Chirps from Center Ice

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0                                  5

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They had a whole week to stew on it, and man it must have pissed them off.

The line of Emil Bemstrom, Boris Katchouk and Ville Koivunen, snake bit the last time these teams sqared off last weekend, erupt for three goals and four assists as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins roll the Bridgeport Islanders 5-0 on Friday night in Wilkes-Barre.

Oh yeah. Joel Blomqvist had a tidy 23 save shutout, his first of the season and the Pens third overall. Some of his saves were excellent and timely, notably with about there eminutes left in the game, where referees Jack Young and Rob Hennessey decided it put the Islanders on a full two minute man advantage. We’ll get to that in a minute.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: No lines for the Islanders. I miss Mike Fornabaio covering this franchise. For the Pens, unchanged up front but Sebastian Aho was back from injury, Phip Waugh was sent back to Wheeling and Justin Lee was in for Isaac Belliveau.

I guess it spells well for a fellow like Nikolai Knyzhov, who is in town on PTO. He has been fine and honestly, they should just sign him to an AHL contract, but getting healthier on D may make the guy expendable. Problem is, one of the 31 other AHL teams is going to see this and sign the guy.

First Period: Wilkes-Barre out to a 2-0 start with goals from Avery Hayes and Emil Bemström, scoring in similar fashion.

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Hayes has been in and out of the lineup recently, this was a showing here on why he needs to stay.

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In between goals, Joel Blomqvist had the save of the night on a rebound attempt by future AHL Hall of Fame and Islanders captain Chris Terry.

Second Period: No scoring, but the Penguins had the play in the period, highlighted by a 4:00 double minor power play opportunity for the Islanders where the Penguins put on a masterclass of penalty killing and had, in my opinion, the better of the chances during the special teams time.

Oh, and another timely, big time save by Jarry with a blocker in traffic kept Bridgeport off the board.

Third Period: You didn’t want to see them let off and they didn’t, in my opinion, probably their finest period of the season to date.

First a second goal from Emil Bemström and the inspiration for tonight’s headline.

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Then Boris Katchouk on the doorstep and it’s 4-0 Penguins.

https://twitter.com/WBSPenguins/status/1860144198059720720

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Raivis Ansons and Tyce Thompson fought and it was the loudest the building was all night.

Then Bridgeport goalie Jakub Skarek comes 15 feet out of his net and Avery Hayes runs over him. Out of the melee, Jonathan Gruden is involved. Refs Hennessey and Young put Bridgeport on a full two minute two man advantage.

It didn’t matter.

The Penguins would knock sticks into passing lanes, block shots (as Justin Lee did with a big one) and Joel Blomqvist continued to dazzle and would not be denied his shutout bid.

In a moment of karma, after the Penguins successfully killed the penalty, Hayes and Gruden get spring out of the box. This happened next…

Karma.

All that was left was to see if they could hold on for a shutout for their goaltender and they did.

Three Stars: 3) Boris Katchouk (goal, assist) 2) Emil Bemström (two goals, assist) 1) Joel Blomqvist (23 saves)

The Good: They responded to their coach who likely challenged them this week in a big way and handled a team that gave them fits the last two times they met.

The Bad: Nothing to see here.

Turning Point: The save Blomqvist made on Terry back in the first gets it here. If Terry scores it’s tied at one. Who knows what happens from there.

Around the Division: Hershey gets a last second goal from Mike Vecchione to tie it in Rochester and then Vecchione wins it for the Atlantic Division leading Bears 4-3 in overtime…Providence shutout Lehigh Valley 3-0….Springfield beats Charlotte 4-3 in overtime. Hartford had the night off.

Standings: Hershey 26 – Penguins 19 – Hartford 18- Charlotte 17 – Providence 16 – Springfield and Lehigh Valley 15 – Bridgeport 10

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: 

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That’s it for the weekend for the Penguins.

Power Rankings Monday, Thanksgiving Thursday then back at it next Friday against Laval. Have a great Thanksgiving.

Let’s Go Pens!

          vs.          

5                                  2

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Bridgeport scored two empty net goals so the 5-2 Penguins loss score line is a bit askew, but a bad second half of the third period after Bridgeport edged ahead 3-2 sunk the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins Saturday night.

I think it’s a matchup problem with the Islanders, who game the Penguins fits a few weeks ago up in Connecticut and again Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre. The Islanders went up 2-0, then the Penguins battled back, a would be tying goal in the second period for the Penguins was waved off by referee Nolan Bloyer in the second period on account of a hand pass.

It’s a game that had everything, and not necessarily good things for the Penguins, who have to stew on this loss for an entire week when they rematch against these same Islander next Friday at home.

Here’s how they lined up, note that the Islanders did not post lines.

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Lineup Notes: Jagger Joshua and Joel Blomqvist made their AHL debuts. Note that Owen Pickering and Vasily Ponomarev went up to Pittsburgh, joining Sam Poulin. They ended the Matt Nieto conditioning experiment because they were in need of forwards. Otherwise Raivis Ansons, Avery Hayes, Nate Clurman. (returning from injury) and Phip Waugh for the aforementioned Nieto, Ponomarev, Corey Andonovski (listed as injured) and Justin Lee and Pickering.

First Period: Penguins come out flat, Islanders have 10-1 shot advantage and Julien Gauthier connects on a power play goal, the Islanders second, to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

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Penguins had a better second half of the period, but that theme would not continue.

Second Period: Brian Pinho scores his tenth goal of the season for the Islanders on this shot and partial screen of Blomqvist.

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Hell of a shot. Pinho is good player and is carrying this team out of the Atlantic Division cellar.

But Wilkes-Barre would respond in kind, when the returning Jagger Joshua would connect with Raivis Ansons to put the Penguins on the board.

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But then, I guess you could call this the turning point, a would be goal was taken off the board when Boris Katchouk appeared to score. But referee Nolan Bloyer was right on top of the play and immediately signaled no goal on account of a hand pass. He and his counterpart Jordan Watt reviewed the play via replay. Bloyer’s initial call stood. He then went straight to Kirk MacDonald and provided a full explanation.

Two things. I think the call was not that Katchouk batted the puck into the net, but the pass to Katchouk was the hand pass in question, if I was reading body language right. Second, full marks to Bloyer, a second year referee in the AHL and I think the first time he has refereed a Wilkes-Barre game, for providing an explanation to the head coach. I have seen many, many, referees in the league who have more years than Bloyer, just skate away from a head coach looking for an explanation.

Third Period: Tristan Broz stays on his hot streak and scores for the Penguins.

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But then the Penguins would take a late penalty and with the extra attacker, before the whistle would go to apply the infraction, Liam Foudy would score.

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It started to implode from there, Isaac Belliveau took a late penalty, then Mac Hollowell took a slashing penalty. The Penguins had a slimmer of light when Wyatt Newpower hit Katchouk with a high stick that drew blood, and after a time out, the Penguins had an empty net man advantage but Cole Bardreau would hit not one, but two empty net goals.

(The Islanders feel the same way as I do about empty net goals and don’t post them)

Three Stars: 3) Brian Pinho (goal, two assists) 2) Julien Gathier (goal, assist) 1) Liam Foudy (goal)

The Good: I liked the battle that they had Saturday. The AHL is a slog and this is a trial by fire.

The Bad: It seemed that the inch of snow turned into a foot, right? Things went bad in a hurry for the Penguins late and a close game turned into a blowout.

Turning Point: I gave it to you above. You can’t fault the referee for making the call then going back to replay to make sure the call was correct, by the way.

Around the Division: Hartford beats Providence 4-2….Hershey doubles up Lehigh Valley 6-3….Springfield beats Charlotte 4-2.

Standings: Hershey 23 – Penguins 17 – Hartford 16 – Charlotte 15 – Lehigh Valley 15 – Springfield 13 – Providence 13 – Bridgeport 10

Wheeling Update: Nailers beat the Indy Fuel 5-2 Jaxon Castor with 30 saves, Matty De St. Phalle had four assists. Sam Houde had a goal.

Video Highlights: 

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Back here Monday with the Power Rankings, a likely big Islanders bump up, Penguins out of the top five likely also. Read anyway. Talk to your then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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3                             4

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Alexis Gendron is developing into a problem for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

Five games played between these two teams and Gendron has four goals scored against the Penguins after a pair Wednesday night. One of them was a late goal which tied the game and forced overtime, where the Penguins fell 4-3 on a power play goal scored by Olle Lycksell.

Here’s how they lined up.

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Lineup Notes: Boko Imama for Sam Poulin, although not directly. No changes on defense.

First Period: Smooth period overall but for a late goal by Louie Belpedio in the final minute of the period. Belpedio ripped a shot from the blue line which got past Larsson via what looked like double screen which put the Phantoms on the board first.

https://twitter.com/LVPhantoms/status/1856868524439859533

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Second Period: Penguins wouldn’t waste anytime in tying the game, then taking the lead.

It would take :16.

Isaac Belliveau takes a shot and it pinballs in front and Marc Johnstone puts the goal away to put the Penguins on the board.

https://twitter.com/WBSPenguins/status/1856871715810197838

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That fourth line was the right line to put out there at that time because it got them a goal and kickstarted the next line to do this…

https://twitter.com/WBSPenguins/status/1856871756344315947

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They would trade a few power plays but no one would score then the Phnatoms starting taking risks but Larsson was up to the challenge. Then a fluke clear by Garrett Wilson out of his zone is collected by Alexis Gendron who scored to tie the game again with this shot here…

https://twitter.com/LVPhantoms/status/1856877739740914110

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Don’t know what happened there.

Third Period: One of the early notes in the period was that Nick Hart wasn’t able to see Corey Andonovski on the Penguins bench and that jumbled up the lines.

Penguins continued to take silly penalties and one of them was a puck over glass delay of game but they managed to get out of that clean.

Owen Pickering scores his first professional goal with a Phantoms player draped all over him to give the Penguins a late lead.

https://twitter.com/WBSPenguins/status/1856891863480807650

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Nice play there.

But then they lose Gendron, who just turns on the afterburners and uses an old school snapshot to beat Larsson off the rush.

https://twitter.com/LVPhantoms/status/1856890574856389006

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Speak for yourself, Phantoms admin. This is a Penguins blog.

Ville Koivunen would take a late cross checking penalty and the Phantoms 2nd best power play would get a late chance to win the game in regulation.

They did not win the game in regulation.

Overtime: Rather, they won the game in overtime.

https://twitter.com/LVPhantoms/status/1856892535542587903

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Penguins just could not get a clear when they needed one and it cost them the extra point, or at least a chance at one there in the moment.

Three Stars: 3) Louie Belpedio (goal) 2) Alexis Gendron (two goals) 1) Olle Lycksell (overtime game winning goal, assist)

The Good: Again they are gritting out points I don’t think they have any business being aware with how young and silly they are playing. Imagine if this were a veteran group? It’s a good thing, by the way, that they are getting these points.

The Bad: I don’t know, maybe mark that Gendron guy next time, he’s been killing you. The Belpedio goal was a double screen, the Lycksell goal came on a power play and theirs is good. Alexis Gendron won them this game and he’s a problem.

Turning Point: Usually the power play goal in overtime would get the distinction, but sticking with the theme, give Gendron’s second goal that tied it with 1:33 to play it here.

Around the Division: Very strange that on a Wednesday there were no other Atlantic Division teams playing. They all watched us.

Standings: Hershey 21 – Penguins 17- Charlotte and Lehigh Valley 15 – Providence and Hartford 12 – Springfield 9 – Bridgeport 6

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off, but will be playing Friday when they host the Indy Fuel.

Video Highlights: I think you saw all you needed to see above. If I see a video highlight package I will try to run the edit, but you should get the gist.

Enjoy the Friday off, I checked the December schedule and there are three Wednesday home games in that month. 🙄

Let’s Go Pens!

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0                                 5

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Yeah, you read that right. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins win 5-0 Saturday night over the Rochester Americans who coming in had won six in a row.

A 36 save shutout for Filip Larsson, who looked awesome having not played in the past two weeks. Sure, there is practice, but game action is a different thing.

I think this was the finest win of the young season for this young team. Reason being is that Rochester is one of those quick teams that scare you due to their speed.

The Penguins withstood the first five minutes, where Rochester’s seeped was on full display and tested Larsson, but the young goaltender withstood it and his team was off to the races from there.

Here’s how they lined up. Rochester didn’t post lines.

Lineup Notes: Matt Nieto was sent down on conditioning. Tristan Jarry was recalled on Saturday in the same transaction. Otherwise as you saw above Knyzhov was in for Phip Waugh on defense and Corey Andonovski was in for Raivis Ansons and Avery Hayes (Nieto)

First Period: Off the hop, I was worried, as it looked like the Amerks were going to score every time they entered the zone, every time they touched the puck. Shots were something like 5-1 Americans.

But then, Corey Andonovski cleaned up the loose change in front of Michael Houser’s net and the Penguins were off and running.

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Later, Jonathan Gruden led Matt Nieto on a two on one and dished to the conditioning forward who jukes Houser to the New York State line and scores to double up the score for the home team.

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Second Period: While four on four, it was Tristan Broz that scored from a ridiculous angle and made it 3-0 Wilkes-Barre.

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Rochester pressured, but really after the first goal against and definitely the second, it seemed to slack off.

Third Period: So when Broz scored that goal, at the time, his fifth of the season, I was wondering when Rutger McGroarty was going to ever get going.

I didn’t have to wait long.

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On the power play. Get the kid going on the power play. It worked.

Tristan Broz again for good measure…

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And from here the only question would be whether Larsson would do the thing and get the shutout.

36 saves later and no goals against and yes, he did the thing.

Three Stars: 3) Tristan Broz (two goals) 2) Rutger McGroarty (goal) 1) Filip Larsson (36 saves)

The Good: Lots. Power play was clicking, young defense looked cagey and a guy that hadn’t played in over two weeks looks like he never lost a step. This was a statement win over a good, possibly not great Rochester team that has the Penguins off to a very good start here approaching mid-November.

The Bad: Nothing to speak of. They type of game you wish you could bottle up and use when you are down a pair on a lazy Wednesday against Hershey in mid-January.

Turning Point: I think the point of no return in games like this where you are beating a team so bad they aren’t going to win comes after the third goal, especially in shutouts. So let’s just go with that.

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley beats Utica in overtime 4-3….Toronto beats Charlotte 4-3 clean….Providence doubles up Bridgeport 8-4….Hershey wins 3-2 over Springfield to stay tops in the Division.

Standings: Hershey 17 – Penguins 16 – Charlotte 13 – Leigh Valley 13 – Hartford 12 – Providence 10 – Springfield 8 – Bridgeport 6

Wheeling Update: Nailers are in action against Trois-Rivières again Saturday and win 4-3. Sergei Musharov with 27 saves, Matty De St. Phalle with a goal and an assist.

Video Highlights: 

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They are back at it Wednesday again in Lehigh Valley. Power Rankings here Monday afternoon and then the Weekend Preview Wednesday afternoon.

Let’s Go Pens!