Chirps from Center Ice

       vs.     

  4                                            2

–

Tyler had a tweet right after a 4-2 Penguins loss to the Toronto Marlies on Sunday afternoon which summed up the game perfectly I thought.

Now, it was a bit of a different game in stark comparison to a few weeks ago against Syracuse. The Crunch were tops in the AHL in just about every category, but the Penguins bottled up the Crunch (after an awful first period) and were able to beat the Crunch. Use the boiling a frog technique.

But Sunday against Toronto, it was an avalanche that the Penguins got buried in and never dug out of.

Toronto scored at the expiry of a five on three power play when Chris Mueller finally banged home a back door pass in the first period that gave the Marlies a 1-0 lead.

But then Adam Brooks cleaned up a rebound of a Jeremy Bracco shot that gave the Marlies a 2-0 lead in the second period.

Jimmy Hayes finished off a loooooong pass by Tristan Jarry that made it a 2-1 game. The Penguins had the Marlies right where they wanted them, a goal away and a new period to play in the third.

Only Toronto scored two goals in :19 in the periods final minute to extend the lead to 4-1. A Jarrett Burton shot off of a long rebound left by Marlies starter Michael Hutchinson made it 4-2, but the Penguins would get no closer.

That’s basically it. There weren’t any GIFs of the Penguins goals and while Toronto did GIF theirs, I doubt there are many Marlies fans living in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Tristan Jarry opposed the aforementioned Hutchinson. Jarry started his tenth straight. I don’t think he was the reason the Pens lost the game today. It’s his job to stop the puck yes, but when your team takes a two man disadvantage and then falls asleep in the final minute of the second period, no goaltender, I don’t care if he is as fresh as a daisy, is going to be successful.

Wasted opportunity for the Penguins who burn a game in hand on the Bruins and stay five off of the fourth place and idle Bruins. They will burn off that game in hand on Providence Tuesday when they head to Hershey.

Gameday setup hits the blog for that matchup against the Bears, last of the regular season, Tuesday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

       vs.     

  1                                            2

–

I don’t know if this game tonight, a 2-1 Penguins overtime win over the Providence Bruins, classifies as an instant classic, but if it didn’t it would awfully be close.

Playoff like intensity on the ice with neither team giving the other an inch and the Penguins scrap and claw two points away from the Bruins who get the loser point. Wilkes-Barre stays five back of the Bruins with two games in hand on Providence. They don’t control their own destiny yet, but if they keep on this winning way, they will soon.

Tristan Jarry opposed Zane McIntyre.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Ryan Scarfo returned from injury and replaced Anthony Angello on the second line, who bumped to the fourth line. Trevor Yates took warmups but was the scratch. No changes on defense.

First Period: Penguins and Bruins played a careful period of hockey I thought. Both teams traded power play chances but neither team scored.

Second Period: Jimmy Hayes picked off a Bruin at center ice, skated in and put a shot on McIntyre which was stopped but Jake Lucchini was there to put the rebound in for his first goal as a professional.

Penguins outshot the Bruins 14-5 in the second period.

Third Period: The Bruins would flip the script on the Penguins, outshooting Wilkes-Barre 21-7. Tristan Jarry stopped 20 of t hem, getting beat on this shot for a goal by Ryan Fitzgerald. Karson Kuhlman put the shot on initially, Fitzgerald was there to sweep in the wreckage.

Tristan Jarry made some goo saves, none better than this windmill save…

Penguins killed two Providence power plays rather easily, but were on their heels the entire period and weren’t able to muster much in the way of offense.

So it was off to…

Overtime: Had the feeling that if the Bruins didn’t score another goal in the third, they weren’t scoring one in overtime. Adam Johnson saw to it that it didn’t happen.

Nice backhander in a tight area for the goal.

Three Stars: 

Around the Division: Hershey throttled Bridgeport 5-1…Lehigh Valley gets a Chris Conner goal with 0.5 seconds left in regulation to stun Toronto 4-3….Charlotte sweeps Rochester with a 3-1 win in North Carolina…Hartford beats Utica 5-3. Springfield was off.

Standings: Charlotte 89 — Bridgeport 79 — Hershey 77 — Providence 74 — Penguins 69 — Lehigh Valley 68 — Springfield 66 — Hartford 65

Wheeling Update: The Nailers lost to Toledo 3-2. Renars Krastenbergs scored for Wheeling.

Setting up Sunday: Pens will burn off one of their two games in hand on Providence, Hershey and Lehigh Valley who are all off Sunday. Expect a pissed off Marlies club here Sunday at 3.

Video Highlights: 

Gameday setup vs. Toronto hits the blog here Sunday at 11 am.

Let’s Go Pens!

     @   

4                                       1

–

I am not a parent, so I have no idea about what it is like to have children.

A few weeks ago, Jimmy Hayes and his wife learned that they will be having a baby boy later this year. Since learning of the news, Hayes has seven goals and two assists in seven games. Hayes had a hat trick in a 4-1 Wilkes-Barre win in rather impressive fashion over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Wednesday night.

Dad power indeed.

I don’t know about Tristan Jarry’s plans on parenthood, but the Penguins net minder was on point in a place where he normally is solid. He stopped 38 Phantoms shots and was beat on a fluke of a shot in the third period which spoiled his shutout bid.

He opposed Alex Lyon.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Jake Lucchini replaced Joseph Blandisi and Trevor Yates replaced Patrick McGrath up front as the lineup changes from Saturday. On defense, Macoy Erkamps went in for Jeff Taylor.

First Period: Jimmy Hayes swept in his twelfth goal of the season on this rebound of a Joseph Cramarossa shot that gave the Pens a 1-0 lead.

Tristan Jarry was dialed in for Wilkes-Barre on the penalty kill stopping these two attempts on two separate penalty kills.

That save was on Mike Vecchione.

And this one was on Zach Palmquist.

Lively period otherwise with the shots being 14-13 in favor of the Penguins.

Second Period: Nothing really happened in the period where there were no penalties and no scoring but what became apparent in the contest was how well Jake Lucchini fit in with Jimmy Hayes and Joseph Cramarossa. Nick Hart on radio stated that Lucchini few into town late Tuesday night and joined the team for morning skate Wednesday.

Third Period: :19 in, Ryan Haggerty scored to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead.

Big goal at the time. Nothing happened at all in the second period worth noting, so the next action was going to change the complexity of the game in some form of fashion. Haggerty’s goal tightened the grip that the Penguins had on the game to this point.

Jimmy Hayes scored his second of the game on this nice pass by Jarrett Burton which set the Pens off on a 2-on-1 that Hayes took himself.

Bryon Froese busted up the Jarry shutout with this goal.

Let me state for the record that those Phantoms jerseys are putrid. If my memory serves, Lehigh Valley debuted these in an outdoor game a few years back against Hershey I think. They should have left them there. Terrible.

Hayes completed his hat trick via empty net that made it 4-1.

Three Stars: 

The Good: Jimmy Hayes is heating up at the right time. You want scoring depth out of all three of your lines. Anthony Angello has hit a bit of a rookie wall, Adam Johnson and Ryan Haggerty can drop a goal at anytime. With Joseph Blandisi in Pittsburgh, the Penguins have no other players in double digit goals that play forward (Ethan Prow has 17 goals) so getting goals from Hayes at a time like this where the Pens are battling for a playoff spot is a sight to see.

I had a tweet at the beginning of the game that the debuts of Yates and Lucchini can be either really, really good or really, really bad. It’s a small sample size, but so far, so good.

The Bad: Can’t think of anything. No penalties after the first period. Maybe the goal that Froese scored that broke up the shutout?

Turning Point: Haggerty’s goal :19 into the third deflated the Phantoms and any comeback that they had hopes on was extinguished with that goal, coupled with Hayes’ performance and Jarry’s.

Around the Division: Hershey beats Springfield 5-3. Hartford beats Binghamton 4-3 in overtime.

Standings: Charlotte 85 — Bridgeport — 79 — Hershey 74 — Providence 71 — Penguins 67 — Lehigh Valley 66 — Springfield 64 — Hartford 63

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

If Coal Street runs a video highlight package it will run in this spot.

Pens are off Friday but the games to watch are Hershey hosting Toronto and Lehigh Valley hosting Providence.

Week 23 AHL Power Rankings are here Thursday.

Let’s Go Pens!