Chirps from Center Ice

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Mitchell Chaffee’s two goals and assist get him first star honors in this game, a 6-3 Syracuse blowout Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre, in case you are wondering about the headline.

But the game really did chafe me, in all the wrong ways. I’ll explain.

Syracuse rolled out AHL journeyman Brandon Halverson in net, who hasn’t played in the AHL since the 2019-20 season (two games) and hasn’t played a full AHL seasons since the 2018-19 season. He doesn’t know what a goals against average below three is, had one season where he had a .906 save percentage and hasn’t won in the AHL since 2019.

Syracuse insulated him, and the Penguins only had 13 shots through two periods and one goal, an Austin Rueschhoff power play goal.

Halverson was far from the reason why the Crunch blew out the Penguins Saturday.

Wilkes-Barre finally came alive in the third period, already down 5-1, to the tune of 16 shots for and only 4 against (one of those was an empty net goal scored by the Crunch) and a 2-1 goal advantage. Two of those goals were scored by Jack Rathbone.

If Marc Johnstone is my favorite player on the team then Rathbone is my least favorite followed by Dmitri Samorukov and Taylor Fedun. Fedun was scratched Saturday, so I can’t pin tonight’s loss on him.

It was back to the bad Penguins Saturday. This team is consistently inconsistent, and it is something we will just have to get used to.

But tonight was extraordinarily bad.

Look I don’t mind if you lose. But it’s how you lose that gets me.

Innocuous start for the Crunch, it happens.

I mean giving the guy a wide open lane to shoot and skate into is a bit cringe, but what can you do?

Then a dart by Chaffee and it’s 2-0 and starting to get out of control.

Here’s where I started to get upset, missing summers, my pool and sunsets after 8.

Absolutely COOKING Dmitri Samorukov for a goal there. The Penguins needed a response of any kind against a literal sieve of a goaltender playing for their opponent, and they go out and do that. Just mind boggling.

Oh and on top of that, the Penguins went about eight minutes of game time between their shots in the second. In between that time frame, the Crunch score three goals.

Here’s the third.

Just a snipe by Gage Goncalves, with Samorukov and Mark Pysyk standing around and watching.

Here’s the Rueschhoff power play tally.

But then Syracuse proceeds to kick the teeth of the Penguins in again on this goal by Chaffee again to make it 5-1.

Jack Rathbone had a particularly awful game for himself, but some of that stink got washed off by two goals, his first as a Penguin.

Max Groshev scored his second of the game on an empty net when J.D. Forrest decided to pull Garret Sparks, who was in on relief of Taylor Gauthier.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Libor Hajek and Taylor Fedun were out for Rathbone and Xavier Ouellet on defense and Avery Hayes was out with an upper body injury that needs to be evaluated so Dakota Joshua took his place.

Three Stars: 3) Jack Rtahbone (two goals) 2) Gage Goncalves (goal, two assists) 1) Mitchell Chaffee (two goals, assist)

The Good: 😳

The Bad: 🤐

Turning Point: Chaffee’s first goal that turned Samorukov inside out. How do you say, you play like a dog Dmitri in Russian?

Around the Division: I don’t feel like linking the other boxes. Head here if you don’t believe me.

Providence shuts out Hartford 2-0….Bridgeport beats Springfield 2-1 in overtime….Hershey shuts out Lehigh Valley 2-0.

Standings: Hershey 18 – Hartford and Springfield 15 – Charlotte 14 – Penguins 13 – Providence 11 – Lehigh Valley 10 – Bridgeport 9

Wheeling Update: Nailers play role reversal and beat Idaho 5-2. The Steelheads beat the Nailers by the same score Friday. Jordan Frasca had a goal and an assist.

Video Highlights: Click at your own peril.

More midweek when Hershey comes calling Wednesday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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There was some concern this week when Tristan Jarry went down with injury and Joel Blomqvist went up to Pittsburgh.

I think you can put those concerns to bed.

Taylor Gauthier makes 34 saves and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins shutout the Syracuse Crunch 4-0 in Syracuse Friday night.

Some of Gauthier’s saves were highlight reel, as detailed below. He stopped a penalty shot in the first period which I think is the turning point in the contest, based off of the way things were going at that point.

I don’t think the plan is to go back to Gauthier Saturday, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him back in net again for the Penguins when these two teams rematch Saturday.

Here’s how they lined up on Friday:

Lineup Notes: They didn’t need goaltender recall from Wheeling as Garret Sparks backed up. Corey Andonovski and Valtteri Puustinen were in for Dakota Joshua and Matt Filipe up front. Mark Pysyk made his WBS debut and Libor Hajek was back in on defense for Jack Rathbone and Xavier Ouellet.

First Period: Pretty inert period, felt more like a feeling out period. Tame, but for a Libor Hajek stick lift that got too aggressive for referee Austin O’Rourke’s liking on Gabriel Fortier, which Taylor Gauthier made a right pad save on.

Second Period: No power plays in the first, referee O’Rouke and his running buddy Jordan Samuels-Thomas gave each team three in the second period. Its was hard to get rolling when every five minutes you were killing a penalty. Pens did a good  job killing off a 4-on-3 against. Taylor Gauthier continued to dazzle in net for the Penguins, and Alex Nylander scored just :37 into the frame.

Third Period: Penguins rip the game open with three goals. First one was scored by Ty Smith about three minutes into the third period.

This was followed by a Jansen Harkins power play goal 2:03 later that made it 3-0.

I think the Penguins iced the game away here, but in case there was any doubt Puustinen netted his second of the game right around halfway and the Pens were on cruise control.

This goal chased Hugo Alnefelt and entered Brandon Halverson. I think Alnefelt goes again for the Crunch Saturday, so he may be out for revenge.

Gauthier locked things down from there.

At no point during the contest did things get out of control for the Penguins. You could argue during the tense moments in the second when killing the 9,000 penalties awarded, but they navigated through it all and asserted control and never looked back.

Three Stars: 3) Ty Smith (goal, assist) 2) Alex Nylander (two goals, assist) 1) Taylor Gauthier (34 saves)

The Good: Seemed like an easy night at the office for the team. Syracuse is a really good team, the Penguins made them look like pikers Friday.

The Bad: I’m a bad person if I pick out something bad when the team wins by four goals and the goaltender gets a 34 save shutout.

Turning Point: Spoiled it in the lede, but the penalty shot save that Gauthier made on Gabriel Fortier set up his night as well as the night of the team playing in front of him.

Around the Division: Hartford shuts out Bridgeport 3-0, Providence beats Springfield 5-4. Charlotte is out west against San Jose.

Standings: The fact that Charlotte has that late game in San Jose later means I can’t really give this to you for accuracy sake. The Penguins have 13 points. If Charlotte wins or gets a point, they will leapfrog the points and be fourth in the Atlantic.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers hosted the Idaho Steelheads and the Steelheads, who are a hell of an ECHL team, drubbed the Nailers 5-2. They rematch Saturday.

Video Highlights: If I can work an edit in I will, provided I work my way around back to the computer between the next time I do this, which is Saturday after the rematch between the Pens and Crunch.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Taylor Gauthier and Colin White deserved better.

With about 40 seconds left to play, Colin White blocks his second shot of the night, is hobbled again and goes back down the tunnel. Seconds later the Belleville Senators score to even the game at two.

In overtime Belleville scores to steal the extra point. Penguins lose 3-2 in overtime.

Taylor Gauthier was shelled in the third period by the B-Sens when it was 1-1. He singlehandedly kept the Penguins in the contest and was stellar.

3 points out of a possible 6 this week. They were tracking to 4. That lost point is going to come in handy come April I fear.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Forward lines unchanged from Friday. Jack St. Ivany for Libor Hajek on defense.

First Period: Austin Rueschhoff scores a power play goal on a deflection of a Xavier Ouellet shot through traffic to put the Pens on the board.

Belleville was held to not many shots on goal then started to turn it on. Foreshadowing.

Second Period: Colin White blocks a shot and goes to the locker room. He returns, then goes back to the locker room. He got beat up pretty bad in the game.

Meanwhile, Angus Crookshank scores a goal off of a face-off to make it 1-1.

Problem here is that the B-Sens weren’t getting a ton of shots, but were living in the offensive zone for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, you wear down your opponent enough and get a greasy goal.

Third Period: As I mentioned in the open, Taylor Gauthier was under bombardment.

His finest save of the period, right there.

Also, Belleville scored two other times in the game but they were waved off. First was on a high stick, second was on a tripping call.

Colin White scored a power play goal which was fitting, considering the absolute beating he took Friday.

Time dwindling, Belleville head coach David Bell pulls goaltender Leevi Merilainen for an extra attacker, uses his time out, and finds the equalizer.

Always has to be an ex-Hershey Bear.

It was then onto….

Overtime: Jack Rathbone gets caught on a two on one, tries to direct Marc Johnstone to cover Angus Crookshank, Crookshank gets the puck, shoots, shot blocked back to Jacob Larsson who scores.

Three Stars: 3) Colin White (goal) 2) Garrett Pilon (goal, assist) 1) Jacob Larsson (game winning goal)

The Good: They scored two power play goals, which you never say no to.

The Bad: I don’t want to start getting into the practice of having to learn how to close out games. They straight lost Wednesday against Providence. They scored with .5 seconds left Friday against Hershey and coughed up a lead with :34 to play Saturday against Belleville. Gotta finish!

Turning Point: Inevitably the Pilon goal which forced overtime gets it here because Belleville winning seemed like a formality after that and it was.

Around the Division: Cleveland exacts some revenge on Providence, beating them 5-4…Springfield wins in OT against Lehigh Valley 3-2….Charlotte wins 5-4 in overtime against San Diego…Hershey beats Bridgeport 3-1 and Hartford beats Utica 3-2.

Standings: Hershey 16 / Hartford 13 / Charlotte and Springfield 12 / Penguins 11 / Lehigh Valley 10 / Providence 9 / Bridgeport 5

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 3-2 in their home opener over the Reading Royals. Justin Addamo two assists.

Video Highlights: 

Home and home with Syracuse next week. Look for the Weekend Preview sometime Thursday or Friday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I think I may have a new favorite player.

Not since Casey DeSmith was an AHL goaltender have I had a favorite player.

Wade Brookbank. Ben Lovejoy. Casey DeSmith.

That’s it. That’s my list.

They may have to make room for Marc Johnstone.

Saw it when they were on the road in Charlotte opening weekend. Guy busts his ass every shift and plays like he is 10 foot tall. Smart with the puck. Doesn’t make any errors. Goes and goes and goes.

Who else but Marc Johnstone, the hero, with .5 seconds left.

Wilkes-Barre wins 2-1 over Hershey Friday night.

Close game that they nearly lost a dozen times and couldn’t win with multiple power plays late. They needed a hero and it came in the form of Marc Johnstone.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup was Matt Filipe for Corey Andonovski who took warmups and Taylor Fedun for Jack St. Ivany.

Bears score in the first on a power play goal from Mike Vecchione on a nice setup from Mike Sgarbossa and it was 1-0 Hershey.

I didn’t like the way referees Mike Dietrich and Jake Kamrass ran things early, and they stick around and will be the referees Saturday against Belleville.

Penguins get a goal the gritty way when Alex Nylander camps out in front of the net and Jansen Harkins sets him up for the tying goal in the final minute of the second period.

In the third, I became incredibly frustrated with the Penguins power play.

J.D. Forrest throwing things at the wall. Jonathan Gruden on the power play?

I figured their power play out, though.

Johnstone won it late, as documented above. Thought it was deflected in with a high stick, but it was not.

Three Stars: 3) Joel Blomqvist (19 saves) 2) Alex Nylander (goal) 1) Marc Johnstone (game winning goal)

A note about Blomqvist – I don’t want to say he stole the game cause he kept the team in it and his guys won it for him. I also don’t want to rush him, but I think he is quickly becoming the best goaltender in the organization, all things considered. Keep it up.

Also, Hershey has three regulation losses and the Penguins gave them two of those losses.

The Good: Marc Johnstone. What else can I say? What a player. Give me a team full of Marc Johnstone’s.

The Bad: Power play coulda used a goal.

Turning Point: Johnstone’s goal with .5 left gets it here. Obviously.

Around the Division: Cleveland has been in the AHL as the Monsters since  2007. This is the first ever meeting with the Providence Bruins, a team that plays in the same conference as them. Providence wins 7-3….Lehigh Valley beats Hartford 5-4 in overtime….Springfield beats Belleville 6-3.

Standings: Hershey 14 / Hartford 11 / Penguins / Charlotte / Springfield 10 / Lehigh Valley and Providence 9 / Bridgeport 5

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights:

Back at it Saturday against Belleville at 6:05.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Dictionary defines “providence” as timely preparation for future eventualities.

Well tonight, you can state that the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins lacked providence because the team that bears the name came in and beat them 3-1.

First home loss for the Penguins, in what would best be defined as a feckless offensive effort.

Work night. School night. Let’s get into it.

Lineup Notes: Sam Poulin, Valtteri Puustinen (both injured) out for Austin Rueschhoff and Colin Smith. Smith returns from injury. Garret Sparks was the one injured, which explains why he didn’t come out for the third Sunday in Hershey and why Taylor Gauthier was recalled. On defense, Taylor Fedun was out. Libor Hajek stayed in. I think they still have veteran issues.

First Period: Shots were 9-3 Penguins in the period. Wilkes-Barre jumps out to a 1-0 lead on a power play goal from Rem Pitlick:

But Providence hits back 90 seconds later when John Farinacci, who sounds like a Pittston Area gym teacher, tips in a shot from the point that makes it 1-1.

Second Period: Providence ratcheted up the offense and gets a goal from Vincent Areseneau which I initially thought was an own goal from Dmitri Samorukov, that made it 2-1 Bruins.

Third Period: I waited for a comeback that never came. The Penguins took their second too many men on the ice call, the third time they had such an issue in the evening but that one time they didn’t have the puck. How does that happen? Twice one game?

Turning point of the game was when the Penguins had a power play with 4:28 left to play and failed to score.

Somewhere in there Brandon Buss made a ridiculous save to keep it a one goal game for the visitors. I don’t want to say that he won the game for the Bruins, but he was a big big part.

Providence hit an empty net, which essentially sealed their fate. Jesper Boqvist scored it.

Three Stars: 3) Brandon Buss (26 saves) 2) Rem Pitlick (goal) 1) Vincent Arseneau (goal)

The Good: Optimist says they held the Bruins close, offense wasn’t there when it needed to be against a really good AHL goaltender. Also, the penalty kill went 6/6.

The Bad: They essentially have a fourth line that consists of Jagger Joshua and Marc Johnstone, who bust their ass on every shift every game, and Jonathan Gruden who does the same, but plays third and sometimes second line minutes. That’s all. Jansen Harkins has shown flashes of brilliance but the defense is out to lunch half the time. Samorukov ain’t it. Jack Rathbone I don’t think is either. Ty Smith is in the wrong system, jury is out on Hajek and Ouellet does what he can with who he’s paired with. St. Ivany has flashes. He’s young, cut him some slack.

Every team has clunkers every once in a while. This Penguins team is not championship caliber, so you are going to have more.

Maybe they get the proper coaching and accountability. Hershey is here Friday. It better come quick.

Around the Division: Hershey beats Lehigh Valley 4-3 in overtime and are 7-2. I didn’t think the Bears could somehow be better than last year, yet here we are. They are in Friday.

Standings: Hershey 14 / Hartford 10 / Charlotte / Penguins / Thunderbirds 8 / Lehigh Valley and Providence 7 / Bridgeport 5

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: You may have to go hunt and peck for them yourselves if you are so inclined. I am off Thursday and not going to be near a computer for most of the day.

Back at it Friday against Hershey.

Let’s Go Pens!