Chirps from Center Ice

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Tristan Jarry took a lot of flak from some of the chicken littles Wednesday night when he came back from Pittsburgh and was named the starter early in the week by Head Coach Clark Donatelli.

“Ride the hot hand in Anthony Peters!” they yelled.

Peters has the best GAA / SV% coming into the week, but he’s not on an NHL contract. Jarry is. The Pittsburgh Penguins assigned Jarry to Wilkes-Barre because he is waiver exempt and he came to Coal Street with orders that he is the starting goalie.

It’s like that line in Captain Phillips.

(Jarry, busts into the coaches office….)

Jarry to Clark Donatelli: Look at me. LOOK AT ME! 

(Donatelli looks up from his desk)

Jarry: I am the starting goaltender now.

Jarry lost Wednesday to the 0-5 Bears at the time. I didn’t make him the focal point because the AHL team will always do what the NHL team wants. The AHL is a developmental league. Jarry wasn’t the reason that the Penguins lost the game Wednesday; Vitek Vanecek was, stopping 40 off 42 shots.

But enough about the past, let’s talk about the present.

Jarry turns in a great performance in Allentown, and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins survive a thriller at PPL Center and win 5-4.

A comeback in the third led by a power play goal by Teddy Blueger that made it 4-4 then a late go ahead goal by Garrett Wilson which made it 5-4. Late saves by Jarry at the end preserved the win for Wilkes-Barre who improve to 4-1 on this young season.

Jarry opposed Carter Hart.

Lines were…

Take a look at the projected #WBSPens lines and defensive pairings for our game against the @LVPhantoms – #WBS20 https://t.co/2w45EhwVwF—
WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) October 19, 2018

Notes: No Anthony Angello tonight so everyone moved up one on the right side, Patrick McGrath made his season debut on the fourth line. No other changes to defense. Angello’s status is the ever detailed “day to day.” 🙄

Tonight’s game was Will O’Neill’s 400th AHL game.

First Period: Was a goalie duel to start the game, with Jarry and Hart making some good saves.

Hart stopped Adam Johnson shorthanded with his mask, then later stopped him on a power play with the glove.

Jarry was dialed in, bailing out Stefan Elliott on this play…

Then, Patrick McGrath threw a big hit which caused a commotion and Linus Olünd pounced on it and scored to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

But the Phantoms answered right back with less than a minute to play when Mike Vecchione scored on a bouncing, uncontrolled puck that put the Phantoms on even footing heading into the first intermission.

Second Period: Penguins withstood four Phantoms power plays along with having a Phantoms would be goal taken off the board on account of goalie interference on Jarry and take a 3-2 lead into the third period.

Sam Miletic scored after the Penguins killed a Phantoms carry over power play to open the period on this play…

About a minute later, Philippe Myers scored a goal with Jarry screened to tie it.

Then, the game slowed with the Penguins taking penalty after penalty.

Pens get a call go their way when Zach Trotman hit a guy that bowled over Jarry, who never recovered, and a goal was scored.

Immediately waved off by both referees Dan Kelly and Chris Pontes. Look, there are 12 pages in the AHL Rulebook on this type of play. These types of plays are like car crashes. They happen all the time, you just hope you are never involved in one. There never seems to be a right or wrong call and depending on what side you are on, you like or dislike the call.

Zach Aston-Reese scored on a bank pass off of the back boards to give Wilkes-Barre a 3-2 lead.

A lot of action in the period, to say the least.

Third Period: All of that penalty killing that Wilkes-Barre did in the second period finally caught up to them in the third.

TJ Brennan point shot tied it…

Then Greg Carey gave Lehigh Valley their only lead of the night…

Both goals came on the power play.

Those were the last power plays that the Phantoms had for the rest of the game.

Penguins cashed on a power play goal of their own when they kept it in the zone the entire time, and Teddy Blueger scored off of a pass on the pads to tie the game.

Penguins got another power play but were not able to score on it. As time ticked away and it looked like overtime was inevitable, Jimmy Hayes led a two on one, put a shot on Hart that the Phantoms net minder made a stop on but never was able to smother, and Garrett Wilson did this.

Tristan Jarry made some saves at the end of the game that preserved the win for his team. Jarry stopped 28 of 32 shots, none bigger then at the end of the game.

Three Stars: 3) Teddy Blueger (goal) 2) TJ Brennan (goal, assist) 1) Garrett Wilson (game winning gaol)

Around the Division: Springfield beats Laval 5-3…Hartford beats Belleville 4-3…Bridgeport beats Providence 4-3 in overtime…Charlotte improves to 5-0 with a 4-3 shootout win over Hershey where the Bears only had 13 shots all game.

Standings: Charlotte 10 – Hartford 9 – Penguins 8 – Springfield 8 – Bridgeport 5 – Lehigh Valley 4 – Providence 3 – Hershey 3

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

Highlights: 

These two teams rematch Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre. If this game tonight was a preview of what we can expect for 11 more meetings, buckle the hell up. Gameday setup hits the blog Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Sometimes you run into a hot goalie. No matter how hard you try, the guy in the pads standing in front of the 4’ x 6’ cage just sometimes makes the stops to carry his team across the line.

Vitek Vanecek for Hershey carried his 0-5 Hershey Bears to their first win of the season on his back through an ocean with 20 foot waves.

40 saves by Vanecek tonight ensures enough for his Hershey Bears team who win their first game of the season 3-2 tonight in Wilkes-Barre. It’s also the first loss of the season for the Penguins.

I’m in the hurry up because 6:50 am Thursday morning comes quick and I don’t do this for a living.

Tristan Jarry made his first start of the season for the Penguins and opposed the aforementioned Vanecek.

Lines were:

Notes: Matt Abt was a scratch. Ryan Horvat made his WBS debut. Less roster jockeying with Derek Grant, a veteran, recalled when Jarry was sent back down. Ryan Haggerty is week to week with a lower body injury but Clark told Tom after the game it’s a shorter term week to week and shouldn’t be a long term issue.

First Period: I thought one play late in the period best summed up the period for Wilkes-Barre. It was on the power play and Sam Miletic had a wide open net to shoot into. He missed. The Penguins trailed 1-0 to the Bears after 20 minutes of play.  Lots of chances, no finish or nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.

Axel Jonsson-Fjällby scored on the Bears first shot of the game to give Hershey the early lead.

Second Period: First ten minutes took forever and I felt that it benefitted Hershey. They came in 0-5, in the midst of a seven game hellacious road trip that brought them through the Midwest, here tonight and to Charlotte this weekend, their backup goalie was a local guy signed to an ATO before the game and had guys banged up, so every stoppage after an icing or an offside was a chance to catch their breath, reset, and get back to it.

As the period wore on and the Penguins down 1-0 still, the last thing you wanted to see was the Bears go up two.

The Bears went up two. Old buddy Liam O’Brien beat Tristan Jarry gloveside on a quick shot with 20.2 seconds left in the period.

Third Period: Penguins get two quick goals in under two minutes in the games first five minutes and the thought from the Bears was likely here we go again…

Tobias Lindberg smacked one in off of Vanecek to put the Pens on the board.

Then Garrett Wilson with this deflection when the Penguins were on the power play tied it…

But then the Penguins got caught chasing their tail, watching too much in their own zone when old buddy and favorite of this blog Jayson Megna scored what ended up being the game winning goal…

Game then zipped on past after that. No power plays, minimal stoppages. The Penguins got close, again, multiple times with Jarry pulled for the extra man but Vanecek made some excellent stops to ensure that his team wouldn’t be playing overtime tonight.

Three Stars: 3) Vitek Vanecek (40 saves on 42 shots) 2) Tobias Lindberg (goal) 1) Jayson Megna (game winning goal)

Around the Division: Laval pounds Hartford 5-2. Everyone else was off.

Standings: Charlotte 8 – Hartford 7 – Penguins 6 – Springfield 6 – Lehigh Valley 4 – Bridgeport 3 – Providence 2 – Hershey 2.

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Hershey put highlights up first, so they run here so I am not looking back sometime Thursday morning. Here they are…

Pens are back in action Friday in Allentown against the Phantoms.

Don’t forget Week 2’s AHL Power Rankings out Thursday. Check them out around noonish.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Here’s the thing. When Tristan Jarry comes down from Pittsburgh, the derivative from the NHL Penguins is going to give Jarry the net. The American Hockey League is a developmental league for players on NHL contracts sent to the AHL. Jarry is going to play. Get ready for it.

That’s fine. Because the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have a diamond in the rough and his name is Anthony Peters.

Peters makes 32 saves and the Penguins improve to 3-0 in the very early season with a 4-1 win in Cleveland Saturday night.

Johnny Muse may be better than both of them, but I digress…

Peters opposed J-F Berube.

Lines were…

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Lineup Notes: Up front, Derek Grant made his WBS debut for Tobias Lindberg up front and Jeff Taylor was in for Will O’Neill. Anthony Peters retained the net. Don’t worry about O’Neill, the Penguins are dealing with a case of way too many veterans. Grant qualifies as one which puts them over.

Seriously, these graphics are great. Hope they return this Wednesday at home against Hershey.

First Period: Wasn’t much to this period. Kevin Stenlund had a dangle and snipe goal to put the Monsters ahead 1-0…

Hell of a shot by Stenlund.

Penguins had a power play and killed two, otherwise outshot tiger Monsters 12-11 in the first period.

Second Period: First time that the Penguins trailed after any intermission. They made sure that this was changed heading into the second intermission.

Anthony Angello potted a goal on a rebound of a Chris Summer shot to tie the game at one…

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The theme of scoring on the rebound continued. Jimmy Hayes scored after Derek Grant dug a puck out of the pads of Berube for this easy tuck…

Wilkes-Barre was coming in waves. Sam Miletic hit the bar. Then, Derek Grant scored on a sick deflection of a Jeff Taylor shot from an even sicker angle…

Wilkes-Barre had to killa. late penalty, and Anthony Peters continued to stake his claim as the #1 goaltender in Wilkes-Barre. Check out this robbery of an Alex Broadhurst attempt…

Third Period: A good gauge on whether you are going to be a good team with your current group is to see how your team plays with leads. Cleveland didn’t muster anything close to a chance but for another Peters stop on Zac Dalpe on a setup from ex-Penguin Mark Letestu. That was it. Penguins had a power play but couldn’t score then Monsters head coach John Madden pulled Berube with 3:58 to play and later Teddy Blueger hit the empty net.

Three Stars: 3) Kevin Stenlund (goal) 2) Jimmy Hayes (goal) and 1) Anthony Peters (32 saves on 33 shots)

Around the Division: Charlotte continues to roll with a 4-1 win in Syracuse tonight…Lehigh Valley wins in a shootout 5-4 in Springfield after getting throttled by the Thunderbirds in Allentown last night…Rochester beat Bridgeport 4-3 Saturday afternoon…Hartford beat Providence 4-3 and Hershey remains the only team without a win in the Atlantic Division with a 5-1 loss in Milwaukee.

Standings: Charlotte with 8, Hartford with 7, Wilkes-Barre 6, Springfield and Lehigh Valley with 4, Bridgeport and Providence with 2 and Hershey with 0.

Wheeling Update: Nailers kicked off their campaign on the road in Norfolk and lost 5-3. The Nailers scored three power play goals in the loss. Elliot Grauer had a pair of goals. Apologies on the link, the ECHL switched to a new website that they clearly weren’t’ ready for because it’s a nightmare. You can’t find boxes anywhere on the regular site. Just let me find them for you. If or when they fix it, I will update future links accordingly.

Remember, my AHL Power Rankings have been moved to Thursday. So unless there is newsworthy stuff to make a blog post out of, check back here Wednesday for coverage of the midweek home game against Hershey.

Let’s Go Pens!

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It seemed like a walk in a park tonight.

I guess you could say that when the opponent gives you 11 power play chances and you cash on three of them and your goaltender, playing to stick around plays lights out. Such was the case Thursday night in Cleveland.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins were in Cleveland for the first time in a decade and defeated the previously undefeated coming in Cleveland Monsters 3-0. The Penguins scored all three goals on the power play.

Let me type that out again, on its own paragraph.

The Penguins scored all three goals on the power play.

Oh, it’s true.

At even strength, it seemed like there was a talent gap. I was a bit worried coming into the contest tonight as anyone would be going against a 3-0 team when you team just played open game on opening weekend. The Monsters swept the Rockford IceHogs last weekend and dismantled the defending Calder Cup Champion Toronto Marlies on Monday. It’s not a team we have seen at all of recent, so the unknown is always there.

Wilkes-Barre outshot the Monsters 18-12 and were up 1-0 after the first period. It was a message sent by Clark Donatelli’s crew that they were going to take hold of the game early and never look back.

Anthony Peters really wasn’t tested. He made some good saves, but any goaltender at this level could make the saves he made. I am not discounting his shutout performance (28 saves) by any stretch, but the five guys playing ahead of him made it easy for him.

These two teams rematch Saturday night.

The aforementioned Anthony Peters opposed J-F Berube.

Lines were….

That’s the easiest thing I have ever done on the blog. If the person responsible for the creation of that tweet reads this blog, please let this be a normal thing. It’s such a timesaver.

Lineup Notes: No changes from opening night. Derek Grant cleared waivers at noon today and Pittsburgh sent him here and recalled Tristan Jarry on an emergency basis. Matt Murray did take an optional skate today, but was ruled out of tonight’s matchup in Pittsburgh against Vegas.

First Period: Penguins gave up a 3×5 shorthanded chance to Zac Dalpe, but Garrett Wilson finally broke through on the power play on a deflection of a shot by ex-Monster Stefan Elliott…

The Penguins had a ton of offensive zone time in the first period but Berube withstood the offensive onslaught. Anthony Peters was not tested but for one power play for the Monsters.

Second Period: Anthony Peters had a few big stops in this frame. Taylor caught one…

…this was on a Cleveland power play.

Penguins extend their lead to two with this power play goal by Sam Lafferty…

Penguins actually looked good on the power play to this point, and the Monsters parade to the box continued. Pens peppered Berube with shots and at the other end of the ice Peters was stopping everything sent his way.

Third Period: Monsters could not stop taking penalties. Anthony Angello scored to make it three power play goals on the night for Wilkes-Barre with this goal….

With about four minutes remaining in regulation, Monsters coach John Madden decided to pull Berube, but it didn’t matter, Cleveland continued to take penalties. The Penguins didn’t hit the empty net, but they didn’t allow the Monsters to score to bust up the Peters shutout.

Three Stars:

Around the Division: They, along with the entire AHL, watched us.

Standings: Charlotte, Wilkes-Barre and Hartford with 4 points each, Lehigh Valley and Bridgeport with 2, Springfield with 1 and Providence and Hershey with 0.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers open their regular season on the road Saturday in Norfolk.

Highlights: 

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No game tomorrow, if there are any news or notes I will have something here. If not, check out the Gameday setup for the rematch between these two teams Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!