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The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinal for a fourth year in a row and end the Binghamton Senators season by a score of 5-1 on the very same day that they did last year, May 2.

Tonight’s game had two things which stood out.

1) The stellar play of goaltender Peter Mannino. Mannino kept the Penguins in the game early and the B-Sens out of serious consideration for a comeback late.
2) The Binghamton Senators season imploded on discipline. The B-Sens took nine penalties which the Penguins scored on two of. There were two occasions where the Penguins were called for a penalty but the after the whistle stuff caused the B-Sens to lose their cool and the referees saw it, and the Penguins came away with the power play instead.

The B-Sens came out flying to start, outshooting Wilkes-Barre 8-2 to open. Mannino stood tall. One of the many saves that he made which stood out was a stop on Jean-Gabriel Pageau cutting to the net that kept the B-Sens off the board. Thrill a minute hockey.

Then a sequence that turned the tide in favor of the Penguins so much so that the Binghamton Senators were not able to recover. Chris Wideman takes a delay of game penalty. On the ensuing face-off, Chuck Kobasew appears to score, but the puck hits the crossbar and bounces out. Or does it? Play continues. Later, replay clearly shows the puck go inside the net and hit off the top of the back support and bounce out. Goal.

Penguins all of a sudden find themselves on a 5×3. But, Binghamton kills off the first penalty and then Mannino with a belly save on Patrick Mullen when the B-Sens were in on a shorthanded three-on-one.

There is where I think the game was won for the Penguins and lost for the B-Sens. It could have easily been 4-0 Senators after one but Mannino’s spectacular play in net kept it 1-0 Pens.

Penguins open the second period with 1:23 of carryover power play. All of a sudden, another 5×3 for the Pens when David Dziurzynski gets whistled for a high stick. Brian Dumoulin steps into one from the blue line late and makes it 2-0 Pens. Later, Dominik Uher scores even strength to put the Pens ahead 3-0.

Binghamton used its timeout and started a pushback. But tempers flared. Corey Cowick is whistled for slashing, Barry Goers is called for hooking and Darren Kramer for roughing. The initial call I think was the Goes hook. Then, after the whistle, Kramer and Cowick get called for their penalties and the Penguins are the ones on the power play.

Pens do not score. On four on four, the B-Sens nearly do. They were so dangerous on four on four tonight.

Chuck Kobasew dives at a puck and knocks it to Andrew Ebbett who skates in unabated to make it 4-0 Penguins. At this point, the rout was on.

Binghamton again doesn’t do themselves any favors. Zach Sill is called for charging. Stephane Da Costa, after the whistle, gets called for slashing then unsportsmanlike to put the Penguins on the power play.

The B-Sens score early in the third period when Certified Penguin Killer™ Shane Prince cashed on a power play to make things interesting and 4-1 Penguins. After a bad shift, John Hynes uses his time out to settle things down.

Try as they might, the Senators did not score and the Penguins withstood wave after wave of Binghamton pressure and maintained the three goal advantage.

Peter Mannino. Not to be forgotten. Three monstrous saves. Alex Grant through a screen. Try again. Scramble in front. It does not go in. Jean-Gabriel Pageau attempts to slip it five hole. You get nothing and like it.

Head Coach Luke Richardson pulls starting goaltender Andrew Hammond with 4:30 left. Harry Zolnierczyk, playing alpha and omega, scores the last goal of the series into an empty net. Zolnierczyk scored the first goal of the series (for the Penguins) last week up in Binghamton.

Bryan Rust was slashed on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot with 17.9 seconds left. He made too many moves and was stopped by Hammond.

Three Stars: 3) Brian Dumoulin (goal, assist, +1) 2) Peter Mannino (26 saves on 27 shots) and 1) Andrew Ebbett (goal, two assists, +1)

Lineup Changes: Essentially the aforementioned Bryan Rust for Anton Zlobin, who was injured in Game 3. Spencer Machacek was the veteran scratch.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference: St. John’s closed out Albany tonight 4-1….Norfolk does the same to the top seeded Manchester Monarchs 3-2.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers start their second round series with the Greenville Road Warriors tomorrow at home. How about this tweet from them though…

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SendToNews Highlights: How about YouTube, instead?

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The Penguins opponent is still to be determined. The Springfield Falcons host the Providence Bruins Saturday night in a decisive Game 5. If Springfield wins, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins will play the St. John’s IceCaps. If the Providence Bruins win, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins will play the Providence Bruins and will have home ice advantage.

I will have an update Saturday night on the blog with the opponent and the schedule once Springfield makes that matrix available.

Let’s Go Pens!

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You could see it from the first five minutes.

You could feel it all game.

Finally, at 7:32 in overtime, you could rejoice that it was over.

No, I am not talking about the 3-2 overtime win the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins handed the Binghamton Senators Wednesday evening in Wilkes-Barre Township, I am talking about the play of rookie Conor Sheary.

Head Coach John Hynes is a genius. Sheary, playing in his first AHL playoff game, had a hell of a game and played this playoff game like he was a seasoned veteran of five seasons. He let go of a point shot that Chuck Kobasew got a piece of to send the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins home with the win and a 2-1 series lead.

Wilkes-Barre can close out the East Division Champion Binghamton Senators Friday night at home with a win.

By all rights, the Penguins controlled a good majority of this game tonight and rightfully won.

In the first period, the Pens were flying. A hard board on Anton Zlobin by Mark Borowiecki and a slash by Freddy Claesson and the Pens were on a 5-on-3 advantage. Nick Drazenovic finished off a Chuck Kobasew pass to put the Pens up 1-0.

Before most fans got back in their seats, Simon Despres gets tangled at his own blue line and loses out on a puck. The B-Sens led by Corey Cowick come in shorthanded two on one. The Binghamton Senators led the AHL with 16 shorthanded goals this season. You know how this went. They would score that quickly to even the score at a goal a piece.

Anton Zlobin was not seen after being boarded by Borowiecki.

Teams would trade power plays in the second period to no avail. Jim O’Brien, back for the B-Sens from injury and skating in his first game action since March, had a few opportunities to put his team ahead. A notable one was a falling down backhander that went wide on an open Penguins net.

Carter Rowney and Adam Payerl work some touch passing entering the zone and Payerl zips one past starting goaltender Andrew Hammond for a 2-1 Pens lead.

In the third, O’Brien tied it for the visitors when Alex Grant tried to dump a puck past a Pens defender. The puck caromed off of his skates and right to the cutting O’Brien who essentially had Penguins starting goaltender Peter Mannino sprawling to get over in time. Before that, several great opportunities for the Pens to push ahead of Binghamton but to no success.

Overtime. Again.

Pens and Sens trade two huge stops by their respective goaltenders. The Penguins though, who largely controlled this game, just weren’t going to be denied. Sheary shot it and Chuck Kobasew deflected it. It capped a hell of a game by the rookie Sheary.

Lineup Notes: Nick Drazenovic for Spencer Machacek on the veteran side and Sheary for Mike Carman. After the game Carman had Saturday, I was second guessing. Glad I don’t coach the team.

Three Stars: 3) Nick Drazenovic (goal, +1) 2) Adam Payerl (goal, +1) 1) Chuck Kobasew (goal, assist, even)

Around the Eastern Conference: 1-0 was the popular score. Norfolk won their game over Manchester in overtime by that score and have the Monarchs on the brink. G John Gibson with a stellar 35 save shutout….St. John’s wins 1-0 in regulation and can close out the Albany Devils Friday as well.

SendToNews Highlights: Choosing YouTube over the SendToNews link off because YouTube plays nice with my blog….

[youtube http://youtu.be/lPh3dFe-Y1w]

Oh, if you don’t know where I came up with the headline, Conor Sheary’s nickname is “Thin Mints” — one of these days I will have to ask about the etymology.

Game 4 is Friday. If I have enough newsy type stuff I may run a blog Thursday afternoon / evening. Stay tuned.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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You didn’t think it would be easy, did you?

For the Penguins, it nearly was. They were up 3-1 at one point but lost tonight in overtime 4-3. Stephane Da Costa’s goal at 11:07 of the first overtime completed the comeback for the B-Sens and evened the series at a game a piece as this Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series switches to Wilkes-Barre for Game 3 Wednesday and Game 4 Friday.

The Penguins can’t be happy that they let the B-Sens claw their way back into this series after the B-Sens were down 3-1 in the game. Don’t get it twisted, the Senators nearly lost this game. The Penguins for large stretches dominated the game with puck possession and aggressive forechecking and sticks in lanes.

Peter Mannino vs. Andrew Hammond

Lineup Changes: Mike Carman and Spencer Machacek for Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and Nick Drazenovic for the Penguins and Corey Cowick and Darren Kramer for Matt Puempel and Ryan Dzingel. Puempel got hit hard into the boards by Zach Sill in Game 1, but should be ready for Game 3 Wednesday.

First Period: Brian Dumoulin shoots a puck at the net that Chuck Kobasew gets a piece of for an early 1-0 Penguin lead. Later, Adam Payerl takes a frustration tripping penalty and the B-Sens head to the power play.

Chris Wideman tied the game on the power play just like that. Hey, wait. Payerl takes an early penalty and the B-Sens score on a power play. Where did I see that before? Oh, that’s right. Last night.

Mike Carman from behind the net finds Tom Kostopoulos on the doorstep and the Penguins captain doesn’t miss to put the Penguins ahead 2-1.

Wilkes-Barre largely dominated the period and the scoreboard showed it.

Second Period: Mike Carman, who had himself a hell of a game, scores when the puck gets deflected to him off of a referees skate to put the Pens ahead 3-1. It caught everyone by surprise, as Hammond and company had their heads turned in another direction when the goal was scored.

Here comes Binghamton.

Zach Sill slashing at 15:13. At 16:34, Da Costa gets his first of the night when Mark Stone fires the puck off of the post, which caroms to Da Costa far side who slams it home to make it 3-2.

Third Period: Penguins take a lead heading into the third period. Good things, right? They only lost one game this year leading after two periods. I can’t remember who though….

Bad turnover by the Penguins to Mark Stone who scores to tie the game at three a piece.

Back it up for a second. Mistakes. A Sill penalty. Power play to Binghamton and a goal. A turnover at the start of the third period. Tie game. You cannot make a mistake against the Binghamton Senators. I just have to keep repeating it because it is being played out right before our eyes.

Overtime: Penguins looked strong to start. A gaffe led to a breakaway for Binghamton but it was broken up at the last second. Hammond made a few spectacular saves for the home team then Da Costa ended it to even the series at a game a piece.

Three Stars: 3) Mike Carman (goal, assist, +2) 2) Mark Stone (goal, three assists, +2) 1) Stephane Da Costa (two goals, +2)

Thought about this on the drive back from Binghamton. The Pens made some key mistakes in Games 1 and Games 2 which cost them. Moreso in Game 2 than Game 1. Adjust on those, with home ice now for Games 3 and 4, and put this Binghamton team away once and for all on your home ice.

Call it wishful thinking or what ever you like. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have a lineup with over 1,000 games of NHL experience in the lineup. The Binghamton Senators have less than 300. This is a walk in the park for the Penguins more than it is for an unexperienced group of Senators. Do the B-Sens have what it takes to win the series? Absolutely they do. Do the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins? You betcha. When it boils down to situations like this, I like experience more than I do youth.

Alright, I am talking like I am down 0-2 in the series now. I would have given you $1,000 if you would have guaranteed me a split this weekend against Binghamton. A split is what we have and I will take it gladly and run to the Mohegan Sun Arena Wednesday for Game 3.

Elsewhere in the East: A lot of other teams got even tonight. The Albany Devils evened their series with a 4-2 win over the St. John’s IceCaps….the Norfolk Admirals scored three unanswered and stunned the Manchester Monarchs 3-2….the Springfield Falcons put the Providence Bruins on the brink of elimination with a 3-2 win.

The Nailers await their next opponent in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

SendToNews Highlights: Scrapping that for the B-Sens Rewind….

[youtube http://youtu.be/yL2ejO8Q6Y4]

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No idea what content will run between now and Wednesday. I’ll try to come up with something.

Let’s Go Pens!!!