Chirps from Center Ice

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So if you have followed the Pens / Bears rivalry long enough you know all of the usual suspects that irk the Penguins.

Mike Sgarbossa, Pierrick Dube and Ethen Frank are three. Well all of these players scored in that order and Wilkes-Barre gains a point but loses 3-2 in overtime.

Penguins played the Bears, who got Sgarbossa and Ethen Bear (another usual suspect) back from injury, very well in my opinion. Losing in overtime on a breakaway goal by the AHL’s fastest skater at All-Stars last year is something that happens that you can’t let happening but in the spirit of three on three usually does.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Only change was Jagger Joshua for Boko Imama up front.

First Period: Late at four on four, Mike Sgarbossa scored to put the Bears on the board.

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Second Period: After the first period shenanigans where every whistle there was pushing and shoving and some penalties, Avery Hayes scored at even strength for both teams to bring the Penguins level.

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Avery Hayes is not a guy that you want to get hot if you are the opposition.

Wilkes-Barre was good on the power play, but didn’t score Saturday and were 0/4 yesterday. Mac Holloweell can’t get back from Switzerland soon enough.

Third Period: Pierrick Dube scored at 2:34 and the Bears were off and running. With it being 1-1 coming in, I had a sense that the team that scored first in the period would get all the momentum.

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To some extent yes, but then Ville Koivunen scored and they were level again.

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No one scored and they played a clean, penalty free third so it was off to…

Overtime: Ethen Frank scored on a breakaway when he broke up a pass in his own defensive zone, raced up the ice and made a nifty move on Joel Blomqvist and backhanded it in to send a crowd of over 10,000 home happy on a Saturday in Hershey.

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Three Stars: 3) Ville Koivunen (goal) 2) Pierrick Dube (goal) 1) Ethen Frank (game winning overtime goal)

The Good: Hung with the Calder Cup Champs and got a point on the road.

The Bad: I saw some of you say you were happy with the point. That’s why we don’t win championships around here. The complacency kills you, and the point lost here kills you in April when you go on a run but lose out on a first round bye or home ice in the first round when you are short three points. Like Herm Edwards once said, you play to win the game!

On the ice, going 0/3 on the power play hurt. Being unable to finish on Hunter Shepard on some stops that Shepard made (which were highlight reel worthy) obviously hurt them. You have to find a way to finish those chances.

Turning Point: The Frank goal gets it here, as overtime game winners usually do.

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley beats Charlotte 2-1….Providence stays hot and has second place to their own with a 4-1 win in Hartford…Bridgeport beats Springfield 7-5.

Standings: Hershey 41 – Providence 37 – Penguins 36 – Charlotte 35 – Springfield, Hartford and Lehigh Valley 29 – Bridgeport 18

Wheeling Update: Nailers beat up the Iowa Heartlanders 6-2. Taylor Gauthier had 28 saves. Jack Beck had three assists. Atley Calvery had a gaol and two assists.

Video Highlights: Nothing posted yet, I will work an edit in if I see one.

So that closes the books on 2024. Power Rankings Monday. I have to remind myself that I have all day New Years to write the Weekend Preview, which would be up Friday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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So this Filip Larsson is good, right?

29 saves, including some timely ones on a late second and third period penalty kill and don’t look now but the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are just four off of the Hershey Bears for first place in the division with a 3-2 win Friday night over the visiting Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Oh yeah, and this Tristan Broz kid is going places too. A pair of goals for the rookie.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: All on defense as the forward lines were unchanged. Mats Lindgren and Justin Lee for the recalled Nate Clurman and the Spengler Cup playing Mac Hollowell.

First Period: Terrible start, Filip Larsson lets in the first shot he sees by Garrett Wilson just 1:17 and the Phantoms were off and running early.

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But later, Tristan Broz would score a highlight reel goal and tie the game late in the period.

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Second Period: 2:03 into the second period and Broz scored on a bullet of a one timer set up by Rutger McGroarty and Wilkes-Barre edged ahead 2-1.

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I saw the shot, but never saw the puck. Neither did Cal Petersen and it was 3-1 Penguins.

Rutger McGroarty assisted. It won’t be much longer before Broz is getting the call to Pittsburgh. That was his team leading 12th goal of the season. He’s tied with Boris Katchouk with a dozen goals on the season for the Penguins.

Larsson was at his finest late in a Phantoms power play with seconds left on the clock. Absolutely lasered in on a kill where his unit was out there the whole two minutes. Huge moment.

Third Period: Vasily Ponomarev joined in the goal scoring party with this goal here off of a long shot blockered away by Petersen to Ponomarev who waited, held and shot and scored to make it 3-1 just :43 into the period.

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Decent enough of a response by Lehigh Valley who score off of what I thought was a lazy, seeing eye Ethan Samson shot that beat Larsson up high and in that made it a too close for comfort with too much time remaining one goal game.

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Penguins navigate through another late penalty kill, I thought referees Sydney Harris and Liam Maaskant were okay, I wouldn’t want them as pilots of an airplane because that was a bit of a rough landing.

Phantoms were unable to find the equalizer with Petersen vacated.

Three Stars: 3) Dan Renouf (two assists) 2) Rutger McGroarty (two assists) 1) Tristan Broz (two goals)

The Good: They are finding ways to win rough and tumble games like last weekend and tight and tidy games like the one you saw tonight.

The Bad: 0/4 on the power play, but write some of that off because Mac Hollowell is in Switzerland and everything runs through him.

Turning Point: I have to give it to that late second period kill where the Phantoms did everything but score and Larsson did everything to stop them.

Around the Division: Providence is 7-0 against the Bridgeport Islanders after a 4-1 win…Springfield’s five game losing streak ends with a 5-2 win over Hartford.

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 3-2 in Cincinnati over the Cyclones. Sergei Murashov continues to play on god mode at the ECHL level with 23 saves and hasn’t lost a game in a while for Wheeling. Wheeling is a point off of the defending Kelly Cup Champion Florida Everblades for the best overall team in the ECHL.

Video Highlights: 

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More Saturday after a visit to Hershey.

Let’s Go Pens!

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A couple weeks ago I openly questioned whether the right goalie was in Wheeling after questioning the play of Filip Larsson.

Well, I am wrong. They have the right hierarchy of goaltenders where they should be after a 1-0 win in Hershey Sunday afternoon and a 33 save shutout by Filip Larsson.

That’s Larsson’s third shutout and puts him in a seven way tie for the AHL lead with six other goaltenders.

Penguins take four out of possible six points out of the week, and close to within six points of the Bears with five games in hand on Hershey.

These teams will rematch this coming Saturday in Hershey.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Jonathan Gruden and Boko Imama for Valtteri Puustinen and Sam Poulin up front. No changes on defense. Back to the standard 12F/6D setup so that means no Justin Lee.

Defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov signed a standard players contract with the Penguins on Saturday.

Sam Poulin is day to day with an injury and Valtteri Puustinen has an upper body injury which needs to be evaluated. That, “needs to be evaluated” part is never a good thing.

First Period: Not a lot of shots. Boko Imama fought. I think that’s his fifth or sixth fight. Four more and he’s suspended a game. Bears had a later power play which carried over to the…

Second Period: Penguins got out of that penalty kill clean and received a bit of a charge under them as Tristan Broz cleaned up the loose change in front of Hunter Shepard’s net and scored his tenth goal of the season here:

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The Broz, Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty line was by far the best line of the night for the Penguins thus far, generating chance after chance.

Third Period: Penguins had a late power play to ice it away but couldn’t get anything going and then the Bears had an even later power play with Hunter Shepard pulled to tie it but the Penguins did not break and Larsson stood tall in net to preserve the lead and the win.

Three Stars: 3) Tristan Broz (goal) 2) Hunter Shepard (24 saves) 1) Filip Karsson (33 save shutout)

The Good: Nice to get a tough road win in Hershey, a place that has given the Penguins fits as of late, but they are now 2-0 in Giant Center this season.

The Bad: Let’s skip this, given the shutout win.

Turning Point: Seemed like there were a ton of them but that late penalty kill down two men gets it here as well as the win, most importantly.

Around the Division: Charlotte lays an egg at home against hapless Bridgeport and lose 4-1. The Checkers could have closed to within two points of Hershey’s lead in the division….Springfield loses 3-1 in Laval.

Standings: Hershey 39 – Charlotte 35 – Penguins and Providence 33 – Hartford and Lehigh Valley 29 – Springfield 27 – Bridgeport 16

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose in Kalamazoo 2-1. Taylor Gauthier took the loss with 28 saves. Peter Laviolette had the lone goal for the Nailers in the loss.

Video Highlights: Save for a few saves here and there, I don’t know what much else you could expect here but if I see them I will run the edit here.

Power Rankings Monday afternoon. Have a great holiday otherwise.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I suppose you can say that when it rains it pours.

But when it doesn’t rain, man.

A seven goal eruption for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins in an extremely testy game between the two sides and a 7-2 win over the visiting Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday night. In a game where there were nine goal scored and the highlights already up, I m going to run those here now:

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Oh, and in case you are wondering about the headline. I wore the allegedly cursed Ethan Prow Christmas sweater again but mixed it up with the Penguins 5K hat that I got for running this summer in (finished third in my age group and medaled, thanks) and apparently it broke the jinx. Do I wear it again when these two teams meet next Friday?

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: The Penguins lineup graphic was wrong. Sam Poulin did not dress in the game. He took warmups I was told but was a late scratch for Justin Lee. The Penguins went with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen.

Otherwise, as it stated, Sebastian Aho returned from injury as did Avery Hayes. Nate Clurman returned also and Boris Katchouk was in also. Boko Imama and Jonathan Gruden up front, Mats Lindgren all were out from Wednesday.

First Period: Wilkes-Barre scores two power play goals in the period from Emil Bemström and Tristan Broz and they were off and running. Those goals should be in the highlights package above.

Second Period: Boris Katchouk scored shorthanded to make it 3-0 off a nice feed from Marc Johnstone in the neutral zone.

Then Massimo Rizzo scored on the power play for the Phantoms. Here’s where you thought that the next goal would be huge.

The Penguins get that goal when a Joona Koppanen shot rings Parker Gahagen’s goal post but drops in front of March Johnstone who sweeps it in and it’s a 4-1 lead.

Seconds later, Corey Andonovski tips in a Mac Hollowell shot and it was 5-1.

It was at this point that the game was getting out of hand for the Phantoms who then started taking post whistle liberties. These two teams don’t respect one another at all. The Penguins and Bears respect each other to some extent. Lehigh Valley and Wilkes-Barre do not, in my opinion.

But it was a good thing that the AHL assigned one of its best referees, Jim Curtain, to handle the ensuing mess.

Third Period: Brandon Furry scores his first goal of the season shorthanded. Two shorthanded goals in the game, one for each team.

But soon after, Avery Hayes scores in his return from injury and it’s 6-2.

Jim Curtain said goodbye to the following players at the following times:

– Garrett Wilson and Filip Kral at 10:36
– Hunter McDonald, Mac Hollowell and Rutger McGroarty at 11:08
– Zayde Wisdom (from the bench) at 11:17

Six players, three a side. That’s how you prevent stuff from bubbling over.

Ville Koivunen scores a power play goal to kick the extra point, and then this happens:

Yes, that’s head coach Kirk MacDonald and Ian Laperriere getting into a verbal jousting match.

Laperriere has been out of his depth at this level for years. How he keeps getting brought back year after year is beyond me. Having to go up against Todd Nelson in Hershey and now Kirk MacDonald 12 times a year has to suck for the guy, but he had his team tied in points with MacDonald’s Penguins.

Anyway, a Saturday crowd of casuals loved it.

Three Stars: 3) Boris Katchouk (goal, two assists) 2) Corey Andonovski (goal, assist) 1) Emil Bemström (goal, two assists)

The Good: Nice to see them take the yardstick out and beat the crap out of a rival.

The Bad: Out of all those penalty minutes, 132 minutes in total, no one was credited with a fighting major.

Turning Point: The Andonovski goal that put the lead back to four gets it here. Lehigh Valley was out of it and yo could see that with all the pushing and shoving.

Around the Division: Hershey has company at the top, it would seem after a 7-3 loss to the Toronto Marlies. Oh great, another in state rival is going to be surly when the Penguins drop by Sunday…Charlotte beats Bridgeport. 6-2….Springfield loses in Belleville 5-2….Hartford trips up Providence 4-2.

Standings: Hershey 39 – Charlotte 35 – Providence 33 – Penguins 31 – Hartford and Lehigh Valley 29 – Springfield 27 – Bridgeport 14

Wheeling Update: Nailers had their long winning streak stopped in Toledo Friday but start a new one Saturday after a 5-2 win over the Walleye. Sergei Murashov stopped 34. Sam Houde had a pair of goals. Matty De St. Phalle had two assists.

Video Highlights: Pay attention! I gave them to you above!

Back at it Sunday night against the Bears.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Hope the embeds work here because this is a troubling trend….

https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/1869568132697985457

Wednesday night? A 3-0 shutout loss to the Toronto Marlies. Sure, they had Matt Murray (yeah, that one) tending the nets for the Marlies but it’s a ridiculous trend that if a player on the Penguins doesn’t score a hat trick, it results in a shutout. All or nothing, if it were.

I don’t really have much to offer you here on a work night. They were in it until 8:00 into the second period when Roni Hirvonen scored on a rocket of a shot ticketed for the roof of the net that Joel Blomqvist was tending for the Penguins and Toronto was off to the races.

Alex Steeves added a second goal about six minutes later. There was a Toronto player in the crease but not impeding Blomqvist enough. I thought referees Mason Riley and Adam Tobias were fine, they let them play and only awarded three power plays all night.

Toronto is quick and by that I mean quickest team I have seen all season quick.

But so to to some extent are the Penguins and it felt like a heavyweight bout out there and likely was.

I am filling up space when I shouldn’t be. Penguins had some brief leftover third period power play time to work with but were unsuccessful. Fraser Minten put the proverbial nail in the proverbial coffin at 15:18 when he scored to make it 3-0.

It wasn’t like the shots from the offensive weapons weren’t getting through, Emil Bemström had five, Vasiliy Ponomarev had six. Filip Kral was everywhere also, and his one shot was probably the best look the Penguins had all night, a setup in the slot that Murray made the save on.

It’s just when the offense isn’t there it isn’t there. It’s a troubling trend.

Lineup wise. Corey Andonovski replaced Boris Katchouk. Katchouk wasn’t listed as injured so I think he’s nicked up or possibly attending to a family thing. Who knows. Nate Clurman was reassigned because Pittsburgh traded for P.O. Joseph with St. Louis for future considerations. Mats Lindgren replaced Clurman in the lineup Wednesday.

Okayish night out of town. Sure, the Penguins don’t capitalize on one of the seemingly endless games in hand they have on the Bears and the rest of the division. Lehigh Valley beats Providence 4-3 in overtime. The Bruins were up 2-0 in the third. Charlotte gets a late goal from Wilmer Skoog to beat Springfield clean 4-3.

Standings wise, Hershey 39, Charlotte 33, Providence 31, Penguins 29, Springfield, Hartford and Lehigh Valley 27, Bridgeport 14.

Depending on how you see things the Penguins are either two points out of a playoff spot or 10 points off Hershey with five games in hand.

Wheeling was off and no one wants to see highlights of this abomination. Talk to you Saturday.

Let’s Go Pens!