Comments Off on Spoiled at the Open — Pens LOSE 5-2
Posted by nafsnep on October 11, 2014
vs.
5 2
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I wrote this as a “Case Against” the Penguins in my East Division Preview that ran Friday, part of a weeklong series where I look at each team…
Youth and inexperience. A lot of second year guys and rookies may be relied upon to carry the offensive load this season.
It showed tonight. A 5-2 loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at the home opener. The Penguins aren’t historically great in the first game of the season anyhow, but to lose a game on your home ice in front of your fans to a division rival you will see 12 times this season isn’t the way they drew it up.
Jeff Zatkoff vs. Rob Zepp
Lines were…
Anton Zlobin – Nick Drazenovic – Tom Kostopoulos
Scott Wilson – Conor Sheary – Bryan Rust
Bobby Farnham – JS Dea – Jayson Megna
Pierre Leblond – Matia Marcantuoni – Dominik Uher
Brian Dumoulin – Philip Samuelsson
Taylor Chorney – Barry Goers
Reid McNeill – Harrison Ruopp
Jeff Zatkoff – Matt Murray
Scratches were Alex Boak, Tom Kuhnhackl, Adam Payerl, Nick D’Agostino. Josh Archbald was listed as injured and when introduced had a sling on his left arm.
Tom Kostopoulos is the Captain, we all knew that. Philip Samuelsson and Pierre Leblond are the alternates.
First Period: Ragged back and forth to start, both teams worked the bugs out. Finally late, on a Phantoms power play, Chris VandeVelde scored the first ever goal in Lehigh Valley Phantoms history on a rebound. The puck caromed off of bodies as it was sent towards the net from the blue line. VandeVelde found it, and stuffed it home for a 1-0 Phantoms lead.
Second Period: Zatkoff was leaving a few big rebounds to start but they didn’t end up behind him. But the Penguins fail to clear the puck out of the zone not once, but twice, and it cost them. Brandon Alderson made it 2-0 and then Mark Alt made it 3-0 not too long after.
Bryan Rust scored from just below the blue line as time expired. Referee Jamie Koharski immediately signaled goal, but then went to video review to confirm his call. You would think that this momentum would help the Pens in the…
Third Period: Nope. Nothing doing. The Penguins tried to push, but the Phantoms defense held firm. As time dwindled, the mistakes mounted and just like that, Zatkoff loses another rebound and Nick Cousins cashes for a 4-1 Phantoms lead then the Phantoms on a power play stuff home a Zatkoff rebound to make it 5-1.
Conor Sheary gets his first goal of the season with under a minute to play on a rebound Zepp just left lying there.
Thoughts: The rookies will need to learn that this isn’t juniors anymore and the cutesy dangle plays don’t work against trained professionals. The problems were all over the board tonight. Idiot penalties lead to goals for the other team or failed clears that end up in the back of the net. The problems better get fixed quick with the defending regular season Eastern Conference Champion Manchester Monarchs coming in Sunday afternoon.
Three Stars: 3) Bryan Rust (goal, +1) 2) Brandon Alderson (goal, assist, +1) 2) Chris VandeVelde (two goals, even)
Around the Division: Binghamton and Worcester play late in overtime and Worcester wins 3-2 when the sides are 3-on-3….Hershey loses a back and forth affair with Norfolk by a score of 5-4.
Why you should care: Tonight is the beginning of a renewed rivalry with the Phantoms, whom the Penguins will see 12 times this season. It’s an important game for both teams, Lehigh Valley’s first ever AHL game representing their new area and Wilkes-Barre’s home opener. It’s also a divisional contest, so both teams will want to kick off their season on a winning note.
Television:AHL Live / MyNetwork TV (WQMY-TV / Wilkes-Barre)
Promotion(s): Team Magnetic Schedule, courtesy of Geisinger Health System
Other Game to Watch: The defending East Division Champion Binghamton Senators start their season at home vs. the new look Worcester Sharks on the Southern Tier.
Next Five Games: MCH 10/12, @ STJ 10/17, @ STJ 10/18, @ ALB 10/21, SPR 10/24
Comments Off on Hartzell Down, Murovich Signed, Blog of the Year
Posted by nafsnep on October 9, 2014
A few things to mention today as my AHL Previews continue….
— Coal Street was active Thursday afternoon, signing Tyler Murovich to an AHL contract and assigning him to Wheeling. Murovich was recently let go by the Pens this week, but picked up and signed today.
— Eric Hartzell will begin the season with the Wheeling Nailers, having been sent down Thursday. At this stage of Hartzell’s development, the Penguins felt that he would be better suited as a number one goaltender vs. backing up Jeff Zatkoff, fresh off of being an NHL backup to Marc Andre Fleury last season. I don’t consider Hartzell starting the year in the ECHL a bad thing at all. He’s not going to be number one in Wilkes-Barre, he’s a second year pro and not a rookie, let him prove his worth in Wheeling in the ECHL. Matt Murray, a rookie and Zatkoff’s backup, will get plenty of opportunities to show that he belongs in the AHL. Most likely we will see Murray start a game next weekend in St. John’s. If Murray falters and Hartzell shines, the two are easily interchangeable.
— The Penguins also announced their broadcast schedule. All games will be heard on WILK Newsradio and there will be eight television games. They will be all Saturday games and are as follows: October 11 vs. Lehigh Valley, December 6 vs. Hershey, January 31 vs. Lehigh Valley, February 21 vs. Providence, March 14 vs. Hershey, March 21 vs. Binghamton, April 4 vs. Lehigh Valley and April 18 vs. Norfolk.
Oh, one more thing. I was notified today that Chirps from Center Ice won “Sports Blog of the Year” as part of the NEPA Blog Con contest that ran a few weeks ago. I’d like to thank everyone who voted for me and this blog. Again, as I have said before in the past, this blog is a hobby which I enjoy very much. To see that my hobby is being rewarded with an award is very humbling. So thank you to all who voted for the blog. I honestly do very much appreciate the support.
We close out the AHL Previews with the East Division at noon tomorrow. Barring any more breaking news, the Gameday Setup vs. Lehigh Valley will be on the blog Saturday at 3 p.m.
NHL rosters have to have 23 names on them by 5 p.m. Tuesday. Only Chris Kunitz (illness) and Kasperi Kapenen (went home to see family) did not practice today for Pittsburgh. Guys like Evgeni Malkin and Olli Maatta did practice and could be ready for the start of the season, so it’s still possible that we see a name or three find their way back to Wilkes-Barre later today or this week. Front runners in my opinion are Taylor Chorney and Zach Sill, but who knows. Every time I try to talk myself through who can or can’t get sent back here I only end up confusing myself further. Who comes, comes.
Edit: After I published this, Pittsburgh announced that Oskar Sundqvist was returned to his Swedish club, Scott Harrington was assigned here and Andrew Ebbett, Taylor Chorney and Zach Sill were sent to Wheeling of the ECHL. Release here. The ECHL moves are so the team can get under the salary cap. I’d expect Sill, Chorney and Ebbett to be recalled back to Pittsburgh Wednesday.
Springfield announced where they are having the All-Star Classic this year. It’s Utica, home of the Comets. They will return to the East vs. West format that they’ve used in the past. Last year it was a cast of AHL All-Stars vs. Farjestad in St. John’s, while the NHL was on the OIympic break. I think fans like the East v. West format. I know I do. Tickets go on sale November 1.
Big day for minor league hockey as the ECHL announced it has granted membership to the seven remaining Central Hockey League teams; Allen Americans, Brampton Beast, Missouri Mavericks, Quad City Mallards, Rapid City Rush, Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder. Details here. It brings the number of ECHL clubs up to 29, with Las Vegas sitting out this season while they finalize details on a new home to play in 2015-16.
Look for the next non-AHL Preview blog piece to come in the form of the Gameday setup vs. Lehigh Valley Saturday at 3 p.m.
Remember, you can always keep up with me @nafsnep on Twitter.
Comments Off on Preseason Game #3 – Penguins 1, Hershey 6
Posted by nafsnep on October 5, 2014
News of the day was that Jeff Zatkoff, Taylor Chorney, Andrew Ebbett, Zach Sill all cleared waivers. Zatkoff is headed down. Chorney, Sill and Ebbett remain up with Pittsburgh and can get sent here at any point within the next thirty days or ten NHL games, whichever comes first.
I think it’s a safe bet to say that Nolan Schaefer will be released at some point this week. Edit: Schaefer was indeed released.
Anyway, this game. 220 penalty minutes, 12 fighting majors and four game misconducts.
But none of this will matter, as this was just a preseason game. The Bears dressed a much more experienced lineup while the Penguins dressed, well let’s take a look…
Lines were:
Anton Zlobin-JS Dea-Bryan Rust
Scott Wilson-Matia Marcantuoni-Josh Archibald
Tom Kuhnhackl-Adam Payerl-Dominik Uher
Carter Rowney-Tyler Murovich-Pat McGrath
Reid McNeill-Alex Boak
Nick D’Agostino-Clark Seymour
Jonathan Narbonne-Kevin Ryan
Hartzell-Murray
Scratches were:
Nolan Schaefer, Philip Samuelsson, Brian Dumoulin, Conor Sheary, Nick Drazenovic, Jayson Megna, Harrison Ruopp, Bobby Farnham, Tom Kostopoulos, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and Barry Goers
Bears basically blitzkrieged the Penguins from the jump. Stan Galiev on a power play early on, Joel Broda tacks on another off a rebound, Chris Conner toasting Jonathan Narbonne, Broda again on a nice tic-tac-toe pass setup, Garrett Mitchell on the third power play of the game and then Erik Burgdoerfer for the fourth power play of the game for the Bears. Bryan Rust scored in the third period on a power play goal that broke up Philipp Grubauer’s shutout bid for the Penguins.
In between, a lot of fights. I wasn’t at the game and it wasn’t being televised so I relied on my ears. Let’s just say that Patrick McGrath endeared himself to the Hershey faithful by engaging in agitation and fisticuffs. His shenanigans at one point gave the Bears a 9:00 power play. McGrath was ejected afterwards. Whether his performance this weekend was enough to win him a sport for next Saturday night remains to be seen.
Not much else to recap. The Penguins didn’t dress a lineup you should expect to see at any point this season, while the Bears dressed a more experienced lineup. The results showed.
So that’s all for preseason.
At midnight tonight, the first of my Chirps from Center Ice AHL Previews hits the blog. It’s where I do previews of each AHL team. I start in the Western Conference. Here is the schedule for that this week on the blog:
Divison
Time
North
Midnight Monday
Midwest
Noon Monday
West
Noon Tuesday
Atlantic
Noon Wednesday
Northeast
Noon Thursday
East
Noon Friday
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Plus whatever newsworthy things worth blogging about this week, sandwiched in between these Previews. Be on the lookout for these all week.
Comments Off on Preseason Game #2 – Penguins 4, Hershey 2
Posted by nafsnep on October 4, 2014
First, the news of the day was Bobby Farnham and Brian Dumoulin were assigned to Wilkes-Barre and Taylor Chorney, Andrew Ebbett, Zach Sill and Jeff Zatkoff have been placed on waivers. We will know by noon Sunday whether they clear. I’ll leave the speculation as to what can happen amongst yourselves. I’ll have a blurb about what happens in tomorrows recap of the final preseason game in Hershey.
But about tonight’s game against Hershey, a 4-2 Penguins win. Another solid effort by the Penguins, who started out slow, finding themselves down 1-0 early after Nathan Walker was sprung on a breakaway and put one behind starting goaltender Matt Murray. Murray played the entire game and was backed up by Eric Hartzell. Hartzell will go the distance tomorrow in Hershey. These two are battling for the second spot in Wilkes-Barre, depending on what becomes of Jeff Zatkoff Sunday at noon.
The Penguins came to life in the second period. The Bears were on a power play and Jayson Megna stole a puck off of a Bear at the blue line, skated the length of the ice and dishes to Josh Archbald who scored. Murray, meanwhile, was making great save after save, in this sequence robbing Dustin Gazley after a nice setup by Kris Newbury.
Patrick McGrath, the local product in the lineup for the Penguins, fought Mike Cajkovsky, who had a size advantage. I Instagrammed the fight, which you can see here.
Penguins later score on a power play when J-S Dea cleaned up a rebound and pushed the Pens ahead 2-1.
In the third, Jayson Megna stepped by a guy and hit the post and the puck went high in the air, Scott Wilson boxed a guy out and knocked it in and scored to make it 3-1. Later, when the sides were 4-on-4, Nick D’Agostino took a shot from the blue line that never hit the net, but Bryan Rust was there to get the rebound off of the boards to give the Penguins a 4-2 lead.
Bears would get one back but no more as the Penguins would hold on.
Lines were:
Tom Kuhnhackl-Jayson Megna-Josh Archibald
Scott Wilson-Conor Sheary-Bryan Rust
Anton Zlobin-J-S Dea-Tom Kostopoulos
Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond – Matia Marcantuoni – Patrick McGrath
Philip Samuelsson-Barry Goers
Reid McNeill-Harrison Ruopp
Nick D’Agostino-Alex Boak
Murray-Hartzell
Scratches were:
Clark Seymour, Brian Dumoulin, Nick Drazenovic, Carter Rowney, Bobby Farnham, Dominik Uher, Adam Payerl, Kevin Ryan, Jonathan Narbonne, Tyler Murovich.
It’s hard to take anything away from preseason games. I thought that the rookie forwards showed themselves well. It’s probably going to come down to a numbers thing for guys like Alex Boak and Tyler Murovich. I’d like my chances with the first three lines we dressed tonight going into regular season play. No one was a glaring liability out there, really. We will have to see what Hynes & Company come up with this week as far as cuts go.
Pens wrap up the preseason with a 5:00 p.m. visit to Hershey. I’ll have some post game words then.
Programming note: The first of my AHL Previews hits the blog Monday at midnight. Be on the look for my North Division Preview at that time, then the Midwest Division at noon Monday as I go two-for-Monday. The schedule after that is West Division Tuesday, Atlantic Division Wednesday, Northeast Division Thursday and East Division Friday.
Comments Off on Preseason Game #1 – Penguins 4, Utica 2
Posted by nafsnep on October 1, 2014
I don’t go heavy with the graphics or silly pun headlines when I type up preseason game recaps. Hey, it’s preseason for bloggers too.
The Penguins beat the Utica Comets tonight by a score of 4-2. Goals were scored by Bryan Rust, Conor Sheary, Scott Wilson and Nick D’Agostino. The Penguins defense really clamped down on the Utica offense, only allowing the Comets two even strength goals through nearly 30 minutes of playing time.
Eric Hartzell started the game for the Penguins in goal and stopped all nine shots faced. Two of those nine were even strength shots, seven came when Utica had extended 5-on-3 time. He split the net with Matt Murray.
Lines were…
Tom Kuhnhackl-Jayson Megna-Carter Rowney
Anton Zlobin-Conor Sheary-Bryan Rust
Scott Wilson-J-S Dea-Josh Archibald
Tyler Murovich-Matia Marcantuoni-Adam Payerl
Reid McNeill-Barry Goers
Nick D’Agostino-Harrison Ruopp
Clark Seymour-Alex Boak
The Penguins scratched Nolan Schaefer, Philip Samuelsson, Nick Drazenovic, Dom Uher, Tom Kostopoulos, Patrick McGrath, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, Kevin Ryan and Jonathan Narbonne
Jayson Megna, Adam Payerl and Barry Goers wore the A’s tonight.
I liked the chemistry from the Sheary / Rust line. They played in sync with one another, and with a sniper like Zlobin, will be formidable for the opposition this season.
You don’t want to take much away from a preseason game, but the Penguins defense shut down Utica tonight and it showed. No shots for the Comets for about ten minutes in. What Hartzell saw with his team shorthanded he stopped.
Goals came like this…
— Conor Sheary set up Bryan Rust in the slot after he made a nice play on a pass off the pads of starting Comets goaltender Jacob Markstrom to give the Penguins the lead in the first period.
— Penguins scored a power play goal when Jayson Megna won an offensive zone face-off to Scott Wilson who fired it in from the blue line through traffic and past Markstrom for a 2-0 Penguins lead in the first.
— Another pass off the pads play that finds its way to Conor Sheary who scored to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead in the second period. Setup by a nice play by, who else, Bryan Rust.
— Matt Murray was beat by a slap shot which may have deflected off of a Penguin stick to make it 3-1.
— Nick D’Agostino scored a goal with a shot from the blue line that grew eyes and found its way through bodies, off the post and in. D’Agostino scored his first pro goal against Utica last December from almost the same spot.
— Comets get a late goal to make it 4-2. Murray didn’t look set and it almost looked like it caught him by surprise.
So that’s it. You don’t take too much stock in a preseason game, but the other team is an American Hockey League team with American Hockey League players, so it’s nice to see the Penguins control and dictate the pace of play regardless of whether there is points on the line or not.
Penguins get back at it Saturday night at home vs. the Hershey Bears. I’d expect some roster moves between now and then and if so, we will blog about them.
WBS News
