Chirps from Center Ice

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Christian Thomas picked up right where he left off.

After scoring the shootout goal two weeks ago in Allentown against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Christian Thomas turned his attention to Finland in the Karjala Cup for the last week and a half. There, he was evaluated to be among the few chosen to represent Canada in the Olympics.

Back home, his Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins continued to rack up points while he was away.

Make it 11 straight games for the Penguins with at least a point, 21 out of a possible 22, as Wilkes-Barre gets by the Binghamton Devils tonight by a 4-3 score on the Southern Tier. Christian Thomas scored the game winning goal in the third period.

Casey DeSmith opposed Ken Appleby.

Lines were…

Dominik Simon – Colin Smith – Christian Thomas
Jarrett Burton – Gage Quinney – Daniel Sprong
Zach Aston-Reese — J-S Dea — Ryan Haggerty
Adam Johnson – Teddy Blueger – Thomas Di Pauli

Chris Summers – Lukas Bengtsson
Kevin Czuczman – Ethan Prow
Jarred Tinordi – Zach Trotman

Casey DeSmith – Colin Stevens

Lineup Notes: Garrett Wilson was at home taking care of a family matter, so Jarrett Burton took his spot on the second line. Lukas Bengtsson was pack and paired with Chris Summers. Andrey Pedan served Game 1 of a three game suspension.

First Period: :12 in, Ryan Haggerty scored to make it 1-0..

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Binghamton would respond later with a power play goal when Brandon Gignac knocked in a rebound of a blocked shot to tie the game at one a piece.

In the games final minute, Thomas DiPauli scored with 17.2 seconds left to make it 2-1 Penguins…

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Blunger there with the hustle to the wraparound shot / pass to DiPaui who was in the right place at the right time.

Wilkes-Barre would get outshot 13-4 in the period but in keeping with the theme Sunday in Hershey, it was all about quality over quantity.

Second Period: Binghamton would score, again on a power play, to tie the game at two a side. Bracken Kears deflected a shot in that made it 2-2 for the only scoring in the period.

The Penguins, to this point, did not have a single power play. They finally opened the third period with one when ex-Penguin Brian Strait boarded a Penguin at the buzzer.

Third Period: Adam Johnson scored on a bomb of a shot via one timer to push the Penguins back out ahead midway through the third…

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Christian Thomas scored on a breakaway minutes later and the floodgates were opening for the Penguins….

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But the Devils would score their third power play of the game when Jacob McDonald made it a little too close for comfort for the Penguins as the score would be cut to one.

Binghamton would hit a cross bar, DeSmith would make a save on his back, the Devils would pull Appleby for an extra attacker but never found the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Jacob McDonald (goal, assist, -1) 2) Christian Thomas (goal, +2) 1) Teddy Blunger (two assists, +2)

Around the Division: Hershey continues to win, winning Game 1 of their two game set in Providence by a 4-1 score. The two teams rematch Sunday… Hartford loses 4-2 in Rochester… Springfield blanks Charlotte 4-0… Lehigh Valley beats Laval 5-2. Bridgeport was off.

Standings: Penguins (.821 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.647) — Charlotte (.625) — Providence (.571) — Hershey (.529) — Bridgeport (.500) — Hartford (.441) — Springfield (.361)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were in Norfolk tonight and crushed the Admirals 6-2. Garrett Meurs had a goal and two assists for first star honors. Sean Maguire picked up the win, stopping 36 of 38 shots.

I didn’t see any video highlight package that the Devils put out.

That’s it for the weekend for the Penguins, who are off Saturday and Sunday and back in action Wednesday at home against Lehigh Valley before their home and home series with the Syracuse Crunch starting next Friday.

AHL Power Rankings will hit the blog Monday at 4.

Let’s Go Pens!

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The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins went into Hershey Sunday and made the most of their scoring opportunities, beating the Bears 5-1 with a paltry 13 shots on goal.

No, you read that right, five goals on just 13 shots on goal all game.

Hershey fired 32 at starting goaltender Casey DeSmith and but for a fluke bounce on a power play in the second period, it could have been a shutout.

One other back of the envelope stat about this game, the Penguins only had one power play that they made count, to the Bears five.

The Penguins sweep the week and have points in ten straight games now and 19 out of a possible 20.

DeSmith opposed Vitek Vanecek, making his season debut for the Bears.

Lines were…

Zach Aston-Reese — J-S Dea — Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson – Jarrett Burton – Daniel Sprong
Adam Johnson – Colin Smith – Dominik Simon
Thomas Di Pauli – Teddy Blueger – Patrick McGrath

Andrey Pedan – Ethan Prow
Chris Summers – Kevin Czuczman
Jarred Tinordi – Zach Trotman

Casey DeSmith – Colin Stevens

Lineup Notes: Jarrett Burton replaced Gage Quinney and Patrick McGrath, making his season debut, replaced Tom Sestito. Lukas Bengtsson was a bit under the weather, and given his history with POTS, the coaching staff rested him today in favor of Ethan Prow.

First Period: Penguins jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead with goals through the five hole of Vanecek. Jarred Tinordi with his second goal of the season here…

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And then Daniel Sprong found Zach Aston-Reese for an easy tap in goal for a 2-0 Penguin lead…

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Tinordi’s goal gave him back to back goals and doubled his output from last season when he was with the Tucson Roadrunners. Aston-Reese scored his second goal of the season, both coming against Hershey. Ethan Prow had the assist.

Good flow to the game, with both teams going up and down the ice and not a lot of stoppages. Casey DeSmith made this ten bell stop that caught the League’s attention…

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Second Period: Bears get a goal from Dustin Gazley on the power play off a weird carom that snuck past DeSmith to cut the lead to one.

But just :58 later, the Penguins answer right back with a goal by Thomas DiPauli that re-established the two goal Penguin lead…

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One minute later, Daniel Sprong toasted a Bears defense and made it 4-1…

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Rout was on after that.

Third Period: Quick moving period for both teams with a lot of back and forth but a ton of zone time for Hershey, who outshot the Penguins 12-3 in the period and had two power plays to play with but could not get anything past DeSmith for however hard they tried. Daniel Sprong was awarded a penalty shot in the opening moments of the period but hit the post.

Three Stars: 3) Daniel Sprong (goal, +2) 2) Zach Aston-Reese (goal, +1) and 1) Casey DeSmith (31 saves on 32 shots)

Around the Division: Providence coughs up another two goal lead and loses in overtime, this time against the Springfield in Massachusetts this afternoon and lose 4-3. Laval beat Hartford 3-2 in overtime in Connecticut. Everyone else was off.

Standings: Penguins (.808 percentage points) — Charlotte (.714) — Lehigh Valley (.667) — Providence (.615) — Hershey (.467) — Hartford (.467) — Bridgeport (.462) — Springfield (.281)

Wheeling Update: beat the Norfolk Admirals at Wesbanco Arena this afternoon 5-3.Nailers Goalie Will King picked up the win and first star honors, stopping 39 of 42 Admirals shots. Garrett Meurs had two goals and Cam Brown had a goal and two assists. Reid Gardiner was held without a point. Nailers are back in action Tuesday in a kids day game against the Adirondack Thunder in West Virginia. Bring your earplugs.

As for the Penguins, they have one game this coming week, Friday in Binghamton and then have off the rest of the weekend.

Video Highlights: 

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Week 6 AHL Power Rankings hit the blog Monday at 4.

Let’s Go Pens!

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There is no such thing as a machine that prints money. Well, legally, and not controlled by the Federal Government at least.

There is, however, such a thing that churns out American Hockey League points right now and they skate in all white with yellow and black trim with a skating Penguin behind an upside-down triangle on their chests.

After falling down 0-2 to the Providence Bruins, the same Providence Bruins who ousted the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins last April, the Penguins storm back and respond with three straight goals only to see the Bruins score a late goal to tie with the extra man on but it would be the Penguins who would prevail in overtime with Ryan Haggerty getting the game winning goal just :20 into the extra frame.

Let’s talk about Ryan Haggerty for a second. Here is a guy who didn’t see action in the first seven contests for the Penguins. Now, Haggerty has eight points in just five games for Wilkes-Barre after a three point night tonight as the Penguins take down the Providence Bruins 4-3 in overtime to pick up their ninth straight game with at least a point, a 17 out of a possible 18.

Casey DeSmith opposed Zane McIntyre.

The Penguins didn’t have any lineup changes from Wednesday against Toronto, scroll down if you didn’t link in direct to see the lines.

First Period: 1:33 in, the Bruins scored when Matt Grzelcyk found Ryan Fitzgerald as he split a pair of Penguins defenders to give the visitors a lead early on.

There were two fights in the period, which is something you just don’t see anymore. Tom Sestito lost a fight with Chris Breen then Andrey Pedan ate league MVP Kenny Agostino for lunch in a separate fight.

Second Period: Pens found themselves in a bit of a hole when Colby Cave threw an end over end puck ay DeSmith that got by to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead.

Here is a rad statistic from color man Nick Hart that nearly blew my socks off…

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About two minutes later, Kevin Czuczman put a backhander through McIntyre’s five hole to get the Pens back within one…

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McIntyre had a yeoman like effort on a Penguin power play at the end of the period.

Third Period: Game to this point had the feel of a heavyweight affair. Not so much like Wednesday against Toronto because it wasn’t filled with fights and the general bad blood that the Pens and Bruins had.

Jarred Tinordi let one rip from the point that got past McIntyre to tie the game for Wilkes-Barre.

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Pens had a long 5-on-3 but were not able to get anything past McIntyre. Then, with 2:23 left, Andrey Pedan let one rip and Thomas DiPauli got a stick on it to put the Pens ahead 3-2…

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…Call at the time was Pedan’s goal, but that was later reversed back to DiPauli.

Providence, undeterred by the circumstances, pulled McIntyre and then Ryan Fitzgerald scored his second…

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So the game was headed to…

Overtime: :20 in, Czuczman set up J-S Dea who quickly found themselves on a 2-on-1 with Ryan Haggerty. Dea dished to Haggerty and that was the ballgame.

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Three Stars: 3) Andrey Pedan (assist, +1) 2) Ryan Fitzgerald (two goals, +2) 1) Ryan Haggerty (game winning overtime goal, two assists, +2)

Around the Division: Springfield picks up an impressive win against Laval after falling in a 3-0 hole. The Thunderbirds win 6-4….Syracuse cools off Charlotte 5-3….Hershey smokes Lehigh Valley 6-1….Hartford beats Bridgeport 2-1.

Standings: Penguins (.792 percentage points) — Charlotte (.714) — Lehigh Valley (.667) — Providence (.625) — Hershey (.500) — Hartford (.464) — Bridgeport (.462) — Springfield (.233)

Wheeling Update: with a 5-3 win over the Nailers.Toledo splits the series with the Wheeling Nailers Reid Gardiner had two assists. Sean Maguire takes the loss after stopping 23 of 27 shots. The Nailers take on the Norfolk Admirals back at home at 3:05 Sunday.

Video Highlights: 

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Pens take on the Hershey Bears Sunday afternoon in Hershey. Clark Donatelli revealed his starting goaltender to Tom…

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Gameday setup hits the blog Sunday at 1.

Let’s Go Pens!