Chirps from Center Ice

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3                                     5

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You can’t win a game in the first period but you can give it away.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins were outshot 20-10 in the first period and were down 2-1 and at one point went down 3-1 but then rattled off four straight and win 5-3 behind a solid effort in goal by Emil Larmi and a late game winner by Stefan Noesen. Noesen ended with two goals (an empty netter at the end of the game) he also leads the AHL in goals scored.

Binghamton was a quick team in the first and came at Wilkes-Barre from all angles and the Penguins looked shellshocked. Credit to Mike Vellucci for righting the ship as the Penguins locked it down from there. I wonder what the message was in the room.

Emil Larmi opposed Evan Cormier.

Lineup: Essentially Michael Kim for Matt Abt and Justin Almeida for Thomas DiPauli.

And for Binghamton…

First Period: Binghamton connected on a tic tac toe power play goal started by all ex-Penguin players consisting of Joe Morrow, Ben Street and Chris Conner. Conner connected off a nice tic tac toe play that gave the Devils a very early lead.

Conner’s 200th AHL goal.

32 seconds later, Jake Lucchini walked through a defenseman like grass through a goose and scored this pretty goal that brought the sides level at one.

The Devils would continue to bombard the Penguins with speed and shots, twenty in total in the first period and took a lead with 1:38 to play when Ben Street came in hot off the bench on a delayed Penguins penalty and connected for a goal through a screened Larmi which made it 2-1.

Second Period: The Pens outshot the Devils 16-4 in the middle frame but made a terrible mistake when Michael Kim misplayed a puck by Larmi’s net that ended up inside of it for a 3-1 Devils lead.

Yikes.

The Penguins did manage to break through for a goal when Justin Almeida sniped home his first pro goal with this effort in the final minute of the period that got the Penguins to within one.

That was confidence boost / builder for Almeida, playing in just his second game of the season.

Third Period: Jake Lucchini had a hell of a game. He had a chance early in the third but was denied. Later, Kasper Bjorkqvist scores his first pro goal that tied to game at three.

Wilkes-Barre kept coming and coming and finally broke through with 2:14 left in regulation.

Devils called time out and eventually pulled Cormier, but Noesen scored from about Public Square to ice the game away and give the Penguins the win.

The Good: The smothering defense from Wilkes-Barre after the first period and the no nonsense goaltending from Emil Larmi to lock down the Devils and deny any more goals.

The Bad: That Michael Kim giveaway was bad, bad, bad. If you’re in between him and Matt Abt, you’ve got a problem. It’s just one game though.

Turning Point: This happened in the second period with the Penguins down 3-1:

Around the Division: Providence was in Laval and came back from four goals only to lose in a shootout 5-4…. Hershey was in Toronto and lost 4-3.

Standings: Hartford and Providence with 7, Hershey and Wilkes-Barre with 5, Charlotte and Springfield with 4, Lehigh Valley and Bridgeport with 3.

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off. They are in Fort Wayne on Friday.

Video Highlights: 

Pens are off Friday, the only Friday off all season (that mid-December meeting with Cleveland got bumped from that Sunday to Friday) so enjoy the night off. I know I will. Power Rankings will be here Thursday morning at 11. Gameday setup for Bridgeport will be here Saturday afternoon at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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1                                     5

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The Penguins looked tired and non-competitive in a Sunday afternoon start in Hershey and lost 5-1. Travis Boyd had a big day, scoring two goals and assisting on another. The Penguins are 1-2-1 after four games and went 0-2-1 on the weekend, with a pair of losses to in-state rivals.

You can write it off to call-ups. Adam Johnson, Sam Lafferty and Joseph Blandisi are in Pittsburgh. That’s a good chunk of offensive bite missing from the lineup early on.

Friday, they took a bunch of shots from the perimeter that Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon ate up easily.

Saturday, they failed to close out the resilient Utica Comets, got a point but lost in OT.

Sunday, feeling the strain of a third game in three nights, they were obliterated in Hershey against a Bears team that only traveled to Allentown Saturday and had off Friday.

Callups happen all the time to all 31 teams in the AHL. Would some offense have helped this weekend? Sure, but you have to play the hand you’re dealt.

Casey DeSmith opposed Pheonix Copley.

Lines were…

And for the Bears…

Lineup: No changes up front for the Penguins at all. Lines were the same as they were Saturday in Utica. Matt Abt was with Jon Lizotte and Niclas Almari was with Kevin Czuczman. Joseph and Warsofsky stayed paired with one another.

First Period: Pens looked flat to start, Hershey hit two posts, but the Penguins got their legs under them but then ran into penalty troubles and found themselves down 2-0 after the Bears scored two power play goals.

Travis Boyd on the first power play…

…and then Matt Moulson scored on a goal assisted by Boyd when Stefan Noesen picked up an extra instigator after a fight with Erik Burgdoerfer after Burgdoerfer had a big hit on the wall on Jake Lucchini.

Here’s the hit that led to the second Hershey power play.

I mean, I don’t know what they expect to do anymore with these instigators they are handing out like candy at Halloween. Burgdoerfer runs over a guy and has to answer with a fight. Punches were thrown, yet Noesen picks up the instigator? Get out of here with this, just outlaw fighting altogether if you are going to call garbage like this.

Second Period: The hits continued for the Penguins, who saw Hershey score two more goals on them in the middle frame.

Travis Boyd again on the wraparound. Shades of Game 7 in overtime from a few years ago dancing around my head…

So much wrong with this play. First DeSmith pulled way out of his net, then Boyd’s attempt was going to go wide but it went off of Abt’s skates and into the net for a 3-0 Hershey lead.

The Penguins then went on a power play only to see Martin Fehervary beat Casey DeSmith on a two on one shorthanded to make it 4-0 Bears.

😬 😬 😬 😬

Third Period: Penguins couldn’t get anything going offensively. Mike Sgarbossa scored to extend the Hershey lead to 5-0.

Niclas Almari scored on a late power play goal to break up the Copley would be shutout bid that made it 5-1. Great setup by Chase Berger from behind the net.

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Three Stars: 3) Matt Moulson (goal, assist) 2) Martin Fehervary (goal) and 1) Travis Boyd (two goals, assist)

The Good: Hard to come up with one. They looked flat, sometimes overmatched and let their goaltender get shelled. Kasper Bjorkqvist had a good game I thought, he was hooked on a breakaway which led to a Penguins power play chance late in the third.

The Bad: Where to start? Special teams seems to be a work in progress. Hershey seemed a step quicker which I think you can write off to Wilkes-Barre playing Friday with Hershey off.

Turning Point: Stefan Noesen getting sent off for 17 minutes of play time took out a large offensive piece for Wilkes-Barre / Scranton.

Around the Division: Rochester beats Hartford 3-2 in overtime….Springfield picks up a big win in Providence beating the Bruins 5-2.

Standings: Hartford 7, Providence 6, Hershey 5, Charlotte and Springfield 4, Lehigh Valley, Bridgeport and the Penguins 3.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: 

This Week: Mailbag Monday morning for you. I suspect there will be a lot to talk about….Pens are back in action Wednesday at home against Binghamton….Power Rankings this Thursday. I haven’t decided when or where I am going to run the chart this week with all the stuff going on the blog this week. I may just delay them to next week with the Penguins having only played four games thus far and only one game this weekend in Bridgeport. I may just do that instead.

Keep the faith. Let’s Go Pens!

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4                                     3

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The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have four Finns on the team this year, it was a trivia question during one of the stoppages in play.

With all that Finn on the team, the Penguins lack finish right now in this very early season.

They fell into a 2-0 hole in the first.

They battled back on the efforts of two power play goals and tied it in the second.

They edged ahead in the third, only to see the Comets score with under three minutes left to force overtime.

Six shots for the Penguins in the overtire period, one fro Utica. That one counted. Utica wins 4-3 in overtime.

Four Finns. No finish, though.

To be clear, none of the Penguins Finnish players cost the Penguins anything tonight. I thought the team as a whole played great, battling back from a two goal deficit to level it then when things started getting heavy in the third, they stayed step fro step with Utica, throwing the body. This team will be fine in the long run with the leadership group and coaches in place.

Emil Larmi opposed Zane McIntyre.

Lines were…

And for Utica…

Lineup Notes: Essentially Andrew Agozzino for Justin Almeida, which was inevitable with Agozzino’s demotion Friday. Shake ups here and there with the lines, but otherwise no changes.

First Period: A much better start in comparison to Friday in Allentown. Larmi made a lot of good saves in traffic tonight. He was beat twice late in the period by Reid Boucher who collected a puck on a face off win, took a step and wired one past Larmi for a 1-0 Utica lead.

Again, on a power play.

Second Period: Stefan Noesen continues his white hot start, scoring on a power play to cut the deficit to one.

Thomas DiPauli and Davis Warsofsky had a two on none and failed to connect for a goal. Later, Utica was caught with too many men and David Warsofsky, the captain, connected on a power play goal from the point for a tie game.

The game was opening up for the Penguins with Agozzino getting a chance on a breakaway but his shot sailed wide. It was fun and gun and great to see. Message received and message delivered in the second period coming out of the first intermission for the Penguins.

Emil Larmi stopped a Jonah Gadjovich penalty shot to preserve the tie.

Third Period: Game remained deadlocked and it started to get chippy. Anthony Angello wanted to engage Kole Lind but Lind wanted nothing to do with him. Jon Lizotte, who I thought was exposed in a bad way Friday in Allentown, had a huge reclamation game and found Angello coming hot out of the box and Angello streaked in on McIntyre and scored to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead.

With 2:19 left, Carter Bancks whacked at a puck thrown in the crease and it went in for a tie game again.

What a response by Utica. They were getting run over, run around and could have tucked tail and ran. Instead they kept their nose down and kept scrapping.

Overtime: Man, these three on three overtime sessions are fun, aren’t they? Penguins had six shots in overtime, but that’s Zane McIntyre in net for the Comets and not easy to score on. Plus I think he has the keys to the Mohegan Sun Arena in his bag, he owns this place.

Lukas Jasek scores on the only shot of the overtime period for the Comets and wins it for Utica.

Three Stars: 2) Reid Boucher (two goals) 2) David Warsofsky (goal, assist) 1) Lukas Jasek (overtime game winner)

The Good: The response in the second was great to see, especially getting back into the game with two power play goals.

The Bad: They seemed to let off in spurts and one of those sequences caught them where Bancks scored to force overtime.

Turning Point: In a game full of them, Jasek’s goal that brought the game to the end wins out.

Around the Division: Hershey wins in overtime with one second remaining as Travis Boyd does the honors there and wins 4-3….Providence is 3-0 after a 3-2 win at home against Rochester….Hartford is also 3-0 after a 3-1 win against Springfield….Charlotte earns a split with Bridgeport, winning 4-1.

Standings: Hartford and Providence 6, Charlotte 4, Hershey, Lehigh Valley, Wilkes-Barre and Bridgeport 3, Springfield 2

Wheeling Update:

Box here.

Video Highlights: Are here.

Pens close out the three in three weekend with a 5 o’clock meeting in Hershey. Gameday setup here Sunday afternoon at 1.

Let’s Go Pens!