edged ahead 4-3.

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But then Phil Tomasino scored against his old team when a Devin Kaplan shot hits the post and rebounds straight to Tomasino for what was an empty net goal.

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3-3 at the end of two periods. The Phantoms were hanging around like an unwanted houseguest and it was getting annoying.

Third Period: Wilkes-Barre finally stepped on the gas and got a goal from Aidan McDonough from a low angle after an Atley Calvert shot missed the net and caromed back to McDonough for the goal and then Rafaël Harvey-Pinard on a delayed penalty where Alex Alexeyev busts up a Grade A Phantoms bid and sweeps the puck out to Gabe Klassen who was hooked on a breakaway.

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Matt Dumba then scores his first ever professional hat trick for his fourth point of the night.

I take back all the bad things I said about the guy. That tête-à-tête he had with that fan he scored a goal for a week ago flipped a switch in him and he’s been playing otherworldly since.

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But here come the Phantoms again.

After Garrett Wilson bloodies Ryan McAllister with a high hit and then fights and crumbles Zach Gallant, the Phantoms connect on the ensuing power play that referees Mike Dietrich and Alex Lepkowski put them on with a Lane Pederson power play goal that made it 6-4.

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In case you are wondering, Dietrich and Lepkowski are the assigned scheduled officials Saturday in Hershey.

This seemingly gave the Phantoms life, as after back to back penalties by the Penguins they had momentum to score a fifth with their goaltender pulled with a Jacob Gaucher goal that made it 6-5.

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They would not, however, find the equalizing goal.

Goodness.

Three Stars: 3) Maxence Guenette (goal, assist) 2) Ville Koivunen (goal, two assists) 1) Matt Dumba (three goals, assist)

The Good: Goaltending won them the game. Goaltending won them the game Wednesday also.

The Bad: 

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If I am Blomqvist I am swinging that pick axe at the dopes that took all those stupid penalties in the third period.

Turning Point: The third Dumba goal gets it here because it ended up winning them the game.

Around the Division: Charlotte shuts out Grand Rapids 3-0…..Utica beats Bridgeport in a shootout 2-1….Providence beats Hartford 3-1….Rochester shuts out Springfield 4-0.

Standings: Providence 69 – Penguins 66 – Charlotte 55 – Hershey 47 – Lehigh Valley 46 – Bridgeport 43 – Springfield 38 – Hartford 37

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 3-2 in a shootout against the Indy Fuel.

Video Highlights: I think I gave you the list of it above what with 11 goals.

They are in action Saturday in Hershey. More after that then it’s the All-Star break.

          vs.          

4                               1

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Wilkes-Barre / Scranton wins 4-1 Wednesday night against their rival the Hershey Bears to keep pace with the Providence Bruins who also won 2-1 in Bridgeport.

Sergei Murashov was named first star of the game with 30 saves and the AHL All-Star goaltender kept his team in the game.

After a scoreless two periods, the Penguins offense roared to life, scoring four goals. Your goaltender keeps you in it and then your offense starts to roll downhill. Simple, really.

Tanner Howe scored his first professional goal in just his second game. Good night otherwise to have a name that starts with A, as Aaron Huglen, Avery Hayes and Aidan McDonough also scored for Wilkes-Barre.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: The only change was in net, as Sergei Murashov got the start. Filip Larsson went unclaimed on waivers and had his contract terminated. He is now a free agent.

First Period: There’s a special teams problem. The Penguins killed two penalties in a scoreless first, then three more in a scoreless second.

Sergei Murashov though, was dialed in.

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His best save of the night, right there.

Second Period: Herhsey found themselves on the good end of a five on three for 1:19 and after a Derek King time out, the Penguins were able to successfully kill the whole thing.

You would think that this momentum would translate into a goal for the Penguins, but you would be wrong.

I thought that referees Andrew Bell and Patrick Hanrahan were okay. Not great, but just okay. Kind of like how the crowds are better on weekends and so-so on worknights, these two aren’t winning any awards and won’t work the All-Star Classic or deep into this years playoffs. They were just okay.

Tonight’s crowd though, announced at 4,112, was great. More people than usual for a Wednesday game. You love to see it.

Third Period: Finally, some offense!

Aaron Huglen throws a rather innocuous shot at Mitch Gibson who misreads it and it’s a 1-0 Penguins lead.

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But then a Grant Cruikshank unassisted goal ties it for Hershey.

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Hershey doesn’t have many household names left, but this guy always ends up agitating the Penguins. Heck of a player.

Penguins then go on a power play and it’s Avery Hayes near post that scores to make it 2-1…

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Then Tanner Howe tips in a Chase Pietila shot off of a media timeout and it’s 3-1.

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:57 later, a fantastic effort by Aidan McDonough to score to put it out of reach for Hershey and get the humanoids in attendance all free coffee at Abide Coffeehouse in Downtown Wilkes-Barre.

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Three Stars: 3) Tanner Howe (goal) 2) Avery Hayes (goal) 1) Sergei Murashov (30 saves)

The Good: 5/5 on the kill and they scored a power play goal. Special teams didn’t win them the game tonight, but it didn’t lose it, either.

The Bad: 5/5 on the kill. Yeah, the refs were iffy, but they have to cool it with the carelessness. A team with a lethal power play will make them pay.

Turning Point: In a game that chased it for a while, I kept coming back to the 1:19 of two man that Hershey squandered. If they get one here, it’s a different story.

Around the Division: You already know that Providence won because I gave it to you in the first paragraph. Syracuse beats Springfield in the other out of town divisional game 4-3.

Standings: Providence 67 – Penguins 64 – Charlotte 53 – Hershey 47 – Lehigh Valley 46 – Bridgeport 42 – Springfield 38 – Hartford 37

Wheeling Update: Nailers are back home and back in the win column with a 3-2 overtime win over Fort Wayne. Taylor Gauthier stopped FIFTY THREE shots for the Nailers.

Video Highlights: 

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More Friday after the visit to the Phantoms.

Let’s Go Pens!