Comments Off on Hart Throb – Pens WIN 1-0
Posted by nafsnep on November 29, 2013
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It took 20 games, but the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have their first shutout.
Against a divisional foe.
By a rookie goaltender starting his second ever AHL game.
For first place.
Anchored by a 25 save performance by Eric Hartzell, the Penguins get a goal from Harry Zolnierczyk in the second period and ride solid defense the rest of the way to win 1-0 over rival Binghamton and are now in first place in the division.
Nathan Lawson vs. Eric Hartzell
Dominik Uher was listed as out with an “upper body” injury. Carter Rowney made his WBS debut for Uher. Peter Merth took warmups but was the lone healthy scratch.
Pre-game, the Pens announced that Jeff Deslauriers was signed to an AHL contract for the rest of the year. This should surprise no one. It wasn’t a matter of if they were going to sign Deslauriers, it was a matter of when.
First Period: Penguins went 0-for-7 on the power play and it showed early, especially with the second one of the night in the first period where the Penguins couldn’t get a single thing going. Late, shorthanded, Brian Gibbons hits the top of the goal post and the puck goes in at the buzzer. Only problem is, the puck went down and not in then was pushed in but after time expired. Replay confirmed the call.
Second Period: Eric Hartzell must have had six eyes and eight legs this period because he had every puck hit him this period. A redirect from in close? Saved. Penguins defensive turnover? Dial 555-BAIL – Eric is there to bail you out. A shot that goes through nine bodies on the ice that mere mortal goaltenders never see? Insured by Hartzell, we keep pucks out of the net! He saw everything and let everything hit him, closed his angles and was on money all period.
Then, Brian Gibbons takes a puck off the near low corner, sweeps it to Harry Zolnierczyk for the backhander to put the Pens up 1-0. Pens kill a 4:00 Brian Dumoulin high stick call, thanks in large part to the stout penalty kill and one Eric Hartzell.
Third Period: More terrible power play by the Penguins. A scary moment when Hartzell goes down and doesn’t move. The arena was quiet because most fans knew there wasn’t another goaltender in Wheeling for a call-up. Turns out, by my eyes, it was nothing but a cramp, as I saw trainer Kyle Moore mouth “cramp” while walking to the bench. Binghamton would have a power play to mess with after, but Hartzell and the stellar Wilkes-Barre penalty killing unit would deny all chances.
Three Stars: 3) Nathan Lawsn (25 saves on 26 shots) 2) Harry Zolnierczyk (goal, +1) and 1) Eric Hartzell (25 save shutout)
Last Game: Wednesday in Glens Falls, the Pens lost 3-1. Tom Kostopoulos had the lone goal for Wilkes-Barre in the loss. For Binghamton, the B-Sens won 5-1 at home Wednesday. Three Senators registered a +4, while two registered a +3.
Last Meeting: October 25 in Binghamton, the Penguins lost in a shootout 4-3.
Record: For WBS: 12-5-0-2 (26 pts., 2nd place East Division) For BNG: 14-5-0-0 (28 pts., 1st place East Division)
Why you should care: It’s Black Friday, and the Pens host division rival Binghamton for first place in the division. The B-Sens have been rolling of late and the Pens have lost more than they’ve gained in call ups recently. However, with the right effort, Wilkes-Barre can beat this team. Should be a fun one.
Blogger Note:In case you missed it, Brad Thiessen is back in North America and back in the East Division. Find out where here.
Welcome to the Chirps from Center Ice First Quarter Grades. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins passed the quarter pole last night with a 3-1 loss last night up in Glens Falls. The Pens boast a 12-5-0-2 record, good for 26 points and second place in the East Division behind the Binghamton Senators.
So, as tradition here on the blog, here goes my best effort at passing out grades.
This is how it works. Anyone who skated for the team gets a grade. Results based off of first quarter only.
Here we go…
(as soon as you click through the jump if you didn’t link in from somewhere else…)
Comments Off on BOO! – Pens LOSE 3-1
Posted by nafsnep on November 27, 2013
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This headline is an all purpose one.
Since Phantoms are ghosts, and ghosts scare people, and you say “Boo!” to scare people, you have that angle.
When you don’t like something, you boo. I never like when the Penguins lose.
Wilkes-Barre lays an egg in Glens Falls, NY and lose 3-1 to the Adirondack Phantoms. The Phantoms bottled up the Penguins all night, especially in the second period onward, only allowing the Pens 12 shots on goal after the first period, where the Pens outshot the Phantoms 16-3.
Jeff Deslauriers vs. Yann Danis
Carter Rowney was the lone scratch for the Penguins. Peter Merth is day-to-day. Reid McNeill and Nick Drazenovic are week-to-week.
First Period: Penguins steamroll the Phantoms in the period, outshooting them 16-3. Phantoms won the game in this period by not going down multiple goals, as Danis was spectacular for Adirondack, only rearing one goal, on the power play to Tom Kostopoulos. Prior to, Brandon Manning had scored on the power play.
Second Period: The Pens played a great first five minutes then could not even muster a shot on goal, as it was noted in Adirondack that the Pens hadn’t registered a single shot on goal for the last three fourths of the period.
Some controversy with the second Adirondack goal scored by Petr Straka. Here, take a look:
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Sorry about the letter boxing. I never remember to put my iPhone on landscape mode when shooting video.
Didn’t look like, to me, that that goal should have counted. Referee Geno Binda was the ref you saw there waving it off at the last second but T.J. Luxmore was the high ref and overruled the call WITHOUT replay. You decide.
Chris VandeVelde later pounces on a puck in the slot while the teams were 4-on-4 to put the Phantoms up 3-1. It would turn out to be all the insurance Adirondack would need.
Third Period: Dominik Uher took a puck up high in the second period, left with a towel on his mouth with the trainer and didn’t return. Pens get two power plays in the period but do not cash on either and that’s your ballgame.
Three Stars: 3) ben Holmstrom (assist, +1) 2) Brandon Manning (goal, assist, +1) and 1) Yann Danis (27 saves on 28 shots)
Wheeling Update: Nailers shutout Cincinnati 3-0. Reigning ECHL player of the week Zack Torquato had a goal and an assist and was named first star of the game.
SendToNews Highlights: Aren’t up yet. Nothing much to see other than what I gave you above, but for the sake of completeness I will check later and link if one comes out.
Penguins back at it Friday vs. Binghamton. Looking ahead to that one, starting goaltender Nathan Lawson left the game with an apparent injury and Andrew Hammond came on in relief to start the second period.
Blog wise, I’ll have my First Quarter Grades here sometime tomorrow. I’m shooting for noon but only have the forwards done, so who knows. But they will be up, so check back at some point tomorrow.
Last Game: Saturday at home vs. St. John’s, the Pens rallied for five goals in the third period and won 5-2. Coming off of suspension, Bobby Farnham was 1-1-2 and a +3. For Adirondack, last Saturday they hosted Albany and lost 5-3. Bruno Gervais was 1-2-3 in the losing effort.
Last Meeting: October 18 in Wilkes-Barre, the Pens won 6-3. Jayson Megna had two goals and was named first star of the game.
Record: For WBS: 12-4-0-2 (06 pts., 1st place East Division) — For ADK: 7-8-0-2 (16 pts., 3rd place Northeast Division)
Why you should care: The Phantoms have lost six in a row and the Pens look to make it seven. Who starts in goal tonight? Will it be Eric Hartzell, who had a solid debut Saturday or Jeff Deslauriers, who leads the AHL in wins for goaltenders?
Really, if you follow the action closely, not surprising. Pittsburgh’s not going to carry 11 forwards plus a cleared waivers Matt D’Agostini, that’s if he clears at noon Wednesday. So the recalls of Megna and Conner are insurance for Pittsburgh. Despres is left handed and, as Jonathan pointed out yesterday, Despres is the only healthy puck moving southpaw worth a call up in the organization.
So, if D’Agostini clears and is assigned to Wilkes-Barre you have him, Brian Gibbons, Tom Kostopoulos, Brendan Mikkelson and Harry Zolnierczyk as your top scorers, with a pretty solid defense corps and rock steady goaltending. I’ll take this into battle against an Adirondack team that’s lost six straight and feel damn good about my chances.
I probably won’t have anymore updates here today but for the Gameday setup with the aforementioned Phantoms at 3, then the post game recap after the game tonight. So if Pittsburgh does assign D’Agostini here, pending the waivers, I’ll probably blurb about it on Twitter.
Jonathan really has things covered in his offering today. He mentions that a forward could still go back up tomorrow as well as Simon Despres because of Paul Martin’s injury and that Despres uses his right frame of mind.*
Oh, and Matt D’Agostini is on waivers. If no one claims him, he could end up on the ice with the Penguins tomorrow in Glens Falls, NY.
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Three other things before I wrap it up. Remember the big hit in Saturday’s game Tom Kuhnhackl took by J.C. Lipon of St. John’s? Lipon was suspended two games as a result by the AHL today….Zack Torquato was named ECHL Player of the Week for the Wheeling Nailers. Torquato is on an ECHL only deal, meaning he can sign with any AHL team. He was in Wilkes-Barre camp last season if I remember correctly…..There is a new ECHL team which will take the ice for the 2014-2015 season. They are the Indy Fuel. They’ll probably face Wheeling a few times next season.
Depending if there is a call up to Pittsburgh tomorrow and the time it happens, I might have a few words on it. If not, Gameday for tomorrow’s game in Glens Falls vs. the Phantoms will be up at 3 p.m.
* – alright, it’s a terrible joke. Left handed people use the right side of their brain. Righties use their left side. So you’ll hear the joke from left handed people that they are always “in the right frame of mind”… I’ll be here all week. Try the veal….
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