Comments Off on Still Searching….Pens LOSE 3-1
Posted by nafsnep on October 21, 2012
The optimist in me says that this is only the fourth game of a 76 game schedule and not even Halloween yet with a unit which has never played with each other before.
The pessimist in me says that this WBS team has a lot of so-called NHLers on the team that couldn’t even crack a third line of an ECHL squad.
Pens lose at home this afternoon 3-1 to the Syracuse Crunch dropping to 0-4 to start the season. All the damage was done in the first period. The Crunch get a tap in goal from Keith Aulie after a tic tac toe pass and two power play goals from Penguin killers Cory Conacher and Tyler Johnson while on an extended five-minute power play for boarding done by Joe Morrow on Vladislav Namestnikov. Things settled from there on with the Pens limiting the Crunch to 11 shots on goal the rest of the way. The Penguins did everything but score a goal, finally breaking through when it was too late via a third period power play goal from Philippe Dupuis to spoil the shutout for Dustin Tokarski.
The last time the Penguins started 0-4 was, well I will let beat writer / historian Jonathan Bombulie answer this for us all:
Worst starts in WBS history: 0-5 and 0-9-2 in 99-00, 0-4-1 in 01-02, 0-3-1 in 04-05. (third column is ties in 99-00 and 01-02, OTL in 04-05)
Per Bombulie, the Pens did not make playoffs in 1999-2000, and 2001-02 and made playoffs in 2004-05.
Wait, am I talking about playoffs?
–
Jeff Zatkoff got the start for the Pens in goal. Philip Samuelsson, Alex Grant and Joey Mormina were scratched. Carl Sneep made his season debut. Steve MacIntyre played, didn’t fight anyone. Penguins dressed six defensemen.
Three Stars: 3) Dustin Tokarski (20 saves on 21 shots) 2) Brett Connolly (two assists, +1) 1) Keith Aulie (goal, +1)
I noted pre-game that there was only one Penguin player who had a positive +/-. His name is Zach Sill, and he is out six weeks with an upper body injury.
Around the Division: Video replay bites the Hershey Bears as they lost in overtime 2-1 to the Binghamton Senators from newcomer Hugh Jessiman. The net got knocked off as the puck crossed, and the B-Sens are 3-1-1-0 with seven points and looking good.
My bold prediction to people I’ve talked to, didn’t really tweet this or Facebook it, was that if the lockout goes all year either Hershey or Wilkes-Barre will not make playoffs.
The Penguins are the only AHL team without a single point in this 2012-2013 AHL season.
Wheeling Update: Our ECHL affiliate fared about as bad as we did this weekend, shut out in back-to-back games, losers today 3-0 to the Reading Royals. Patrick Killeen took the loss, stopping 25 of 28.
Penguins off Monday, and look to regroup the rest of the week for Friday’s game vs. the Rochester Americans. I will run what I can blog-wise this week.
Last Game: Last night in the home opener vs. Bridgeport, the Pens lost 3-2. Eric Tangradi had a gaol in the losing effort for the Pens. For Syracuse, the Crunch were in Binghamton and won a wild one 6-5. After being down 5-0, the Crunch storm back and win in overtime.
Record: For WBS: 0-3 (0 pts., 5th place East Division) — For SYR: 3-0-0-1 (7 pts., 2nd place East Division)
Why you should care: The winless Penguins are in for a strong test against a very strong, very explosive Syracuse team. A win would go a long way here for the Penguins.
First Period: Penguins came out the first seven minutes very aggressive, outshooting Bridgeport 6-1. It would continue, until Johan Sundstrum would score for the Sound Tigers. Then, to make matters worse, a Bridgeport dump in at the zamboni corner would hit an end board weird and bounce right in front of Thiessen’s crease where Nino Niederreiter was there to slam it home to make it 2-0. Best way to really describe that was the goal that sunk the Hershey Bears in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals last year. Karma. What goes around, comes around.
Second Period: Dylan Reese, making his Penguins debut, fires a shot from the blue line goal-wards. Beau Bennett was there for a rebound, backhanded it and somehow the puck found Riley Holzapfel for his first as a Penguin to put Wilkes-Barre on the board at 2-1. Late, a Sound Tigers steal on a Penguins defensive zone clear would see John Persson tap in the end of a tic tac toe pass to make it 3-1.
At this point, I felt the Penguins played the front end of the first two periods very well and the back ends poorly, which cost them ultimately the game.
Third Period: Penguins power play was executed very well, but not to perfection several times but unable to score on any. Late, a Simon Despres shot from the blue line would be rebounded and back handed home by Eric Tangradi to pull the Pens to within one. Thiessen stones his ex-teammate Colin McDonald late. Sound Tigers get a penalty shot they don’t cash on when the puck was covered in the crease but they weren’t able to score. Penguins would get a late power play but weren’t able to find the equalizer.
Three Stars: 3) Eric Tangradi (goal, seven shots, even) 2) Nino Niederreiter (goal, even) and 1) Johna Soundstrom (goal, assist, +2)
Penguins have defensive zone gaffes which end up costing them goals. Otherwise, a good game. I thought Thiessen played well.
Around the Division: Boy, goals were plentiful in other East Division barns. Start in Binghamton. The B-Sens are up 5-0 on the Syracuse Crunch. Then a goalie fight between Robin Lehner and Riku Helenius. The Crunch score six unanswered to win 6-5 in overtime. In Hershey, the Bears are up 4-1 on the Rochester Americans only to lose 8-7 in a wild game in Hershey. The Norfolk Admirals still haven’t lost since the Ice Age it seems, winners 6-3 at home vs. the Connecticut Whale.
Last Game: Last night in Springfield, the Pens lost 4-2. Joe Morrow and Philippe Dupuis had goals for the Pens in the loss. For Bridgeport, last Saturday for their home opener vs. Providence, they won 4-2. Ex-Penguin Brandon DeFazio had a goal and an assist.
Record: For WBS: 0-2 (0 pts., 5th place East Division) — For BRI: 2-0 (4 pts., 2nd place Northeast Division)
Why you should care: Home opener. Nearly sold out crowd. Saturday night. Should be a fun time.
Other Game to Watch: The Norfolk Admirals have won 31 straight regular season games dating back to last season. No, you read that right. Thirty-one. They host the Connecticut Whale tonight looking to make it 32.
Next Five Games: SYR 10/21, RCH 10/26, @ SYR 10/27, @ HER 10/28, @ MCH 11/2
* – Bridgeport really doesn’t have a true “radio” broadcast. The Sound Tigers-centric radio feed is going to be found on AHL Live under the “radio” tab.
Comments Off on Special Teams Nightmare – Pens LOSE 4-2
Posted by nafsnep on October 19, 2012
19 power plays.
10 for the Penguins, 9 for the Falcons.
Referee Jamie Koharski running the show.
Really can’t blame the officials for tonight’s 4-2 loss as much as you have to credit the Springfield Falcons for capitalizing on opportunity. A power play goal and a faceoff win for the Falcons give them a 2-0 lead in the first, Pens clamp down in the second allowing just 9 Springfield shots, get a power play goal from Joe Morrow and a tap in from Philippe Dupuis in the third period to even things, then defensive zone gaffes rule the day late in the third with Cam Atkinson getting a feed from Jonathan Audy-Marchessault to make it 3-2 then a Springfield three on one with Ryan Johansen scoring to make it 4-2.
That was your ballgame, in a nutshell.
Jeff Zatkoff vs. Curtis McElHinney. Dylan Reese was a late scratch. Penguins continued the trend of dressing 7 defensemen.
Zach Sill blocked a shot and wasn’t seen from the second period on. Really a tough game to watch with all the penalties. No team was really able to establish anything even strength offensively. Really boiled down to which team was able to take advantage of the others mistakes. The Penguins made more mistakes then they were able to capitalize on.
Three Stars: 3) Curtis McElhinney (29 saves on 31 shots) 2) Jonathan Audy-Marchessault (goal, two assists, +2) and 1) Cam Atkinson (game winning goal, assist, +2)
Still not going to update Conference standings yet until around maybe the fifth game or so.
Wheeling Update: The Nailers are still looking for their first win of ther season after dropping a 4-2 decision to the Elmira Jackals tonight in New York 4-2. Patrick Killeen took the loss for the Nailers stopping 24 of 28 shots. Ex-WBS Penguin Cody Wild had two assists.
Pens return home tonight for tomorrow’s home opener against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Gameday setup will be here on the blog at 3:00 tomorrow afternoon.
Last Game: Last Saturday night in Binghamton, the Pens lost their first game of the season 2-1. Trevor Smith scored the first goal for the Penguins 2012-2013 campaign. For Springfield, this past Sunday at home vs. Adirondack, the Falcons won 4-0. Ex-Penguin captain Ryan Craig had a goal and goaltender Curtis McElhinney stopped all 31 shots he faced.
Record: For WBS: 0-1 (0 pts., 4th place East Division) — For SPR: 2-0 (4 pts., 1st place Northeast Division)
Why you should care: After a full week of practice the Penguins start a three games in three days weekend against a Springfield team looking to start 3-0 for the first time in club history. Should be a fun contest.
With under two minutes to play on Saturday with the Penguins trailing the Binghamton Senators 2-1, there was a goal which was waved off due to goaltender interference. Bombulie already mentioned this in his postgame recap at the Penguins Insider on Saturday night.
I looked for the game on the AHL Live archive yesterday but wasn’t able to get it due to “technical difficulties” on their side.
Faceoff to Lehner’s right in the Penguins offensive zone. Warren Peters wins a faceoff to Benn Ferriero at the blue line who passes to Alex Grant who one times it towards the goal:
–
Eric Tangradi was where Eric Tangradi is in the Penguins offensive zone, and that is in front of or within arms length of the goaltender. The man in white is Sens D-man Jared Cowen in front of the goal:
–
There is certainly no doubt that Tangradi is in the crease. It looks like from above that Cowen is “boxing in” Tangradi. Here’s where I think referee Dave Lewis interpreted this as goaltender interference. It’s Rule 69 from AHL Rulebook which you can find from the Bombulie postgamer I linked to above.
Here’s a closer look:
–
It appears that one of two things are occurring here: a) Lehner made the save OR b) Tangradi is trying to get out of the way, so as not to initiate contact with the goaltender.
–
Above, you can see the puck by Tangradi’s left foot. The puck in real time is trickling. It’s clear that Tangradi made contact with Lehner, via box in from Cowen or not, but as you can see from above the puck is NOT across the line.
Until…
–
Tangradi sweeps the puck in the net and all hell breaks loose.
I think that the call by Lewis was correct. I think we clearly have goaltender interference on two fronts here. We have it unintentionally in frames two and three. Then, we have it again separately from frames two and three in frames four and five. How? 1) Tangradi is in Lehner’s crease 2) Lehner is unable to make a play on the puck because Tangradi is in his crease.
The play itself is not reviewable, and the above happened within the span of three seconds or less. Lewis waved the goal off immediately.
Again, I agree with the call. I just wanted to “peel back the onion” a bit to help myself sleep better tonight and to further delve into what remains a controversial call for those who want a step-by-step explanation.
WBS News
