The subject line tonight was overheard by me from a small child telling his father that he didn’t hear the Penguins goal horn for two straight nights. Whomever that young child is, I would like to thank him for telling his father that and giving me the idea to use that phrase as my blog title this evening.

Nothing childish, however, about the Penguins lack of scoring. 2-0 loss tonight, now shut out in back to back periods and goalless for 127:32 going back to Geoff Walker’s goal last Sunday vs. Binghamton, provided my math is correct.*

Scott Munroe vs. Eddie Pasquale

Before the game, the Hershey Bears announced that they will be hosting an outdoor game at Hersheypark Stadium next January 20. I have a blog about it one post down, or here with full details.

First Period: Penguins would get two power plays but could not muster anything with them. Really the story of the night and the goalless drought with the power play ineffectiveness. Some power plays the Pens couldn’t muster even a shot. Ray Sawada hit Aaron Gagnon on a stretch pass which sprung Gaganon on a breakaway he scored on in the final minute.

Second Period: Penguins caught on their heels a bit as the IceCaps pressured and pressured. Finally Jason Gregoire scored on a sneaky play by him where he snuck in behind the D, gets a pass from John Albert and goes top shelf on Munroe to put his team up 2-0. St. John’s would continue to have firing squad mentality but Munroe never let in another one. Penguins had sustained pressure late but were unable to find the back of the net.

Third Period: Uneventful in terms of goals. Pasquale left rebound after rebound of the nine shots the Pens pumped his way this period but no single goal was found. Pens pulled Munroe and weren’t able to score with the extra man.

Thoughts: Munroe has actually played outstanding these last two nights. If I tell you at 5 o’clock Friday that after two games, he only lets in a total of three goals, you probably take it and run. Penguins are just not skating. I don’t know if it is line combinations or what it is now, hopefully it gets fixed and fixed quick.

Magic Number: Think stays at 7. Scenarios with the logjam at the 8 seed make it hard for me being a folly at math.

Around the Division: One more and the streak will be old enough to drink. The Norfolk Admirals run it to 20 in a row, defeating the Albany Devils by a 4-3 score. Hershey comes back to nip Charlotte 2-1. Syracuse loses to Rochester in a shootout, 4-3.

Standings: Norfolk 97 / WBS 83 / Hershey 82 / Syracuse 71 / Binghamton 59

Conference: 1-NOR (97) 2-StJ (86) 3-CT (76) 4-WBS (83) 5-HER (82) 6-BRI (73) 7-MCH (71) 8-SYR (71)

Springfield is in Sunday afternoon for what is sure to be an interesting affair with Steve MacIntyre being eligible to return from suspension. You may want to get there early to see what boils up in warmups.

Gameday for that matchup will be here on the blog at 11 a.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

* – stop laughing.

Going to just let it flow tonight and see what happens tonight with this recap.

Pens lose 1-0 tonight and were shutout by a very outstanding Michael Leighton. They were in search of a few things:

• A goal. Nothing was happening tonight. Shooting it into skates and when the puck did get to the net, Leighton stood on his head and absolutely made ten bell save after ten bell save, highlight coming in the third period diving with the glove to absolutely rob Alex Grant out of thin air.
• Stability on defense. Alex Picard cut his leg in the first period then came out late in the second. How many 2-on-1’s did the Pens give up tonight? Too many. That needs to change.
• An actual power play. This mess of a drop pass to an invisible teammate in the neutral zone then dump and chase, watch the Phantoms clear it has got to change.
• Face-off wins. To my last point a bit, losing a face-off in the offensive zone on a power play and watch the Phantoms clear it.
• Lines that fit like puzzle pieces. I don’t like this idea of letting off because we know we can’t get better than a four seed and we can’t dip lower than six. Some guys just looked lost tonight.

For what it is worth Scott Munroe was on par with Leighton, making his own ten-bell saves. He was beaten in the first period when Jason Akeson received a pass off the wall from Tye McGinn and stuck it past him. That was it. Brandon DeFazio and Mike Testwuide had a spirited scrap in the first period also with DeFazio edging Testwuide with a harder right than his opponent as both were tossing heavy blows.

Pens had the best chances in the third period on Leighton, including the Alex Grant robbery. I was half way out of my seat before  I realized Leighton made the save.

If you saw it different tonight, please leave me a comment in the blog.

Three stars were Tye McGinn (primary assist, +1) 2) Jason Akeson (game winning goal, +1) and 1) Michael Leighton (24 save shutout)

Around the Division: Norfolk wins 19 straight beating the Albany Devils 2-1. This stat from the AHL PR Twitter feed is scary:

–

Albany led briefly, 1-0.

Syracuse won a track meet vs. St. John’s 5-4. Syracuse is now the 7 seed. Binghamton edged Rochester in overtime 5-4. Hershey was off.

Standings: Admirals 95 / Penguins 83 / Bears 80 / Crunch 70 / Senators 59

Magic Number: The number to get there is 91 in the Eastern Conference. It remains 8 for the Pens, but remember I am horrible at math.

Conference: 1-NOR (95) 2-StJ (84) 3-CT (76) 4-WBS (83) 5-HER (80) 6-BRI (73) 7-SYR (70) 8-MCH (69)

Pens get the St. John’s IceCaps tomorrow. Gameday for these proceedings up here at the blog at 3 p.m., for puck drop from Wilkes-Barre at 7.

Let’s Go Pens!