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Away Game: 4

AHL Game: 97

Who: Hershey Bears

Where: Giant Center

When: 7:00 p.m. EST

Media Kit

Last Game: Last night, the Pens were in Syracuse and won 4-1. Eric Tangradi had two goals. For Hershey, they hosted the Albany Devils last night and won 3-0. Braden Holtby stopped all 35 shots he faced.

Record: For WBS: 2-4 (4 pts., 5th place East Division) For HER:  (2-3-1-0 5 pts., 4th place East Division)

Why you should care: Two teams so fixated on themselves that they have let the other three teams in the division jump out to hot starts and actually are ahead of them in the East Division. Regardless, the Penguins and Bears don’t like each other, today’s game should be no different.

Referee(s): Darcy Burchell / Nic Leduc

Linesmen: Ryan Daisy / Scott Pomento

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @TheHersheyBears

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /TheHersheyBears

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @timleone

Broadcasters: WBS: Tom Grace @TGracePens and Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / HER: Scott Stuccio @ScottStuccio and Randy “Rock” Johnson @RRJ_Hockey

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @SweetestHockey

Radio: For WBS: 102.3 The Mountain / For Hershey: 1460 The Ticket

Television: AHL Live

Other Game to Watch: The Penguins are in Manchester, NH this Friday. The Binghamton Senators are already there and playing the Monarchs this afternoon.

Next Five Games: @ MCH 11/2, @ BRI 11/4, BNG 11/7, HER 11/9, PRO 11/10

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Away Game: 3

AHL Game: 94

Who: Syracuse Crunch

Where: Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter

When: 7:30 p.m. EST

Media Kit

Last Game: Last night at home the Pens won a thriller vs. the Rochester Americans 5-4. Paul Thompson had a goal in regulation and the game winner in overtime which was good enough to get him first star of the game honors. For Syracuse, they last played Sunday…

Last Meeting: Sunday in Wilkes-Barre, the Pens lost 3-1. Penguin killers Tyler Johnson and Cory Conacher had goals for the Crunch and Philippe Dupuis for the Penguins.

Record: For WBS:  (1-4, 2 pts., 5th place East Division) — For SYR: 3-0-0-1 (7 pts., 2nd place East Division)

Why you should care: Penguins look to keep the momentum from last nights thriller rolling and try and pay back the Syracuse Crunch for what they did to the Pens on Sunday.

Referee(s): David Banfield

Linesmen: Joe DeMizio / Mike Hamilton

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @SyracuseCrunch

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /syracusecrunch

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @PSCrunchHockey

Broadcasters: For WBS: Tom Grace @TGracePens and Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / For SYR: Dan D’Uva @Dan_DUva

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @Allovimo

Radio: For WBS: 102.3 The Mountain / For Syracuse: The Score 1260

Television: AHL Live

Other Game to Watch: The white-hot Norfolk Admirals are on “The Rock” in St. John’s for a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals from last year.

Next Five Games: @ HER 10/28, @ MCH 11/2, @ BRI 11/4, BNG 11/7, HER 11/9

Whirlwind day with the Pens allowing me to sit on press row and overtake their Twitter feed. Am actually typing up this postgamer now for you on press row.

Pens win a wild game over Rochester tonight 5-4. Pens were up with 1:08 left to play in regulation 4-2, cough up two goals within :44 to send the game to overtime. Paul Thompson then skates in on Amerks netminder David Leggio and scores five hole to win it and the Pens are off the goose egg and into the win column.

Brad Thiessen vs. David Leggio

First Period: Before most fans were in their seats, Luke Adam opened the scoring to put the Amerks on top 1-0. Penguins would get a power play goal from Paul Thompson on a goal line hack and whack and the Pens tied the game on the power play. Shots were 12-8 Penguins in the first.

Second Period: Warren Peters got his first goal of the season with a rebound goal. Rochester storms back and Alex Biega shot would be tipped in by Evan Rankin and the pesky Amerks tied the game again at two. The Amerks really handcuffed the Pens this period only allowing them four shots on goal.

Third Period: Paul Thompson, who was literally everywhere tonight with probably his best performance in a Penguins uniform, shoots the puck at Leggio. The Rochester netminder bobbles it and Eric Tangradi sweeps in for the rebound goal to put the Pens out front 3-2. Later, Brian Gibbons cuts to the net and scores to add insurance for the Penguins and made it 4-2. But it wasn’t enough at least in regulation. Kevin Porter scored with 1:08 left to play in regulation. The American call time out. Faceoff. Leggio to the bench. Amerks pressure. Mark Mancari scores to even it at 4.

Overtime: Back and forth with neither team wanting to make a mistake. Finally an Americans turnover to Paul Thompson who looms in and scores, sending the crowd who really booed the life out of this team after coughing up two goals in :44 to a cheering frenzy.

Postgame, Hynes said that Thiessen’s effort “could be better.” In my opinion, an obvious “stock up” for Zatkoff and “stock down” for Thiessen. We will see tomorrow in Syracuse.

Three Stars: 3) Brian Gibbons (goal, +1) 2) Eric Tangradi (goal, -2) and 1) Paul Thompson (two goals, assist, +1)

I thought that overall Simon Despres and Brian Dumoulin had very inert games. Dumoulin, for example, when the teams were 4-on-4, ices the puck deliberately thinking that the Pens are on a penalty kill. Despres lets guys get by him all night as well as turned over the puck twice in one power play.

Around the Division: Conneticut beat Hershey 3-1 in Hartford tonight. Binghamton, Norfolk and Syracuse did not play tonight.

Standings: Syracuse 9 — Norfolk 8 — Binghamton 7 — Hershey 3 — Penguins 2

Wheeling Update: Wheeling scores a touchdown on Reading tonight 7-3. Paul Crowder had a four point night (2-2-4) and Patrick Killeen stopped 28 of 31 shots.

I will have the raw audio of Paul Thompson and Eric Tangradi press availability later on this evening, probably as its own separate blog post.

Pens at it again tomorrow in Syracuse. Gameday setup here on the blog at 3 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Home Game: 3

AHL Game: 80

Who: Rochester Americans

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m. EST

Media Kit

Last Game: Sunday at home vs. Syracuse, the Pens lost 3-1. Philippe Dupuis had a late power play goal. For Rochester, this past Tuesday they hosted the Hamilton Bulldogs in Buffalo, NY and won 3-1. Cody Hodgson had a goal and an assist and was named first star of the game.

Record: For WBS: 0-4 (0 pts., 5th place East Division) — For RCH: 4-2 (8 pts., 2nd place North Division)

Why you should care: Penguins are searching for their first win of the season and it won’t come easy against a Rochester team with big names such as Cody Hodgson, Luke Adam and Mark Mancari. The Penguins will need a consistent 60 minutes of disciplined hockey if they want to win this game.

Referee(s): Darcy Burchell / Ryan Murphy

Linesmen: Bob Goodman / Jud Ritter

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @AmerksHockey

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /RochesterAmericans

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @KevinODandC

Broadcasters: For WBS: Tom Grace @TGracePens and Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / For RCH: Don Stevens @DonStevensAmerk

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @AmerksSinBin

Radio: For WBS: 102.3 The Mountain / For Rochester 1280 AM WHTK

Television: AHL Live

Promotion(s): Social Media Night

Next Five Games: @ SYR 10/27, @ HER 10/28, @ MCH 11/2, @ BRI 11/4, BNG 11/7

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Home Game: 2

AHL Game: 65

Who: Syracuse Crunch

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 5:05 p.m. EST

Media Kit

Last Game: Last night in the home opener vs. Bridgeport, the Pens lost 3-2. Eric Tangradi had a gaol in the losing effort for the Pens. For Syracuse, the Crunch were in Binghamton and won a wild one 6-5. After being down 5-0, the Crunch storm back and win in overtime.

Record: For WBS: 0-3 (0 pts., 5th place East Division) — For SYR: 3-0-0-1 (7 pts., 2nd place East Division)

Why you should care: The winless Penguins are in for a strong test against a very strong, very explosive Syracuse team. A win would go a long way here for the Penguins.

Referee(s): Jamie Koharski

Linesmen: Tom George / Matt McNulty

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @SyracuseCrunch

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /syracusecrunch

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @PSCrunchHockey

Broadcasters: For WBS: Tom Grace @TGracePens and Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / For SYR: Dan D’Uva @Dan_DUva

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @Allovimo

Radio: For WBS: 102.3 The Mountain / For Syracuse: The Score 1260

Television: AHL Live

Promotion(s): None

Next Five Games: RCH 10/26, @ SYR 10/27, @ HER 10/28, @ MCH 11/2, @ BRI 11/4

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Home Game: 1

AHL Game: 56

Who: Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m. EST

Media Kit

Last Game: Last night in Springfield, the Pens lost 4-2. Joe Morrow and Philippe Dupuis had goals for the Pens in the loss. For Bridgeport, last Saturday for their home opener vs. Providence, they won 4-2. Ex-Penguin Brandon DeFazio had a goal and an assist.

Record: For WBS: 0-2 (0 pts., 5th place East Division) — For BRI: 2-0 (4 pts., 2nd place Northeast Division)

Why you should care: Home opener. Nearly sold out crowd. Saturday night. Should be a fun time.

Referee(s): Ryan Fraser / Ryan Hersey

Linesmen: Mike Hamilton / Jud Ritter

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @TheSoundTigers

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /soundtigers

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @fornabaioctp

Broadcasters: For WBS: Tom Grace @TGracePens and Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / For BRI: Phil Giubileo @philgpbp and Carmine Vetrano @cvetrano32

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep

Radio: For WBS: 102.3 The Mountain / For Bridgeport: AHL Live *

Television: AHL Live / My Network TV (WQMY-TV) in Wilkes-Barre.

Promotion(s): Penguins Wall Calendar – sponsored by Lucky’s Sporthouse (first 5,000 fans)

Other Game to Watch: The Norfolk Admirals have won 31 straight regular season games dating back to last season. No, you read that right. Thirty-one. They host the Connecticut Whale tonight looking to make it 32.

Next Five Games: SYR 10/21, RCH 10/26, @ SYR 10/27, @ HER 10/28, @ MCH 11/2

* – Bridgeport really doesn’t have a true “radio” broadcast. The Sound Tigers-centric radio feed is going to be found on AHL Live under the “radio” tab.

19 power plays.

10 for the Penguins, 9 for the Falcons.

Referee Jamie Koharski running the show.

Really can’t blame the officials for tonight’s 4-2 loss as much as you have to credit the Springfield Falcons for capitalizing on opportunity. A power play goal and a faceoff win for the Falcons give them a 2-0 lead in the first, Pens clamp down in the second allowing just 9 Springfield shots, get a power play goal from Joe Morrow and a tap in from Philippe Dupuis in the third period to even things, then defensive zone gaffes rule the day late in the third with Cam Atkinson getting a feed from Jonathan Audy-Marchessault to make it 3-2 then a Springfield three on one with Ryan Johansen scoring to make it 4-2.

That was your ballgame, in a nutshell.

Jeff Zatkoff vs. Curtis McElHinney. Dylan Reese was a late scratch. Penguins continued the trend of dressing 7 defensemen.

Zach Sill blocked a shot and wasn’t seen from the second period on. Really a tough game to watch with all the penalties. No team was really able to establish anything even strength offensively. Really boiled down to which team was able to take advantage of the others mistakes. The Penguins made more mistakes then they were able to capitalize on.

Three Stars: 3) Curtis McElhinney (29 saves on 31 shots) 2) Jonathan Audy-Marchessault (goal, two assists, +2) and 1) Cam Atkinson (game winning goal, assist, +2)

Around the Division: Syracuse beats Albany 3-2. Binghamton loses to Hershey by the same 3-2 score and the Norfolk Admirals win again, this time 5-4 in overtime helped by a Corey Elkins hat trick.

Standings: Norfolk 6 — Syracuse 5 — Binghamton 4 — Hershey 2 — Wilkes-Barre 0.

Still not going to update Conference standings yet until around maybe the fifth game or so.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers are still looking for their first win of ther season after dropping a 4-2 decision to the Elmira Jackals tonight in New York 4-2. Patrick Killeen took the loss for the Nailers stopping 24 of 28 shots. Ex-WBS Penguin Cody Wild had two assists.

Pens return home tonight for tomorrow’s home opener against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Gameday setup will be here on the blog at 3:00 tomorrow afternoon.