Chirps from Center Ice

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These are going to be a big two points lost with the Penguins position in the standings and with how tight things are down the stretch.

A 2-1 setback to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers tonight against a team that was 3-7 coming in their last ten. The Penguins put up seven goals Friday night against Lake Erie but faced a Sound Tigers team that always plays Wilkes-Barre tough.

The Penguins swept the Cleveland Monsters 4-0 and only allowed three goals against in the four games series. The Sound Tigers give the Penguins fits every time they meet up. Styles make fights, I guess.

The Penguins lost J-S Dea to a two game suspension. He missed tonight and will miss Wednesday in Rockford. I don’t want to pin the loss entirely on the fact that Dea was sat down for two games.

And it’s my fault for not having a blog post at the ready in the wake of the Dea news. He left the bench early as there was a scrum late in a blowout Friday. The rulebook calls for an automatic six game suspension. He only got two, so some leniency was given in the eyes of the League.

Hard to argue that point, but that’s the price you pay sometimes when your parent team wins Stanley Cups and is a contender year after year. This game was there for the Penguins to take, but they lacked any offensive punch, registering a paltry four shots on goal through about fifteen minutes in the third and squandered a stellar performance by Tristan Jarry in net and get no points on a night where Lehigh Valley and Springfield both lose and see their four game winning streak snapped at four.

Jarry opposed Jeremy Smith.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Linus Ölund took Dea’s spot at second line center. Patrick McGrath went in on the fourth line with some shuffling at that line. Kevin Czuczman picked up a knock Friday and Tim Erixon went in for him on defense.

All the offense happened in the first period.

Sound Tigers took the lead early when Jeff Kubiak took a juicy rebound off a Ben Holmstrom shot to give Bridgeport a 1-0 lead.

Penguins were getting run around a bit which ended up being foreshadowing to the full sixty minutes. Ethan Prow netted a power play goal that tied the game at one.

Scott Eansor scored with :20 left on a turnaround shot that went through Erixon’s legs and in.

That was it for the goals.

Wilkes-Barre took two penalties to open the second, Tristan Jarry remained dialed in, Penguins couldn’t cash on a power play at the end of the period which bled over to the third period, Sound Tigers kept the heat on Jarry and dominated offensive zone time and Jeremy Smith, not really bothered or tested in the third period was up to the task with Jarry pulled for the extra man in the final ninety seconds of the game.

The Good: Ethan Prow will one day join Teddy Blueger as an eventual mainstay with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Bad: The Penguins wasted one of Tristan Jarry’s better performances of the year and lose to a team who was spilling points all over the place. These are two points that the Penguins are going to wish they had in April.

Three Stars: 

Around the Division: Providence goes to Charlotte and sweep the Checkers albeit in overtime in both games, winning 1-0…Lehigh Valley loses 2-1 in Hershey to a Bears team that its red hot….Springfield comes up short against Utica 4-3 and Hartford loses 4-1 to Rochester.

Standings: Charlotte 68 — Bridgeport 56 — Providence 55 — Lehigh Valley 55 — Springfield 52 — Penguins 51 — Hershey 47 — Hartford 43

Wheeling Update: Kalamazoo scored three power play goals and beat the Nailers 5-2. John Muse took the loss in goal.

Video Highlights: 

I don’t have the February practice schedule, but I would think that the Penguins are flying out to the Midwest on Monday or Tuesday. IceHogs have won four straight and are going to be a tough matchup for the Penguins. But for anything breaking between now and Wednesday, check out the Gameday setup Wednesday at 4. It’s an 8 o’clock start in Illinois on Wednesday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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When Teddy Blueger finally earned his long overdue recall to the Pittsburgh Penguins this week, that left a huge offensive hole in the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins lineup. Blueger was and is a utility type player that can take face-offs kill penalties and put up points in most situations.

Enter J-S Dea, who is slowly creeping up the all time list in the categories of mention in Penguins history. Dea acted as the de facto top centerman tonight and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins win 7-2 Friday night at home in a runaway against the Cleveland Monsters.

Four straight wins for the Penguins. Despite this, the Penguins will remain in sixth place as just about everyone else in the Atlantic Division is as hot or hotter than the Pens.

Tristan Jarry opposed Matiss Kivlenieks.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Cam Brown replaced Blueger up front, Matt Abt returned and replaced Kevin Spinozzi. Wilkes-Barre released Dan Fick back to the Wheeling Nailers.

First Period: The Penguins came out of the All-Star break on a tear in their first period back. They overwhelmed the Monsters and took a 3-0 lead to the break. Offense, defense and goaltending was firing on all cylinders.

Joseph Blandisi continued his hot start with the Penguins with this goal that made it 1-0. It was followed by an Ethan Prow power play goal in the slot that made it 2-0. Before the Monsters knew what hit them, J-S Dea cleaned top a centering pass from Adam Johnson after a nice defensive play by Matt Abt at center ice which made it 3-0.

Here they all are, starting with Blandisi…

Shots were 17-9 heading into the…

Second Period: Penguins were caught flat footed and whatever Monsters head coach John Madden said to his group in the room worked because Cleveland responded in kind and started to run over the Penguins.

But Tristan Jarry, who didn’t get a star tonight, was on his game.

Dan DeSalvo broke through finally for the Monsters on a power play that made it 3-1.

Here is your turning point. The Penguins, who hadn’t done jack in a period where the Monsters were just at the boiling point, headed to a penalty kill when Adam Johnson was nabbed for a trip at 15:28. Wilkes-Barre got out of the penalty kill clean and added a Ryan Haggerty goal before the horn to carry a three goal lead to the third period.

I don’t entirely know if that goal was legal or not. It looked like Haggerty’s stick deflected the puck slightly above the crossbar but there was no review and no pushback from Madden and the Cleveland bench.

Third Period: Penguins volleyed the momentum here until they put Cleveland away for good. J-S Dea added a second goal on a power play, then off the face-off Dillon Simpson scored on a wraparound that made it 5-2, but then Anthony Angello and Sam Miletic scored to ice the game away.

Here is Dea’s goal.

Cleveland didn’t GIF the Simpson goal. AHL teams GIFing goals has to be a necessity at this level anymore.

Anthony Angello with a dart through the five hole of Kivlenieks that made it 6-2.

I like when Angello plays angry.

Finally Sam Miletic finished off a 2 on 1 with Cam Brown that made it 7-2. Brown’s shot was saved by Kivlenieks but Miletic was there for the rebound and backhanded it in.

Game devolved from there with J-S Dea getting a penalty for leaving the bench during an altercation. He didn’t get in a fight, so it remains to be seen on whether he is suspended by the AHL. It’s Rule 70 of the AHL Rulebook if you want to check it out.

The Good: That first period was OK if you like perfect. Wilkes-Barre ran over Cleveland and while the Monsters tried to get close, the Penguins had an answer every time.

The Bad: The second period was hard to watch at times. Cleveland has struggled of recent. A better organized offensive team cashes on the opportunities Cleveland had in the second and maybe this turns into more of a game.

Three Stars: 

Around the Division: No help, really. Providence beats Charlotte in a tight one in North Carolina 2-1 in overtime….Lehigh Valley beat Bridgeport in a wild one in Connecticut 7-5….Springfield beats Hartford 5-2. Hershey was off.

Standings: Charlotte 67 — Lehigh Valley 55 — Bridgeport 54 — Providence 53 — Springfield 52 — Penguins 51 — Hershey 45 — Hartford 43

Setting up Saturday: Providence and Charlotte rematch. Lehigh Valley travels to Hershey. Springfield hosts Utica. The Comets were shutout in Syracuse Friday and are fourth in the North and are battling. Bridgeport comes to Wilkes-Barre.

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 3-2 in overtime at home against Indy.

Video Highlights:

Bridgeport is in Saturday. Gameday setup hits the blog at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Teddy Blueger had a ho-hum regulation. No points and really uncharacteristic of the Penguins center and All-Star snub Penguins leading scorer.

But then overtime began and Blueger made his presence felt.

Blueger’s overtime game winner gives the Penguins a hard earned win on the Southern Tier of New York as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defeat the Binghamton Senators 5-4 in overtime.

It’s a game that the Penguins should have won easily, but Binghamton kept getting off the mat.

Normally when weaker teams play teams that never say die they curl up and wither away. You’ll often read me state that there are great, good and bad teams at this level. The Penguins aren’t a bad team, the Penguins aren’t a great team (this year) but they are a good team and in a division loaded with teams that are way too inconsistent (besides Charlotte) it’s performances like these that the Penguins are going to need in their push toward playoffs.

Tristan Jarry opposed Cory Schneider.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: No changes personnel wise. Sam Miletic and Anthony Angello swapped spots up top, that’s all.

The Penguins released Will O’Neill Friday. It was a mutual release. O’Neill became a defensive liability and it didn’t help that he took up a veteran spot. There were better options. I think he’s probably done at this level but I could be wrong. We’ll see.

First Period: Starts where one team didn’t play the night before can be a bit of a trick, but any ill will concerns of a poor start by the Penguins were snuffed out in the first minute when Joseph Blandisi did this:

Binghamton turnover and Blandisi was off to the races, had Angello as a trailer and probably looked him off and wired a shot past Schneider for the early goal just :46 in.

Penguins killed two penalties in the period. In one, Linus Ölund had a blind, spin-o-rama drop pass set up for Anthony Angello who skated in unabated and…

…Cory Schneider made the save.

Penguins would get a late crack on the power play and All-Star Ethan Prow would waste no time in doubling the Penguins lead.

That is points in eight straight games for Ethan Prow and the six power play goals by him puts him in a tie with Teddy Blueger for tops on the team.

Second Period: Frankly, the Penguins were lucky to get out of this period with the lead. After going up 4-1, Binghamton storms back to score two and pull within one. Wilkes-Barre was outshot 15-11 in the period and were getting steamrolled. Apropos of nothing, Binghamton just kept getting off the mat and coming. The Penguins added two goals in the period but it was like Binghamton was unfazed here and scored three.

Here they are, starting off with Ryan Haggerty with a seeing eye shot that Schneider was screened on that made it 3-0 Wilkes-Barre.

Tariq Hammond with the unintentional screen of his goaltender there.

Ryan Schmelzer scored a power play goal on nice tic tac toe passing setup to bring the Devils on the board.

Adam Johnson would score a few minutes later on a pin balling puck that Cory Schneider was unable to smother entirely and it was 4-1 Penguins.

J-S Dea with an assist on the goal here, he quietly has 18 points in 18 games.

But Binghamton kept swinging, and got two more goals before the horn. Another power play goal, this time by John Quenneville, sweeping in a rebound of a Nick Lappin shot that made it 4-2.

Then Blake Pietila scored a goal similar to the Haggerty goal to open the period when his shot was not stopped by Tristan Jarry with Kevin Czuczman getting tangled up with Quenneville down low and setting a partial screen on his net minder that brought the Devils to within one.

Third Period: Blake Pietila added his second of the game on a goal that you could see coming like a bad car crash. Pietila waited out Jarry for an hour before he scored to bring the Devils even at four a piece.

Penguins had to sweat out a penalty and were successful on the kill and it was off to…

Overtime: I Periscoped it. It’s not long.

Teddy Blueger scored :41 in. Ballgame.

The Good: Three game win streak for the Penguins and 8-0-0-0 all time against the Binghamton Devils. Binghamton didn’t go away all night and the Penguins built up enough of a lead to get them to OT and the Blueger heroics.

The Bad: Two more power play goals agains gave Binghamton life and if it wasn’t for a player of such high caliber of Blueger on OT who knows how this one would shake out.

Three Stars:

Around the Division: Hershey beats Laval 4-2…Bridgeport beats Lehigh Valley 4-1 to stop the bleeding for the Sound Tigers…Charlotte gets back in the win column with a 5-2 win in Hartford and Providence beats Springfield 3-2.

Standings: Charlotte 66 — Bridgeport 54 — Lehigh Valley 53 — Providence 51 — Springfield 50 — Penguins 49 — Hershey 45 — Hartford 43

Wheeling Update: Nailers and Royals went to a shootout and the Royals won 6-5 the box is here.

Video Highlights: Are here.

Pens are off until next Friday as the AHL in whole hits the All-Star break. Skills Competition is Sunday with the game on Monday. If anything interesting happens there I may drop in here with a blog piece. Otherwise but for big time news, check out the Power Rankings on Thursday.

Let’s Go Pens!