Chirps from Center Ice

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A freak play tonight and first period goal ended up costing the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins who lose 2-0 in Syracuse on Friday.

Brandon Halverson also played a good game in net for the Crunch, turning away all 22 shots sent his way for his second shutout in three games. He’s only allowed one goal this season.

The two teams will rematch Saturday in Wilkes-Barre.

Here’s how they lined up.

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Lineup Notes: So I said in the Weekend Preview that we didn’t think there were any injuries coming out of the Saturday game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms…

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Add Jimmy Huntington to the list of the wounded with an upper body injury, week to week. Avery Hayes replaced him up front.

Some good news, defenseman Nate Clurman was back from his injury, replacing Mats Lindgren.

The Roster Tracker Page has been updated in kind.

First Period: Penguins fell in an early 1-0 hole when a Boris Katchouk clearing attempt ricocheted off of a skate straight to Dylan Duke who scored at 7:55. Replay below doesn’t shot the ricochet, but this was a freak play.

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The Penguins took the periods only two penalties, two cross checks, but were able to get out of them unscathed.

Rutger McGroarty had two really good looks but they were stopped by Brandon Halverson, who really wasn’t challenged much despite facing nine shots in the period.

Nick Hart noted on radio that it was the first time all season the Penguins were trailing after one period.

Second Period: Penguins had three cracks at the power play in the period but they were abject disasters. They were forechecked to death and that caused turnovers and it looked like the Crunch were the ones on the power play. No team scored.

Third Period: Best chance of the period came when Emil Bemstrom put a shot on goal, which was stopped, but then the rebound was pounced on by Justin Lee and Halverson gets over and stops that one too.

No penalties in the period. Time dwindled, Larsson vacated, and Maxim Groshev, who fought the aforementioned Lee at the end of the second period, scored an empty netter from center ice.

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Three Stars: 3) Maxim Groshev (goal) 2) Dylan Duke (goal, assist) 1) Brandon Halverson (22 saves)

The Good: Rutger McGroarty looked good. But for getting beat on a fluke sequence, Filip Larsson looked good too.

The Bad: The explosive offensive juggernaut known as at the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins were no where to be located Friday, but that’s a knock on Syracuse, who put the Pens in a jar. When they leaked, Halverson was there to stymie the rest. I also didn’t like the power play, which went 0/3 on the night, all in the second period.

Turning Point: The Duke goal in the first gets it here and it’s one of those times where you don’t realize it until the game is over.

Around the Division: Charlotte pounds Bridgeport 8-2….Hartford beats Lehigh Valley 4-3 in overtime….Hershey beats Providence 2-1….Grand Rapids beats Springfield 2-1.

Standings: Hershey 9 – Charlotte 8 – Hartford 7 – Penguins 6 – Providence and Springfield 4 – Bridgeport and Lehigh Valley 3

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off, they are in Reading Saturday.

Video Highlights: I highly doubt regular readers of the blog will want to see these, but the Crunch will likely post these, the question is will I see them and edit them back in.

Back at it Saturday for the rematch.

Let’s Go Pens!

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After giving up seven goals last Saturday in the home opener against the Charlotte Checkers and taking the loss, Penguins goaltender Filip Larsson was looking for a bounce back.

He had to wait a day because the NHL parent sent a goaltender down for a conditioning assignment, but on Saturday night Larsson rebounds in a big way, with 41 saves, his team does the rest and Wilkes-Barre / Scranton sweeps the weekend and beats the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 3-0 on Saturday night from Allentown.

I think that even if the Phantoms managed to somehow win, with 40+ saves, you pin the loss on the lack of offense moreso then the goaltender.

Oh, studsa tillbaka is “rebound” or “bounce back” in Swedish. Larsson is a Swede.

The more you know.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Corey Andonovski and Marc Johnstone were back in for Avery Hayes and Raivis Ansons up front and Mats Lindgren made his AHL debut on defense for Filip Král.

Injury Updates: 

All I can say, four games into the season is yikes.

First Period: About 3:05 in, Sam Poulin and Emil Bemström find themselves on a 2 on 0 and it was Bemström who scored to make it 1-0 Penguins at 3:05.

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They looked good in the period, offense looked fluid and Larsson was sharp, assisting on the Bemström goal. There was a power play about halfway through that looked bad, though.

Second Period: I think the Penguins had more icing infractions than shots in the period considering they only mustard three shots in a slog of a period for both sides with no scoring.

Third Period: Penguins were still nursing a one goal lead and the Phantoms were already up to 30 shots in the game, so you wanted something in the form of insurance while there was still a lot of time on the clock.

Just about three and a half minutes in, Joona Koppanen got on the scoresheet with a goal that gave the Penguins some breathing room and doubled their lead.

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Hell of a shot.

Phantoms were generating shots but they weren’t resulting in goals, so they decided to pull Kolosov for an extra attacker with over five minutes to play, and with under a minute to play, Sam Poulin sets up Boris Katchouk, who has had himself a heck of a weekend, for an empty net goal.

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All that was left was whether or not Larsson would do the thing and well, he did the thing. 41 save shutout.

Three Stars: 3) Ollie Lycksell (4 shots) 2) Emil Bemström (goal) 1) Filip Larsson (41 save shutout, assist)

The Good: I think the doubts we carried with us all week on Larsson’s shaky play Saturday night last can get put to bed. The kid looked as good as advertised against a Phantoms team that peppered him all night. This wasn’t a 13 save insulated shutout. He stopped 40+ shots and kept his team in it.

The Bad: I’m not nitpicking a road shutout, let’s just skip this.

Turning Point: The Koppanen goal gave them separation and put more desperation on the Phantoms. I don’t think it would have mattered because nothing was getting past Larsson Saturday.

Around the Division: The Chicago Wolves beat the Hershey Bears in overtime to win 3-2 in Hershey. The Bears, who were 8-0 in overtime last year, lose in their first opportunity this season….Cleveland splits another weekend series, this time beating the Charlotte Checkers 4-2….Hartford beats Bridgeport 5-4 in overtime and Springfield beats Providence clean 4-2.

Standings: Charlotte and Penguins 6 – Hartford and Hershey 5 – Springfield 4 – Providence and Lehigh Valley 2 – Bridgeport 1

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were beaten 4-1 up in Maine against the Mariners. Sam Houde had the only goal in the loss for the Nailers.

Video Highlights: Will likely be a later edit.

Power Rankings Monday, maybe.

Let’s Go Pens!

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No one under 40 is going to get the reference, but Boris Katchouk’s two first period goals were all the spark the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins needed in an explosive four goal opening period to beat the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4-3 Friday night in Wilkes-Barre.

They scored a pair of power play goals in the first period, one from Katchouk, the other from Tristan Broz and Boko Imama’s gift of a goal stood up as the winner as four in the first was enough to get them across the line in a game you were either happy they won or upset that they didn’t win by more and almost lost.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Justin Lee for Nate Clurman (listed as injured pregame) on defense and Rutger McGroarty and Raivis Ansons for March Johnstone and Corey Andonovski.

First Period: Oh boy, what a start.

:19 into a power play and Boris Katchouk camped out far side and scored to make it 1-0.

Just about four minutes later and there goes that man again.

Really not advisable to give a player the caliber of Katchouk that much time and space from that distance.

About two minutes later and on another power play, Tristan Broz collects the loose change and scores off of a rebound of an Emil Bemstron shot that made it 3-0.

Phantoms call time out to try to slow down the runaway train which was running them over.

It didn’t matter. And got worse.

An absolute boffo decision from Alexei Kolosov there and Boko Imama, not a guy known for scoring goals, gets about the easiest one you can think of and makes it 4-0 Wilkes-Barre.

Second Period: The Phantoms would respond quickly, with two goals in :16.

Oskar Eklind here left unmarked in front of the net that puts the Phantoms on the board.

Pens fail to win a face off then fail to clear and Jacob Gaucher scores to cut the lead in half.

Uh oh. Not this again?

But the Penguins tightened up from there, just allowing one power play for the Phantoms in the period and despite putting 15 shots on Alex Nedeljovic, didn’t find a third goal.

Third Period: I didn’t see defenseman Filip Král on the bench in the period and I didn’t notice anything of substance that took him out. Wilkes-Barre had a full 4:00 on a high stick double minor but couldn’t collect their third power play goal of the night.

Alex Nedeljkovic, the last time he was in the AHL scored a goal for the Penguins up in Springfield. With the Phantoms net empty and the Penguins winning 4-2, tried for the empty net goal again but didn’t put enough air under it.

Ethan Samson would score with under a minute to play.

Uh oh again?

But a late flurry of chances were denied by Nedeljkovic and the Penguins, up 4-0 in the first period with seemingly everything going in for them, hang on to win by a goal.

Hockey’s a funny little game, isn’t it?

Three Stars: 3) Tristan Broz (goal) 2) Boko Imama (goal) 1) Boris Katchouk (two goals)

The Good: Two more power play goals and a blazing offensive start, 14 goals through three games ties a 2005 team and a 2013 teams of the past.

The Bad: Oh dear they nearly coughed it all up and lost, but didn’t.

Turning Point: We didn’t know it at the time but the Imama boffo goal holds up to be the winner.

Around the Division: The Checkers, who I picked to finish last in the division because I don’t pay enough attention to this in the summer out by the pool, are out to a 3-0 start after a 5-2 win at home against the Cleveland Monsters….Hartford won a wild one in their home opener against the Springfield Thunderbirds 6-5. Everyone else was off.

Standings: Charlotte 6, Penguins and Bears 4, Hartford 3, Providence, Springfield and Lehigh Valley 2, Bridgeport 0.

Wheeling Update: Nailers open their 2024-25 ECHL campaign with a 4-1 win in Maine. Jaxon Castor stopped 25, Nailers struck twice on the power play. Jordan Martel and Phip Waugh with goals. Waugh is the only WBS contracted D in Wheeling, so on the way home they may need to drop him off if Renouf or Clurman can’t go unless they use Mats Lindgren who they recalled this week.

Video Highlights: 

These two teams rematch Saturday in Allentown. More then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Well they got 27 saves from Sergei Musharov, a power play goal from Boris Katchouk and goals from Avery Hayes (his second of the weekend) Sam Poulin and Nate Clurman and beat the Springfield Thunderbirds 4-1 for their first win of the 2024-25 AHL season and Kirk MacDonald’s first win as head coach.

Now onto a home and home set with the Phantoms starting Friday in Wilkes-Barre, where this should pose an early test for two teams who meet 12 times this season.

Here’s how they lined up:

https://twitter.com/WBSPenguins/status/1845534781343191256

https://twitter.com/ThunderbirdsAHL/status/1845540008335229129

Lineup Notes: Didn’t hear the pregame so I don’t have nay obscure update on the health of Dan Renouf, who was replaced by Scooter Brickey on defense. Boris Katchouk slotted in at the top line for Raivis Ansons up front, with a lineup which had all types of jumbled lines.

First Period: Nate Clurman puts the Penguins on the board five minutes in.

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I don’t know if that was a designed play or not, probably not when it’s Jim Huntingdon taking the shot, but the members bounce off the wall to a driving Nate Clurman was a nice setup and goal for the Penguins.

Pens took two penalties in the period but navigated through it fine.

Second Period: Wilkes-Barre tacks on two quick boom boom goals to go up 3-0.

Sam Poulin’s first of the season…

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Then Avery Hayes with his second of the weekend in front of the net like Saturday at hime against Charlotte…

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Two of the Penguins three goals were created of off turnovers. Nice dogged forechecking.

But then the Thunderbirds answer back with a goal from Mackenzie MacEachern when they fail to clear him out from the top of Musharov’s crease.

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I didn’t want to say, “uh-oh” at this point. I almost did, though.

Third Period: They navigated through the waters okay, Springfield with a good push as expected but the aggressiveness bit them as the Penguins were rewarded a power play and Boris Katchouk scored to make it 4-1 and essentially put the game out of reach for the home team.

https://twitter.com/WBSPenguins/status/1845577793133822139

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That’s some neat, tight puck movement there. Let’s hope it continues.

Three Stars: 3) Sergei Musharov (27 saves) 2) Sam Poulin (goal) 1) Jim Huntingdon (two assists)

The Good: 10 goals in two games is pretty explosive start if you ask me.

The Bad: I was struggling to find one here, which I suppose is a good thing. Call the MacEachern goal that spoils the Musharov shutout the bad here, but that’s nitpicking.

Turning Point: I’ll give it to Katchouk and the power play goal scored here. Springfield was waiting for something to develop off of the late goal scored in the second and when it never did desperation set in and instead of fumbling the ball, Katchoul scored a goal to make it three and ice it away.

Around the Division: It’s my last night camping in 2024 so I don’t think I am sticking around for the Hershey / Cleveland game to go final, the box is here if you are so inclined…Charlotted looks like a good team, shutting out Bridgeport 3-0 in the only other games in the Atlantic on this Sunday afternoon in October.

Standings: Pens have two. It’s the first weekend of the regular season. Relax, it will be fine.

Wheeling Update: Nailers start next weekend, you know that if you read last night.

Video Highlights: Pens socials will have this. It’s unseasonably warm here in Gettysburg, so I am having a cigar after this publishes. I return home Monday.

Maybe a surprise return this week if I can get the time, if not, Weekend Preview is yours this Friday setting up the pair with the Phantoms.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Say it with me, they are young and this is just one game.

Normally at this level, you score six goals and nine times out of ten you will win the game.

This game was the outlier.

A disastrous third period sees a two goal lead evaporate, the experienced visitors score four unanswered and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are on pace for an 0-72 season after falling 7-6 to the Charlotte Checkers Saturday night at home.

Welcome to the AHL, Filip Larsson.

He didn’t look sharp, but the team in front of him didn’t exactly look good structure wise or defensively, especially in the third, and this cost them. Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: They sent Taylor Gauthier back to the Wheeling Nailers on Friday and as a result the roster tracker page has been updated.

First Period: Just 94 seconds into the season, Jaycob Megna scores a goal that gives the Checkers a 1-0 lead.

Normally, I would post videos of all the goals but since there were 13 in this game and this campground Wi-Fi is spotty at best here in the Gettysburg woods, you are only going to get what I give you, and today’s not your day here.

But the Penguins would respond in kind with a pair of goals from a pair of guys whom this is going to be expected of this season, Jimmy Huntingdon gets the debut goal for the Penguins in his Penguins debut and scores to level it with the Checkers about six minutes later.

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Early theme of the night here. Penguins face-off loss, Checkers turnover and a opportunity for the home team that they cash in on.

Emil Bemström scores his first goal of the season that puts the Penguins up 2-1.

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Pretty play. Get used to it.

Second Period: So to this point the Penguins had the games first three power plays and weren’t able to do anything with them. Mackenzie Entwhistle gets a shorthanded goal to go that ties the game for the Checkers but then Avery Hayes’ dogged termination in front of the net guarded by Chris Driedger pushed Wilkes-Barre back ahead.

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I’ll let my tweet (post?) set up this next sequence here for you:

Aidan McDonough (get used to this name) for the visitors and then Broz here…

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That’s a hell of a shot by the kid right there.

Third Period: It was a bit of a concern that the Penguins had all these power plays with nothing to show for it, but :51 into the third period, Filip Král scored his first of the season to make it 5-3 Wilkes-Barre.

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So five past Driedger, a good goaltender, setting the tone for the final period, a multi goal lead and the Pens are off to the races right? Right?

Wrong.

Four unanswered for the Checkers as Trevor Carrick (power play at 2:44), Rasmus Asplund (shorthanded (second of the night for the Checkers) at 6:26) and Aidan McDonough twice (7:37 and 15:09) completing his hat trick make it 7-5 for the Checkers.

Not a great debut for Filip Larsson, whom I think will back up Sergei Musharov Sunday afternoon in Springfield (likely the plan anyway) and a few that he should have had stops on, the Asplund shorthanded one comes to current mind, as it was a breakaway from center ice and in.

Say it with me again, they are young and this is just one game.

Marc Johnstone got one late with 22 seconds left to play that gave them faint hope, but they never bagged the seventh.

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A note, heard them mention that Dan Renouf wasn’t on the bench, picking up a knock of some sort in the first period.

Three Stars: 3) Emil Bemström (goal, assist) 2) Jaycob Megna (goal, assist) 1) Aidan McDonough (hat trick)

The Good: They managed to get six on an NHL caliber goaltender. Questions about the offense are put to bed early, it would seem. Guarantee me six a night and you will win more than you lose for sure.

The Bad: The power play looked bad, they couldn’t win a face-off and they gave up seven when they scored six. They need to figure that out and quick.

Turning Point: The Asplund shorthanded goal seemed to take all the air out of them. They cough up a two goal lead in the third and it just avalanched from there. Bad, bad, bad.

Around the Division: The defending champs Hershey Bears are off to a good start, blowing out the Cleveland Monsters 7-3 the night they raised banner 13 to the rafters at Giant Center….Providence gets their first win of the season, beating Bridgeport 3-2….Springfield beats Laval 3-1….Lehigh Valley wins in a shootout 4-3 over Hartford.

Standings: Hershey, Springfield, Charlotte, Lehigh Valley, Providence 2, Hartford 1, Bridgeport and the Penguins 0

Wheeling Update: Nailers are still in preseason, will get going next week.

Video Highlights: Click at your own risk:

Back at it Sunday in Springfield. Talk to you then.

Let’s Go Pens!