Chirps from Center Ice

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Wilkes-Barre’s trip to Cleveland is not a fruitful one. A day before they are blown out 7-1 on Friday and Saturday they are shutout by Jet Greaves and lose 3-0.

Another game where they never got out of the blocks correctly, getting scored on in the first :36 on the first shot of the game, and the thought of a division lead are getting dimmer and if they don’t watch, the bye may slip away from them as well.

They have another week to get things straight, and I can’t believe I am saying this but I would like to see them play Wednesday or something to see if they work out whatever the hell this disaster of a weekend was sooner rather than later. The next time they are on the ice is next Friday at home against Hershey.

Anyway, here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Nolan Renick made his AHL debut, replacing Kyle Jackson up front On defense a pair of changes on defense saw Mac Hollowell and Dan Renouf go out for Filip Kral and Nate Clurman.

First Period: First shot for the Monsters, err, Pierogis, goes in at :36 and Hunter McKown scored to give the Monsters an early 1-0 lead.

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Cleveland made quick work of the only power play of the period when McKown scored his second of the contest that doubled the Monsters lead.

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They managed to settle in, but down two goals in the first ten minutes is not how they drew it up.

Second Period: Jet Greaves was becoming a problem.

Penguins put 11 shots on the Cleveland goaltender, playing in his second game in as many nights, and he was dialed in.

The Pierogis did not get any further ahead of the Penguins in the period, with each team trading a power play heading into the…

Third Period: They had 1:30 of a power play to start the period then another crack at the man advantage but despite this, only managed six shots on goal in the period. Didn’t seem like there was a lot of urgency all weekend and this period was the bellwether.

Cleveland only had one shot in the period and wouldn’t you know it….

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That kind of weekend.

Three Stars: 3) Samuel Knazko (assist) 2) Daemon Hunt (shot) 1) Hunter McKown (two goals)

I don’t think those are right. They give a guy second star of the game because of a shot? No Jet Greaves and his 23 saves?

Around the Division: Charlotte beats Bridgeport 5-2 to take sole possession of second place in the Atlantic….Providence loses 6-4 in Utica….Springfield shuts out Lehigh Valley 1-0  in overtime and Hershey and Hartford went to overtime and the Bears win 3-2 to go seven clear on the Penguins.

Standings: Hershey 89 – Charlotte 84 – Penguins 82 – Providence 81 – Springfield 74 – Lehigh Valley 74 – Hartford 63 – Bridgeport 37

Sunday: Charlotte and Providence rematch Sunday in Rhode Island. You are cheering for a regulation decision.

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 5-4 to the Reading Royals.

Video Highlights: Only if you are brave enough.

AHL Power Rankings coming at you Monday.

Keep your head up.

Let’s Go Pens!

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The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins never got out of the starting gates Friday night in Cleveland and got steamrolled 7-1 by a Cleveland Monsters team that changed its name to the Cleveland Pierogis for the weekend. I always preferred my mother’s pigs in a blanket, which are what gołąbki are, as opposed to a pierogi.

Yeah, I am Italian but have Polish roots. Spadaj.

Anyway, since I write these on the fly when I watch them when they are playing on the road you are in luck! I have all seven goals scored by the Monsters for you in this one. Cieszyć się!

Here’s how they lined up…

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Cleveland beat the Penguins to the Pierogis nickname. I firmly believe the Plymouth Pierogis will happen with these local theme nights like the Pens are doing next Saturday when they morph into the Carbondale UFOs. Cleveland did it first, I guess.

Lineup Notes: Tristan Broz, Jack Beck and Emil Bemstrom were in. For Beck his WBS debut. Broz returned from one game suspension Sunday and Bemstrom was reassigned Friday. Joona Koppanen is up in Pittsburgh. Sam Poulin was ill. On defense, Dan Renouf for Filip Kral, who was a health scratch and no Scooter Brickey as they went back to the standard 12/6 lineup.

Joel Blomqvist is on the trip.

First Period: Roman Ahcan follows his rebound at 4:09 off a blocked shot and beat Filip Larsson to give the Monsters Pierogis a 1-0 lead.

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Avery Hayes hit both posts on a Penguins power play, which went 0/2 in the period.

Second Period: Floodgates opened.

Monsters cashed on their second power play of the period which came right after the Pens killed the first one when Mikael Pyyhtiä scored to make it 2-0.

Then Roman Ahcan struck again, this time on a breakaway to make it 3-0.

Guillaume Richard, in his first AHL game out of Providence College, scored on a nice backhander that made it 4-0.

Wilkes-Barre called it’s time out to try and settle down. While they didn’t give up any more goals to the home team, they never really threatened, even getting a power play and giving up a shorthanded bid then later icing the puck on the same power play.

For posterity, here are the Cleveland goals.

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Third Period: In keeping with the vibe check, Boris Katchouk comes flying into the Pens offensive zone with speed but runs into Chase Stillman. He still manages to get off a shot, but it was just that kind of night.

James Malatesta scored a few minutes later to make it 5-0.

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Chris Paul then hit a huge three to cut the deficit to 42 Vasiliy Ponomarev scored a power play goal to ensure that the Penguins would not be shut out on the night as the lone consolation for the Penguins, but then Luca Del Bel Belluz and Roman Ahcan scored power play goals to run it up to seven. Touchdown Cleveland with the extra point. I know it doesn’t happen a lot in that town, so the crowd of over 12,000 were extremely happy with the number. For Ahcan, it was a hat trick.

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Three Stars: 3) Guillaume Richard (goal, assist) 2) Jet Greaves (30 saves) 1) Roman Ahcan (hat trick)

The Good: Thank god for a Polish translator.

The Bad: Harrison Brunicke took three penalties. Filip Larsson looked completely overmatched but his team didn’t help him out a bit. I could go on, but it ain’t that deep.

Turning Point: That second period killed them, especially that sequence where they killed the first penalty but got called for a second a few moments later.

Around the Division: Providence beats Charlotte 4-0. That’s good because it keeps the Pens and Checkers tied in points. For now, because it brings fourth place Providence closer….Hershey beats Lehigh Valley 2-1 to go five clear of the Pens / Checkers and the rest of the riff raft in the Atlantic. Utica beat Springfield 5-2.

Standings: Hershey 87 – Charlotte 82 – Penguins 82 – Providence 81 – Lehigh Valley 73 – Springfield 72 – Hartford 62 – Bridgeport 37

Wheeling Update: Nailers beat the Reading Royals at home 6-3. Taylor Gauthier stopped 25. Gabe Klassen had a pair of goals and an assist.

Video Highlights: Sickos click here.

They will rematch Saturday and I would expect lineup changes and hopefully a different result.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Penguins lose 5-2 in Game 2 in Charlotte early Sunday afternoon off three points doom Checkers leading scorer John Leonard. The Checkers have all the tie breakers on the Penguins now as the two teams wrap up their regular season series.

The good news is that both teams are still within arm reach of the Hershey Bears for the division lead. The bad news is that if the Checkers and Penguins are tied in points at the end f the season, the Checkers would get the higher seed in the division.

They will have a week off then restart things next weekend in Cleveland.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Tristan Broz was suspended for the game because of the cross checking incident from Saturday where he paid a 4:00 penance in the penalty box. The league then comes over the top and tacks on a suspension. Everything is made up and the points don’t matter to the League. Guy gets called for a double minor, league comes over the top and sits him a game. Either hire more competent officials who throw him out of the game when it happens, or make it make sense.

With Broz turfed for the game, they went 11 forwards and 7 defensemen. Kyle Jackson, who they called up in the wake of McGroarty and Koivunen going up, made his AHL debut. Mac Hollowell returned from injury, Mathias Laferrière is day to day with an upper body injury. Scooter Brickey was also back in on defense with just Nate Clurman scratched.

First Period: Sergei Murashov lets in the first shot he sees off the stick of Matt Kiersted on what really was a wicked shot, that gave the Checkers early 1-0 lead at 4:39 then the Checkers kill a Penguins power play and a few seconds later off the rush ex-Penguin Jesse Puljujarvi scores to expend the lead to two.

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I liked what I saw from Kyle Jackson, who had two Grade A opportunities and seemed to me to have a nose for the net.

Second Period: Checkers really hounded the Penguins looking for a third goal that did not come. The Penguins withstood this and got a really greasy goal from Atley Calvert that brought Wilkes-Barre to within one.

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Third Period: Valtteri Puustinen tied the game at two with a nice shot.

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But then this is where John Leonard went to work.

On the first power play of the day for Charlotte, Leonard scores to re-establish the Checkers lead.

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And then the Penguins were unable to score on back to back power play opportunities and then with time dwindling had to kill one of their own. With Sergei Murashov pulled for an extra attacker, Leonard scores from deep to make it 4-2 then Ramsus Asplund follows up by walking a puck in to make it 5-2.

Three Stars: 3) Kaapo Kähkönen (24 saves) 2) Matt Kiersted (goal, assist) 1) John Leonard (two goals, assist)

The Good: They manage a split against a really good Charlotte team but their fate as it is with the Checkers alone, is not in their hands.

The Bad: Failing to score on back to back power play chances seemingly, when they needed it most.

Turning Point: When they didn’t get a goal on either of the late chances you know they were going to be desperate and Charlotte is too good and too skilled to let an extra man goal happen to them when they, too, needed the points.

Around the Division: Boxes on today’s action which is on or will be getting on by the time this goes up here. The important ones are Springfield / Providence and Utica / Hershey.

Standings: Three off the Bears are both the Checkers and Penguins, but the Bears are in action late at home against Utica.

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: Will be located someplace here.

Week off for them to heal up, hopefully get some bodies back and then it’s off to a sliding Cleveland team next weekend.

AHL Power Rankings will be up Monday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins won 5-3 Saturday afternoon in Charlotte to propel themselves back to second place in the Atlantic Division and ties the Checkers with the second tire breaker, being regulation or overtime wins with some really good special teams play.

They killed off a Tristan Broz double minor and then another in the first period against a Checkers power play which is ranked third in the AHL.

Then, the Penguins scored a power play goal when Vasily Ponomarev scored with under seven minutes to play against the Checkers top ranked penalty kill.

The teams will rematch at 1 p.m. Sunday. I’ll be asking my priest to hurry up his sermon at the 11 a.m. mass I plan on attending.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: AHL pro debut for Harrison Brunicke. Rutger McGraorty and Ville Koivunen were recalled to Pittsburgh and Joona Koppanen was sent back. Alex Gallant and Koppanen were in for those two and Brunicke went in for Scooter Brickey.

First Period: No scoring. Jack St. Ivany had yeoman like work on the Penguins penalty kill, which the Pens needed to do three times where one was a double minor Tristan Broz infraction.

Filip Larsson had a hell of a save on one of the closing sequences.

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Second Period: Sam Poulin scores when the puck gets lost in the pads of Checkers goaltender Cooper Black.

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Later, Valtteri Puustinen muscled his way into the Checkers zone and wired one past Black that made it 2-0 Wilkes-Barre.

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Then Charlotte started a furious push in the final five minutes of the period.

Nicholas Zabaneh played pitch and catch with Oliver Okuliar after creating a turnover and scored to get the Checkers on the board.

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Then Harrison Brunicke had a rookie mistake. He tried to bank a pass to himself off of the net he was defending and Sandis Vilmanis made him pay.

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To this point, I thought Brunicke looked good. He had some power play time as well.

Third Period: Fast forward to the 13:07 mark of the period where Wilmer Skoog was called for hooking. On the ensuing power play, Atley Calvert set a screen in front and Vasily Ponomarev unleashed a hell of a shot that beat Cooper Black to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead.

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As described above, first pro point for Harrison Brunicke who assisted on the power play goal.

With Black pulled for an extra attacker, Matt Nieto scored from about 185 feet away into the empty net and then Joona Koppanen muscled his way through all three zones to score an empty netter of his own to seal it for the Penguins.

Justin Sourdif had a wrap around chance that deflected off of the skates of Owen Pickering in front as a consolation goal for the Checkers with :36 left.

Three Stars: 3) Nicholas Zabaneh (goal) 2) Valtteri Puustinen (goal) 1) Vasily Ponomarev (power play goal)

The Good: Huge two points Saturday and they get to roll out Sergei Murashov out Sunday who has not lost in the AHL yet. Special teams ruled the day for the Penguins and this is a huge two points.

The Bad: Charlotte never went away and if it wasn’t for the late special teams theatrics for the Penguins, could have been a different result, but that’s a stretch.

Turning Point: Glaringly obvious here, the Ponomarev goal gets it here.

Around the Division: Well, hate to do this to you but with them playing early Saturday and even earlier Sunday, these won’t be here this weekend. I will leave links to the daily box here and Sunday if I remember. Heh.

Standings: As it stands the Penguins are three off Hershey for tops in the division with 82 points, but the Bears are in Utica Saturday night.

Wheeling Update: Nailers are hosting the Cincinnati Cyclones in a few hours.

Video Highlights: AHL VideoCenter is likely your best bet.

Back at it early Sunday afternoon.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Avery Hayes’ overtime game winning goal with under :20 to play in Wednesday’s nights thriller of a hockey game propels the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins to a berth in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Okay, so getting to overtime secured the spot, but let’s just roll with the good vibes.

Penguins win in overtime 4-3, but could have and should have lost this game because Hartford was playing some good and some desperate hockey, fighting for their own playoff lives.

Quick one tonight as it’s 10:45 on a Wednesday and the real job starts at 8:30 a.m. sharp. So let’s ride…

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Lineup Notes: Hartford didn’t post lines. Laferriere for Gallant up front; Brickey and Clurman for Pietila and Renouf on defense.

First Period: Valterri Puustinen worked a give and go with Tristan Broz and Nate Clurman and scored at 11:16 to give the Pens an early 1-0 lead.

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But then Alex Belzile scored shorthanded and the Wolf Pack tied it at one.

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Avery Hayes scores his first of the night on the power play that re-establishes the 2-1 Penguin lead.

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Second Period: Extremely sloppy. Probably their worst period of recent memory where they weren’t getting scored on in every shift like last Friday against Providence. Jaroslav Chmelař scored an unassisted goal to tie it at two, then a Connor Mackey shot from the point was deflected in by Brendan Brisson for a power play goal that gave the Wolf Pack the lead heading into the third period.

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Third Period: They buttoned up the gaps big time and got a goal just :28 in from Ville Koivunen that tied it at three.

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What vision by Sebastian Aho there.

I thought refs Austin Rook and Mason Riley were a bit overdone with their calls, especially in the third. Dylan Roobroeck runs Rutger McGroarty over with a truck, fights Avery Hayes and they take Hayes, Roobroeck AND McGroarty. It also took them five minutes longer than it should have on a Wednesday night to figure it all out. Come on and move it along.

Overtime: With the point secured, the Penguins were in the playoffs. The question would be how would the vibes be?

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Pretty, pretty good.

Obligatory: 

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Three Stars: 3) Tristan Broz (two assists) 2) Ville Koivunen (goal) 1) Avery Hayes (two goals, game winner in overtime)

Sergei Murashov is now 11-0 in the AHL, breaking the record set by Matt Murray.

Around the Division: Hershey wins 4-1 in Bridgeport …. Charlotte beats Providence 5-2.

Standings: Hershey 85 – Charlotte 80 – Penguins 80 – Providence 77 – Lehigh Valley 69 – Springfield 66 – Hartford 62 – Bridgeport 35

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: 

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They fly to Charlotte for an extremely important series with the Checkers that starts Saturday at 4. Don’t be late.

Let’s Go to bed Pens!