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No, you read that score right.

Pens score 5 goals and don’t win.

Yes, I did say in my preview of series that these two teams featured in this Eastern Conference Semifinal are the top two defensive clubs in the AHL.

13 goals on 56 total shots by the teams.

A sharper Providence team, having played a full five game series vs. a dull Penguins team? Perhaps.

I totally wrote off the Providence Bruins as a team that feasted on cupcake teams in their cupcake division.

I was totally wrong.

The Providence Bruins defeat the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals by a score of 8-5 to take a 1-0 series lead in this best of seven. Remember that guy Chris Bourque? He of those Hershey Bears teams that obliterated everything in their path a few years ago? He plays for the Bruins now. He absolutely killed the Penguins tonight. A goal, three assists and a +2 and in true Chris Bourque fashion, the goal coming late which buried the Penguins.

The once healthy Penguins may be dealing with injuries going forward. Read on.

Jeff Zatkoff vs. Niklas Svedberg. Dominik Uher was scratched. Streve MacIntyre took warmups but did not play. Bobby Farnham was back in the lineup.

First Period: Great open by the Penguins, who have not played a competitive game in eight days. The Pens had the first power play of the series and showed a great open minute but a fractured second. They kept the offensive pressure up and got another power play. Derek Nesbitt nearly scored on his patented “shoot from one knee one timer from the low circle” move but did not. Then a penalty shot was awarded when it was ruled that a P-Bruin covered the puck in the goal crease, but the puck was not actually on the ice. Chad Kolarik took the penalty shot and scored. Immediately thereafter, the Pens were on the penalty kill and the Providence power play took the ice. The P-Bruins power play is lethal. It is tops in the Calder Cup Playoffs. They nearly scored twice. They continued to press the Penguins the final eight minutes and with just over a minute left, Derek Nesbitt turns a puck over to Ryan Spooner who scored from about five feet in from the blue line on a shot that looked to handcuff Zatkoff. Tie game.

Shots on goal were 17-6 Penguins this period. Penguins had the quantity of shots but the Bruins has the better quality of shots.

Second Period: Nighmarish period for the Penguins. Starts with an injury to Dylan Reese as he appeared to be hit in the head. Reese was shaken, but skated off on his own power but did not return. Then Jayson Megna doesn’t touch a puck on an icing, the P-Bruins score when Jordan Caron bangs home a rebound. To this point, since the penalty shot by Chad Kolarik in the first, it was all Providence. Paul Thompson then puts it on net and Brian Gibbons stuffs it home on the far side to even the score at two,

Then it got bad.

The Bruins would end up scoring four goals in 5:15. Kyle MacKinnon was the recipient of a pass on a three on two and scored to make it 3-2. Then Reid McNeill walks a puck out in front of Zatkoff’s net, is swarmed and the P-Bruins score on a bat rebound goal. McNeill had a forgettable game to this point. Brian Gibbons takes an interference call. Carter Camper scored to make it 5-2. At this point, 5 goals on 16 shots for the Bruins.

Paul Thompson scored with :04 left on a power play on a backhander to stop a little of the bleeding.

Then it got really bad.

Garnet Exelby collides with Chad Kolarik knee on knee and Kolarik went down in a heap and was helped off the ice putting no pressure on his right knee.

Third Period: Thankfully, Kolarik returned for the third period. Reese did not.

Craig Cunningham is good at hockey. So is Carter Camper. The two seemed to read each others minds when Cunningham wheeled around the slot, dished to Camper who dished back to Cunningham who scored to make it 6-3.

The Bruins pristinely move the puck with such speed its nearly impossible to stop. Tonight, turns out for the Pens, it was.

Bruins would score no more. Things got chippy. Penguins find themselves on a power play for 4:00. Philip Samuelsson shoots a puck from the point that Chris Collins deflects in to make it 6-4. Then, the Pens score on a funny bounce off the wall on a wide open net when Paul Thompson chases down a puck and shoots it into a wide open net. The Pens were rolling at this point. Svedberg does not see a shot his way and it deflects wide. Then, Penguin killer Chris Bourque scores on a slap shot that beat Zatkoff short side. Then, a meaningless penalty on Paul Thompson for roughing would put the P-Bruins on a power play late. That puck movement and tape to tape passes I talked about earlier would prove deadly again as Jamie Tardif would score on the backdoor to put the game permanently out of reach.

Three Stars: 3) Paul Thompson (two goals, assist, -1) 2) Carter Camper (goal, assist, +1) and 1) Chris Bourque (goal, three assists, +2)

The Bruins were 26-9-0-3 at home in the regular season. The last game that saw this many goals in the playoffs involved the Penguins per the AHL PR tweet feed, a 7-6 OT game vs. the Hershey Bears almost six years to the day, on May 11, 2007.

Despite all this, it wasn’t the worst loss of the night. Grad Rapids drop kicked the Toronto Marlies 7-0 tonight.

Anyway, Game 2 is tomorrow in Providence. No way this offensive ridiculousness continues. Expect a bounce back by the Penguins tomorrow in a big way to bring it back spilt 1-1. Gameday for this here on the blog at 3 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I have ragged on Jayson Megna all season long.

Tonight, I couldn’t be more wrong.

Megna, in the game of his life, helps the Penguins to a 3-2 Game 3 win and a 3-0 sweep of the Binghamton Senators.

Jayson Megna was astounding tonight. Plain and simple. He and the fourth line won this game for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins who advance to the second round.

The Penguins do not yet know their opponent for the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Brad Thiessen started for the Penguins tonight. Jeff Zatkoff was no where to be seen for warmups. Scott Darling backed up for the Pens tonight. Zatkoff is officially listed as “day to day.” With this being playoffs, getting any more information from the team re: Zatkoff’s status would be like drawing blood from a stone.

First Period: Pens looked flat. Binghamton really limited their chances. A defensive zone turnover on a breakout lead to a Matt Puempel goal in where Thiessen had no chance. Pens only had four shots on goal that entire period.

Second Period: Nothing doing for the Pens in the scoring department. Penguins looked better in the period but Lawson by all means was outstanding.

Third Period: Penguins had the early jump. You got the sense that if the B-Sens did manage to somehow hold on and win the game that they would not be able to replicate the result for 120 minutes of hockey or two more games. The Pens started to pressure, pressure and pressure some more. Things started to get chippy. Then, Trevor Smith finds himself in the box for a roughing call. The Penguins send out Zach Sill and Jayson Megna on the penalty kill. Sill works a puck out, it gets to Megna for a 2-on-1 rush the other way. Megna carries it, dishes to Sill who deflects the pass top left corner on Lawson to tie it at one a piece.

The very next series there was a stoppage in play. I noticed at the time the the B-Sens skaters were coming off the ice like someone had just shot their dog. The Pens had the look of hope on their faces, like they were the ones that would score the next goal.

Binghamton would pressure for a good six minutes. The aggression would prove to be too much as Pat Cannone would trip up Trevor Smith. Penguins power play.

Penguins would work a puck down low to perfection. Trevor Smith would dish to Riley Holzapfel who would have an easy backdoor shot on goal for the go ahead goal.

Binghamton would pull Lawson, and fitting enough, Jayson Megna would win a race to a puck and score an empty netter. It would actually hold up as the game winner as Mark Borowiecki would score the final B-Sens goal of the season with 1.5 seconds left as Thiessen was heavily screened.

All games end in 3-2 scores. I am telling you, the B-Sens could have won all three of these games by this same score.

This paragraph is dedicated to the Binghamton Senators for a hell of a series. To Kate Krenzer in the front office, Bob Howard who moonlights on color with play by play man Grady Whittenburg and Matt Weinstein and Matt Verderame from the Press & Sun-Bulletin handshakes to you guys on a hell of a series and look forward to seeing you again in the Fall.

Three Stars: 3) Jayson Megna (goal, assist, +2) 2) Riley Holzapfel (goal, even) and 1) Zach Sill (goal, assist, +2)

Again, the Penguins do not know who they will be facing in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Syracuse Crunch seem like the most likely opponent as the Crunch finished off a sweep of their own tonight up in Portland 4-3. The Manchester Monarchs live to see another day as they win over the Springfield Falcons 2-1 Hershey hosts Providence for Game 3 on Saturday.

I think we will know the opponent fairly soon, so stick with me on Twitter for the up to the minute on that and check the blog sometime this weekend for that and a schedule of what to expect in the coming days.

Let’s Go Pens!!!