Last Game: Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins were shutout 2-0. The Penguins went 0-fer on the power play. Brad Thiessen stopped 21 shots.
Referee(s): Jean Hebert / Darcy Burchell
Linesmen: Kiel Murchison / Tom George
What to Watch For: Coach Hynes has said that the Penguins have gotten progressively better with each game in the series. Will they be the better team tonight and even this series at two games a piece?
Last Game: Sunday in Syracuse, the Pens lost 3-2. Nine Crunch recorded a point. Riley Holzapfel and Joey Mormina scored goals for the Penguins.
Referee(s): Jean Hebert / Dave Lewis
Linesmen: Keil Murchison / Jud Ritter
What to Watch For: The Penguins had one shot on goal in the first period and much of the second, and still only lost by one goal in a game that was closer in the final score only. It was a dominating game by the Crunch, but the Penguins almost squeaked out a win. I think if the Penguins play a stronger game, they will come out with the win tonight and the 2-1 series lead.
Last Game: Last night in Syracuse, the Penguins got two power play goals by Alex Grant and held on to win 4-2.
Referee(s): Trevor Hanson / Terry Koharski
Linesmen: John Grandt / Fraser McIntyre
What to Watch For: Last night was the first loss for the Crunch in the playoffs. How they respond and how Wilkes-Barre reacts is going to be huge. The Pens could bring this back to Wilkes-Barre Wednesday up 2-0 or split 1-1. A 1-1 split is what you need to advance. A 2-0 lead is what you dream about.
Season Series: Oct. 21: SYR 3 @ WBS 1 — Oct. 27: WBS 4 @ SYR 1 — Nov. 30: SYR 3 @ WBS 5 — Dec. 15: WBS 0 @ SYR 4 — Dec. 22: WBS 3 @ SYR 2 — Dec. 31: SYR 2 @ WBS 1 — Feb. 17: SYR 3 @ WBS 0 — Mar. 20: WBS o @ SYR 1
Top Four Scorers for the Penguins vs. the Crunch: 1. Trevor Smith (8 GP, 4-1-5) 2. Riley Holzapfel (8 GP, 2-3-5) 3. Brian Dumoulin (6 GP, 1-2-3) 4. Dylan Reese (6 GP, 0-3-3)
Top Four Scorers for the Crunch vs. the Penguins: 1. Brett Connolly (8 GP, 3-4-7) 2. Tyler Johnson (7 GP, 3-4-7) 3. Ondrej Palat (7 GP, 0-6-6) 4. Richard Panik (7 GP 3-1-4)
How the Crunch got here: Swept the Portland Pirates in Round One then swept the Springfield Falcons in Round Two.
How the Penguins got here: Swept the Binghamton Senators in Round One then won in seven games over the Providence Bruins in Round Two.
Referee(s): Geno Binda / Jamie Koharski
Linesmen: John Grandt / Jud Ritter
What to Watch For: How much momentum will the Penguins have coming into this series vs. how much “rink rust” the Crunch have after sitting idle for over a week. Will the Penguins be able to slow down a more complete Syracuse team? Will the Crunch get to Penguins goaltender Brad Thiessen early?
Last Game: Monday in Providence, the Penguins won in overtime 2-1. Brad Thiessen stopped 46 of 47 shots and Trevor Smith scored the overtime game winning goal to send this to where we are today.
Referee(s): Graham Skilliter / Mark Lemelin
Linesmen: Bob Bernard / Alex Stagnone
What to Watch For: Anything, as anything can happen in Game 7.
Comments Off on Stretching it to Seven – Pens WIN 2-1 (OT) (series tied 3-3)
Posted by nafsnep on May 20, 2013
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The odds were against us.
Providence is the regular season champion.
They won 50 games this season. Fifty. They only play 76.
They lost 9 games at home this season. Nine. Some teams lose nine in a month, they lost nine all season.
The shot disparity tonight was 47-18 Providence tonight. Since the five minute mark of the second period, 37-8 Providence.
I said in the Gameday setup that the Penguins needed to treat this game like Providence was on the brink of elimination. Sometimes the blind squirrel that I am finds a nut every now and again. The Penguins, led by none other than Brad Thiessen, shut the door on the P-Bruins advancing tonight and have done something only four teams in AHL history have ever accomplished and win tonight 2-1 in overtime.
Game 7 is Wednesday.
Brad Thiessen vs. Nik Svedberg. Dylan Reese was back for the Pens on the blueline as the seventh defenseman. Wilkes-Barre dressed the dreaded 11 forwards, 7 defenseman lineup tonight. Scratches were Cody Wild, Dom Uher, Steve MacIntre and Bobby Farnham who was injured in Game 6 with an upper body injury and was not on the trip.
First Period: Great opening jump by the Pens. Then Providence made their push. Jamie Tardif had a wraparound attempt that was labeled for the back of the net but somehow Thiessen got his pad over and denied the shot. Pens would continue to turnover the puck and have difficulty exiting the zone. Somehow, the period broke with no goal scored. Pens were sharp in the opening half, Providence sharper and Thiessen sharpest in the period.
Second Period: Pens would have to kill off a carryover penalty from the first. They do, but on a line change forget about the P-Bruins on the ice with the puck. It would set up to be a three on none on Thiessen and Craig Cunningham would finish it off to put the P-Bruins on the board first. Pens would get a power play, not score. It looked really bad. Pens find themselves all of a sudden in a 5-on-3 situation and Brian Dumoulin would pick a corner and tie the game.
Providence would tighten up and really start to roll the Pens. Wilkes-Barre would be badly, badly, outplayed. Thiessen made miraculous save after miraculous save.
Third Period: Providence throws everything but the kitchen sink at Thiessen. But he literally kept the season alive for the Penguins. He had a huge save on another wraparound bid. Shots this period were 20-2 Providence.
Overtime: Shots were 3-0 Pens in overtime. Then Trevor Smith did this:
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Three Stars: 3) Craig Cunningham (goal, +1) 2) Trevor Smith (game winning overtime goal, assist, +1) and 1) Brad Thiessen (46 saves on 47 shots)
Anything goes in Game 7, Wednesday.
Will the Penguins close out the Bruins? The Bruins threw everything they had at the Pens tonight and could not knock Brad Thiessen or Wilkes-Barre down. It all comes down to Wednesday. Will the Pens shake the second round and out curse they have going?
Last Game: Saturday in Wilkes-Barre, Brad Thiessen stopped all 30 shots faced, and the Penguins won 4-0.
Referee(s): Graham Skilliter / Mark Lemelin
Linesmen: Bob Bernard / Alex Stagnone
What to Watch For: After the bad blood that boiled up from Game 5, a more measured aggression by both teams. The Pens need to treat the game like Providence is being eliminated with a loss I think, if they want to advance this to a seventh game. Also keep in mind the P-Bruins were the best at home in regular season.
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