Chirps from Center Ice

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A perfect six point weekend thanks to a 5-1 win Sunday afternoon over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms have the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins just four points off the Providence Bruins.

Now the Bruins will have a game in hand on the Penguins, but for the Penguins the inconceivable is now believable and the Penguins may have a shot at a first round bye.

To get there however, they will need to get through Hershey, whom they play twice next weekend in a home and home.

But let’s talk about that next weekend.

Here’s how they lined up:

 

Lineup Notes: Jansen Harkins was down on an unannounced conditioning stint. He and Matthew Quercia were in for Jagger Joshua and Logan Pietila with Taylor Fedun in for Owen Headrick.

First Period: Penalty marred first, set the tone for the game with the way that it went. The Penguins got a shorthanded goal from Jack Rathbone that put them on the board first off a very nice feed from Avery Hayes.

Joel Blomqvist was sharp, really all game, and had three stops late all in quick succession.

Second Period: Penguins get a power play goal just :11 in from Vinnie Hinostroza.

Big news coming out of the game was the uncalled knee on knee hit that Garrett Wilson threw on Ty Smith.

You be the judge here. It was away from the play, predatory, and Smith didn’t return to the game.

On the very next shift, referees Mike Sullivan and Mike Zyla nabbed Wilson for a booking penalty putting the Penguins on the power play.

I’ve seen refs at this level come and go. Seen it all from good ones like Jeff Smith and Jim Curtain to abstract disasters like Nygel Pelletier, Dave Banfield and others. It usually follows a pattern. They get an NHL contract (Banfield was one of the refs involved in that Pens / Islanders fiasco from years ago) are so inept at the action at the NHL level that their contract isn’t renewed and it leaves them to toil in the minors for the rest of their lives. Banfield. Reid Anderson is another I can think of off the top of my head who was NHL contracted, fired, and now finishing out his career as a ref back in the AHL. Well, Mike Sullivan is one also. What’s likely the case here is his NHL contract isn’t being renewed and he’s banished to AHL work (I’ve seen his name a lot these past few weeks) and this is what you’re left with. Garrett Wilson was suspended three games earlier in the season for elbowing Ty Smith in the head. There’s a history here. To not watch out for that, especially when those two are on the ice, is unacceptable in a four man system.

Yeah, I get it. Human element, fast game, etc. I get it. But Sullivan was questionable Friday vs. Cleveland and was equally as awful if not worse Sunday. Rare that I go off on a tangent about AHL officials anymore because it has gotten better, but it’s a loss for Wilkes-Barre losing their highest point producer to a goon in front of an inept officiating crew.

Moving on…

Third Period: You didn’t want them to collapse. Hold the fort. All the clichés.

They didn’t. A big goal by a kid.

First pro goal by Mathieu De St. Phalle in a very big spot that gave the Penguins at three goal lead.

More penalties for the Penguins on ticky tack stuff. More ineptitude from the firm of Zyla and Sullivan refereeing the scoreboard instead of the action of the ice. 

Penguins were 6/6 on the kill against the Phantoms and the four dummies wearing stripes. 

Garrett Wilson fought Matthew Quercia, one of the only players on the Penguins that actually knows how to fight. Wilson handled Quercia quite easily but it was Quercia that got Wilson off the ice for five minutes ensuring that at least for that time the Penguins would not have any more players sent off the ice to the trailers room due to Wilson’t antics and the officials ineptitude.

Ian Laperriere pulled his goaltender Sandstrom with about six minutes to play and Jacob Gaucher scored on a third effort that put the Phantoms on the board with 5:03 to play. 

But then Avery Hayes continued to stay hot and scored into the empty net that re-established the three goal lead for the Penguins.

In a bit of irony, the Penguins would score a second power play goal off the stick of Lukas Svejkovsky.

Ballgame. A six point weekend.

Three Stars: 3) Mathieu De St. Phalle (first pro goal) 2) Joel Blomqvist (35 saves) 1) Vinnie Hinostroza (goal)

The Good: 6/6 on the kill. Battled through that and losing Ty Smith to injury to complete the six point weekend. Also, they scored two power play goals.

The Bad: Losing Ty Smith to injury was the lone speck on an overall good day for the Penguins. 

Turning Point: De St. Phalle’s first pro goal came at a great time that gave the Penguins the boost they needed to not blow it in the third, which we have seen them do. 

Around the Division: Charlotte wins 4-1 over Hartford….Rochester beats Bridgeport 5-4 in a shootout.

Standings: Hershey 105 – Providence 85 – Penguins and Charlotte 81 – Hartford 70 – Lehigh Valley 67 – Springfield 63 – Bridgeport 56

Wheeling Update: Nailers with a HUGE win over the Indy Fuel to help in Wheeling’s playoff push. Tanner Laderoute with a goal and an assist. Nailers win 5-3.

Video Highlights: It’s late and they aren’t up yet, so the AHL VideoCenter is your best bet.

Have a great week. A lot to talk about next weekend with Hershey twice. 

Let’s Go Pens!

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6                                  3

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A hat trick for Austin Rueschhoff, four assists for Ty Smith and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have won their fourth game in a row with a 6-3 win in Bridgeport Saturday evening.

The Penguins will keep pace with the Charlotte Checkers, who also won Saturday, and each team has 79 points with six games remaining for each.

Here’s how they lined up, Bridgeport didn’t post lines…

Lineup Notes: Logan Pietila made his AHL debut, replacing Matthew Quercia up front and Owen Headrick replaced Taylor Fedun on defense. If the Penguins can keep rotating decent players in and out of the lineup and get unavailable players back at some point down the line, who knows how far this car can go.

First Period: Penguins struck, and struck swiftly, for three goals before the Islanders recorded their first shot of the game. Wilkes-Barre strikes for not one, but two power play goals that give themselves a 3-0 lead quite quickly.

Vinnie Hinostroza with a power play goal that deflected off of starting goalie Jakub Skarek, off Seth Helgeson and in for a 1-0 Penguins lead.

Then Evan Vierling keeps his goal streak going with his second goal of the weekend with a tap in from a feed from Corey Andonovski that made it 2-0 Penguins.

Then Austin Rueschhoff scored a power play goal on a relentless display for the Penguins who kept the puck in the Islanders zone the entire time and Rueschhoff struck far side with a roof job that made it 3-0 and the rout was seemingly on.

Until it wasn’t.

The Islanders got a late goal from Daylan Kuefler that got the Islanders on the board and gave them a 3-1 deficit heading into the…

Second Period: Whatever vibe they had in the first where everything was going their way and every puck they shot was going in, was gone baby gone. Three penalties taken by the Penguins in the period. Bridgeport has, if you can believe it, a worse power play than the Penguins (dead last at 32nd) and didn’t score, but William Dufour scored to bring the Islanders back within one with a great second effort here.

+1 for the pun use there.

One other thing. Ken Appleby replaced Jakub Skarek in  goal at some point that wasn’t featured on TV and mentioned late by Penguins play by play man Nick Hart.

The Islanders were eating this elephant one bite at a time.

Third Period: It’s hard to eat a whole elephant.

Austin Rueschhoff, in beast mode, scores his second of the game off a nice feed by Ty Smith, his fourth assist of the game, that gives the Penguins some breathing room and a 4-2 lead.

Later, Xavier Ouellet scored off a face-off win that gave the Pens a 5-2 lead.

Good to see this. They were reeling, and they rely on their leaders and glue guys to pull them out the mud.

But Bridgeport wasn’t going away, never seemed out of it. Ruslan Ishakov shot blocked to Matthew Maggio who scores the Islanders goal on their first shot of the period that makes it 5-3.

The Islanders, if they were going to get back into it, weren’t doing themselves favors by taking penalties late that gave the Penguins a brief two man advantage.

Wilkes-Barre didn’t score, but they did get a third goal from Austin Rueschhoff who scored it on an empty Bridgeport net.

Three Stars: 3) William Dufour (goal, assist) 2) Ty Smith (four assists) 1) Austin Rueschhoff (hat trick)

The Good: They battled and came out on top on the road. That’s all you can ask for.

The Bad: A last place Islanders had no business having it be as close as it was at times against this Penguins team. It may be nitpicky, but you aren’t going to have teams like Bridgeport come late April and beyond.

Turning Point: The second Rueschhoff goal gets it here and took some of the heat off the Pens who were reeling.

Around the Division: Springfield loses in Laval 7-4…Charlotte shuts out Hartford 4-0.

In the later games, Herhsey beats Iowa in a shootout 3-2….Cleveland shuts out Lehigh Valley 3-0….Rochester beats Providence 3-2 in overtime.

Standings: Hershey 105 – Providence 85 – Penguins and Checkers 79 – Hartford 70 – Lehigh Valley 67 – Springfield 63 – Bridgeport 55

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: AHL VideoCenter is your best bet here.

Lehigh Valley Sunday afternoon at home. More then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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2                                  3

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There are a lot of guys either hurt or on recall for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins right now.

So the Penguins have had to plug deep into their ECHL affiliate, the Wheeling Nailers, for players.

One of those players is Evan Vierling.

A two point night for the man, a goal and an assist and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are off to the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs with a 3-2 overtime win against the Cleveland Monsters.

I’m burying the hero of the night, Radim Zohorna, who scored the overtime game winning goal for the Penguins. It was Zohorna who took a penalty in the third period who put the Penguins down a bit against the Monsters but it was Zohorna who kept the puck the entirety of overtime it seemed and scored a beautiful goal crashing the net to give the seemingly masterful Penguins yet another overtime game winning goal all of a sudden.

For the first time in a while, the team is postseason bound.

Technically with Springfield losing to Belleville, they were in and Zohorna’s heroics were moot, but don’t tell the fans.

Here’s how they lined up….

Lineup Notes: As the graphic states, the AHL debut for Mathieu De St. Phalle. Jagger Joshua returned from injury. A reader was nice enough to fill me in that he heard that Joona Koppanen was injured in practice and Jonathan Gruden is injured. Owen Headrick out for Scooter Brickey was the other change.

First Period: Evan Vierling scores his first AHL goal with a nice hardworking play set up by Lukas Svejkovsky who was like a hungry dog on a bone with the puck, keeping it in. Svejkovsky throws a puck at the net and Vierling is there to deflect it home.

Second Period: I didn’t like the way they presented themselves. Something seemed off, and it was proven true when Roman Ahcan tipped in a shot similar-ish to the way Vierling tipped his (in exactly the same spot, almost) that tied the game at one a piece.

The sloppiness continued, but the penalty kill and their All-Star goaltender bailed them out the remainder of the period.

Third Period: Avery Hayes, obviously feeling it from scoring his first AHL goal last game, scored his second in front that put the Pens ahead 2-1.

Clutch, indeed, he nearly scored seconds before.

The Penguins had a power play with 3:03 left to play. I said at the time that a goal here would be huge.

They didn’t get a goal and instead Cleveland got a goal that tied the game at 19:00.

Stanislav Svozil with a shot from the point.

Brief huddle by the officials to discuss goaltender interference but since no one knows what it is or what it looks like, why bother. The goal stood.

Overtime: By this time the Springfield score went final so it didn’t matter, the Pens were in, but what would the vibe be?

I would say, pretty, pretty good.

Three Stars: 3) Jagger Joshua (two assists) 2) Evan Vierling (goal, assist) 1) Radim Zohorna (overtime game winning goal)

The Good: Ticket punched. All that matters is securing at least third place and trying to possibly chase down Providence for second place for a possible First Round bye.

The Bad: They got murdered on the face-off dots and that led to both Cleveland goals.

Turning Point: The Zohorna goal gets it here, it’s late, let’s not overthink it.

Around the Division: Light night by AHL on a Friday standards. Springfield is shutout in Belleville 3-0….Lehigh Valley scores three straight to take down Providence 3-2 in overtime….Hershey pummels the Iowa Wild in Des Moines 7-2.

Standings: Hershey 103 – Providence 84 – Penguins and Charlotte 77 – Hartford 70 – Lehigh Valley 67 – Springfield 63 – Bridgeport 55

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: 

Back at it at 5:00 p.m. for a road game in Bridgeport. More then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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No. You read that right, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins won the game Saturday 4-3 in overtime, just their second victory in overtime this season and Joel Blomqvist’s first OT win as well.

Not with a bit of drama, as they carried a 2-1 lead into the third period only to see it evaporate and trail 3-2. It was here where Avery Hayes scored his first AHL goal at a good time to tie the game then it was Corey Andonovski going coast to coast to win it in the extra frame.

The magic number for a playoff berth should be four, with Springfield losing in regulation to Utica, provided my math is correct, which it rarely is.

Here’s how they lined up…

Lineup Notes: Owen Headrick for the recalled Ryan Shea on defense, Evan Vierling and Matthew Quercia for some combination of Sam Poulin and Scooter Brickey.

First Period: Ethan Samson beats Joel Blomqvist short side to put the Phantoms on the board first.

Not a lot to like this period. They had a power play they couldn’t get out of their own way on and took a penalty just :59 in and at some point lost Jonathan Gruden to injury. Gruden was not seen the remainder of the game.

Second Period: They remained down 1-0, didn’t connect on two power plays in the period but then Austin Rueschhoff won an offensive zone face-off and throws a shot at the net and there was Radim Zohorna to clean up the mess and tie the game at one.

Coupla minutes later, roles were reversed and it was Zohorna throwing a puck at the net and Rueschhoff cleaning up the loose change for a power play goal that gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead.

A late Phantoms shot hit the post with seconds remaining.

Third Period: Penguins held the Phantoms shotless for the first seven minutes but then the Phantoms got rolling.

Samu Tuomaala with a dart off a face-off and it was a tie game.

And a coupla minutes after that, Emil Andrae put the Phantoms ahead through an Adam Brooks screen that put the Phantoms ahead 3-2.

Another third period collapse? Really?!?!?

Nah nah.

Avery Hayes to the rescue.

Evan Vierling with the assist of all assists there, his first AHL assist.

Time ran out and here we go, off to…

Overtime: Was hold on to your butts because they were 1-8 coming into overtime.

But Corey Andonovski had enough of the losing in overtime.

Ballgame.

Three Stars: 3) Austin Rueschhoff (goal, assist) 2) Avery Hayes (first AHL goal) 1) Corey Andonovski (overtime game winning goal)

The Good: Good comeback, given the terms and the opponent.

The Bad: Seven of them were -1, all of them regulars. That’s not going to be good enough against the Hershey’s and Providence’s of the world.

Turning Point: Pick one between the Hayes goal that got you there or the Andonovski goal that ended overtime.

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

Standings: Hershey 99 – Providence 83 – Charlotte 77 – Penguins 75 – Hartford 70 – Lehigh Valley 65 – Springfield 63 – Bridgeport 53

Wheeling Update: Nailers are in Cincinnati and the game is still in action when this blog post goes up. Box here.

Video Highlights:

Have a Happy Easter! Talk to you this Friday or sooner if I have to. Let’s hope I don’t have to.

Let’s Go Pens!