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Depending on how you interpret things, you can call this a statement win by the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. Not just on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms who have been the Penguins main pursuer for the top spot in the Atlantic, but on the rest of the division and Eastern Conference.

The third shutout in a row against the Phantoms, who haven’t scored a goal on the Penguins in 215:38. Lehigh Valley isn’t a team that gets shutout that often mind you. The Phantoms are still battling for playoff positioning in a battle with three other teams separated by just three points coming in. Wilkes-Barre wins 3-0 to push the point total to 100 this season and is again the first AHL team to reach the threshold of tens this season; the first time Wilkes-Barre has hit 100 points since 2010-11.

This is without regulars like Josh Archibald and Dominik Simon in the lineup, Zach Aston-Reese away on Hobey Baker duty and Thomas DiPauli out with an injury.

Defense remains generally intact though and that was what the Penguins relied upon to get them through this one. The Phantoms only had 21 shots on goal in this game. Lehigh Valley is the second highest scoring team in the league.

Tristan Jarry opposed Anthony Stolarz.

Lines were…

Sahir Gill – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Garrett Wilson – Oskar Sundqvist – Ryan Haggerty
Troy Josephs – Teddy Blueger – J-S Dea
Adam Krause – Jarrett Burton – Patrick McGrath

David Warsofsky – Frank Corrado
Derrick Pouliot – Brett Stern
Tim Erixon – Ethan Prow

Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith

Lineup Notes: Casey DeSmith and Jake GuentzelI didn’t get to put this in a blog post this week but were named to the AHL All-Rookie Team this week and David Warsofsky was named to the AHL All-Star Second Team this week….Zach Aston-Reese was away on Hobey Baker duty and Thomas DiPauli was out with an injury, possibly his wrist per WBS media reports I saw this week….Coal Street recalled Wheeling Nailers captain Nick Sorkin earlier in the day Friday but he was a healthy scratch tonight…Barry Goers was announced as paired with Derrick Pouliot, but it was Brett Stern who took warmups, that slotted in on the second defensive pairing.

First Period: Anthony Stolarz was under fire early and often by the Penguins who didn’t allow the Phantoms a shot on goal until 9:20 into the period. The period ended scoreless and the storylines were the aggressive start by the Penguins and the stellar play by Anthony Stolarz in net for the Phantoms.

Second Period: It was another smothering defensive period by the Penguins, who didn’t allow the Phantoms a shot until 9:09 into the second.

Oskar Sundqvist scored on this nice slapshot that gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead….

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It was the 100th professional point for Sundqvist.

Penguins ended up taking two penalties to close out the period but the Phantoms were not able to capitalize.

Third Period: Sundqvist scored his second of the night with this shot…

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…that made it 2-0 Penguins.

Penguins basically whittled time down and kept the Phantoms at bay the entire period. Then after a time out and Stolarz pulled, David Warsofsky scored this empty net goal from 190′ away to make it 3-0 and ice the game away…

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The only issue which remained was whether or not the Penguins would collect the shutout for the third consecutive time against Lehigh Valley. They did.

Three Stars: 3) Tristan Jarry (21 save shutout) 2) Ryan Haggerty (two assists. +2) 1) Oskar Sundqvist (two goals, assist, +3)

Around the Division: Providence beats Bridgeport 2-1. These two teams rematch tomorrow. Hershey beats Rochester 3-2. Hartford beats Springfield 4-3.

Standings: Penguins (.704 percentage points) — Providence (.655) — Lehigh Valley (.646) — Bridgeport (.625) — Hershey (.623) — Springfield (.479) — Hartford (.380)

Wheeling Update: Nailers throttle Kalamazoo 7-2 in West Virginia. Riley Bourbonnais had a hat trick, Christian Hilbrich had a goal and two assists and Sean Maguire stopped 36 of 38 shots.

Sprong Watch: Daniel Sprong and the Charlottetown Islanders have a 1-0 series lead on the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles after beating them Thursday 4-1. Sprong had a goal in the contest. Game 2 is played Saturday.

If Lehigh Valley puts up video highlights or if the Penguins run them, I will run an edit here if I can.

Pens now bus to Hartford as the weekend road trip continues. Gameday setup hits the blog Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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In the hurry up because its Wrestlemania Sunday.

Penguins got a late power play goal by Oskar Sundqvist to drive their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to one pending the outcome of Lehigh Valley / Hershey ongoing. Don’t come back to this post to see if the Penguins are the first Eastern Conference  team to clinch a spot in the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs. That will get it’s own post if need be later.

I have people waiting for me at home for The Showcase of the Immortals so here’s a quick rundown of the action today in Wilkes-Barre, a game that the Penguins lost 3-2 in a shootout.

Tristan Jarry opposed Thatcher Demko in net. Only lineup change was Garrett Wilson for Jarrett Burton for Wilkes-Barre.

In the first, the Comets got on the board first at 2:28 when a shot from Jordan Subban was deflected by Cody Kunyk that got Utica the lead. Penguins were being badly outshot in the period when Utica fell into penalty trouble that saw them killing a five-on-three for more than two minutes. Penguins set up in the offensive zone but didn’t cash on a game tying goal or a go ahead one.

In the second, Tom Kostopoulos sets up Zach Aston-Reese on a power play goal that ties the game at one but Utica edged ahead when another shot from the point by Subban was put home by the Comets defenseman. Puck inadvertently went off of a piece of equipment belonging to Frank Corrado.

The third period brought the Penguins still trying to push to get the tying goal which took 19:02 seconds with Jarry pulled and the Penguins on a power play. Oskar Sundqvist pushed one home to force overtime.

Overtime came and went without a whistle.

Curtis Valk was the only skater to score in the three person shootout to give Utica the extra point.

Three stars wereDerrick Pouliot with two assists, Tom Kostopoulos with two assists and Thatcher Demko with 43 saves on 45 shots.

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley did the Penguins a solid beating the Bears 4-2 in Hershey tonight officially clinching the playoffs for Wilkes-Barre for the fifteenth straight year. The Bears lost all three games this weekend….Providence beats Hartford 4-1 to stay in third. Idle Bridgeport stays in fourth now with a game in hand over the Bears who are still a point out of a playoff spot.

Standings: Penguins (.700 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.657) — Providence (.650) — Bridgeport (.629) — Hershey (.613) Springfield (.493) — Hartford (.371)

Wheeling Update: The Wheeling Nailers were officially eliminate form Kelly Cup Playoffs today with a 5-3 loss to the Reading Royals. The Nailers have three games left before a caravan of Black Aces head to Wilkes-Barre. More Tuesday in the Wheeling Wrap.

Video highlights…

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Check out the Power Rankings Monday at 4!

Let’s Go Pens!