A quick recap because I need to get to bed for a 8 a.m. booster club bus to Atlantic City for the 4 p.m game vs. the Albany Devils at Boardwalk Hall.

Pens got slapped in the mouth tonight by the Norfolk Admirals and lost 7-4. This was after being down 4-1 to start the third period, having chased starting goaltender Brad Thiessen and tying the score at 4 about 8 minutes in.

As mentioned, Thiessen vs. Cedrick Desjardins. Tim Wallace was out due to a minor injury. Joey Haddad was back from The Nail and played.

First period: Three fights before the game is :30 old. Keven Veilleux dropped Tim Marks, Jesse Boulerice and Pierre-Cedric Labrie spun around and what not and Chris Durno and Zach Sill slipped and fell during their scrap. Later, Eric Tangradi and Radko Gudas would fight after the Big Dog interfered with Desjarsdins and also before referee Jamie Koharski could blow his whistle boarded an Admiral. In the four-minute power play that would ensue, Matt Fornataro would score.

In the first period intermission, I would be lucky enough to snag a signed Marc-Andre Fleury signed puck. Better look at the signature here.

Second period: Eric Tangradi would continue his torrid pace and tie the game at one. Nearly two minutes later, Paul Szczechura would push the Admirals back in front at the very end of a Jesse Boulerice interference call. Then, less than a minute later, Mark Barberio would score. He had an entire lane open to just drive down and snipe on Thiessen. Two minutes later, Troy Milam from the blue line would score as Thiessen was screened. That was all for Brad as John Curry came in to relive him.

Unacceptable defense by Steve Wagner tonight. If I had more time I would break down his spotty play and where he in my opinion cost us the game. This cannot continue.

Third period: Comeback would be on. Tangradi on a deflection at 2:41, Keven Veilleux on a rebound at 5:20 and Joey Haddad backhanded at 7:46. The Mohegan Sun Arena was jumping. It was electric. It felt good. It felt refreshing.

Norfolk wasn’t impressed. After the Haddad goal it appeared we stopped playing. Radko Gudas again while Curry was screened in front by his own man. After that it was all she wrote. Newly acquired Levi Nelson would pot an empty netter.

Line brawls at the end. Check the scoresheet for the culprits. Robert Bortuzzo took a 5 minute elbowing major. I hate misconducts at the end of games cause guys get suspended. We’ll have to see. In the ensuing 5 on three after another mini line brawl Troy Milam would rub it in and score at 19:59.

I said in my Gameday post that if Norfolk won, it’d send a notice to the League that the Admirals are for real. They did, and they have.

Interesting to see what Bombulie will have to say about this game. Check him out later.

Around the East: Worcester beat Albany 6-3, Portland beat Adirondack 2-1, Rochester defeated Binghamton 4-3 in a shootout and Syracuse lost 4-3 to the Providence Bruins.

Standings: WBS 42, NOR 39, HER 33, CLT 32, BNG 26, ALB 22, SYR 22 and ADK 20.

Back on the schtick tomorrow at 4 in Atlantic City. I am off to bed. Gameday post will be up at high noon.

Let’s Go Pens!

The Norfolk Admirals tweeted something which really rubbed this 4-2 loss in tonight. That is, that the Pens have lost 5 times this year and Norfolk is responsible for 40% of those losses.

In case you have been sleeping all day and are just now waking up, Dustin Jeffrey was recalled to Pittsburgh today as Mike Comrie was placed on injured reserve.

Dustin Tokarski vs. John Curry tonight. Curry starts his second straight game of the year.

No lineup changes from Wednesday. With Jeffrey recalled, Geoff Walker was back in the lineup. Bryan Lerg centered Tim Wallace and Chris Collins in the place of Dustin.

First Period: Before the game was :12 old, there were three fights. Tim Wallace and Tim Marks got the fisticuffs started at :05, Jesse Boulerice and Pierre-Cedric Labire at :08 and Geoff Walker and Chris Durno at :11. Finally things settled down and after a Robert Bortuzzo hook at 1:41, Alex Berry deflected a Mike Vernace point shot to put the Admirals up 1-0 before the game was three minutes old. Paul Szczechura would get caught hooking Eric Tangradi after he crashed the net and Nick Johnson would cash in on the power play. The Big Dog has 7 points in 3 games for the Penguins. AHL Live had some early technical difficulties, and during the blackout, Mike Angelidis would score to make it 2-1.

Second Period: Lots of chances by WBS in the first half of the period with two 2 on 1’s for the Pens but no conversions. Looking like we have all the momentum in Eastern Virgina, Troy Milam scores to make it 3-1. We’d get within one again quickly as Ty Wishart would sit for interference. Corey Potter would blast one from the blue line which would find its way to Nick Johnson’s stick and in the back of the net to make it 3-2. At this point, the Pens are sitting back playing rope-a-dope. The Admirals are flying all over the ice to start the game, the Penguins are just sitting back, letting the game come to them. Period 2 would end 3-2 for the Admirals.

Third Period: Stefano Giliati scores on a backhanded shot which John Curry was not expecting apparently, as AHL Live showed a lot of space for Giliati to shoot at on the back side to push it to 4-2 Admirals. That shot and goal was Norfolk’s first of the period at 6:21 of the third. To that point, the Pens had been controlling pace of play. Nothing really of substance happened after that. Wilkes-Barre would pull Curry late but Norfolk just played full on shutdown hockey to hold on for the win.

Lots of chirping post whistle. Tomorrow is going to be fun. The game is almost a sellout at this point, with less than 500 tickets remaining. WBS has not lost two games in a row, but has not beaten Norfolk yet this season. The Admirals are now more of a threat to us than Hershey is at this point in the season. How we respond tomorrow night is going to be huge.

Around the Division: Hershey beat Charlotte in a shootout, 2-1. Injuries and call-ups piling up for the Bears. Binghamton shutout Albany 5-0. The Adirondack Phantoms beat the Syracuse Crunch 5-2 this evening for their fourth win and their 10th point.

Standings: Norfolk creeps up on the Penguins, closing the gap to 5 points for tops in the league with Wilkes-Barre’s 42 points to Norfolk’s 37. Hershey gets a point up on Charlotte good for third and 33 points to Charlotte’s 32 points. Binghamton gets to 25 points in fifth. If the playoffs started today there would be no crossover for the Sens as fifth place Springfield in the Atlantic has 26 points. Syracuse is sixth and Albany seventh, both have 22 points and Adirondack is still in the East Division cellar but have 10 points.

Tomorrow by far is the biggest game of the year for both teams, actually. A regulation win by Norfolk puts them three points behind us and the psyche that we can’t beat them is instilled in the Penguins players and fans minds. If we win, it’s a push for the weekend. If you don’t have a ticket for tomorrow’s game what are you waiting for? 570-208-PENS. Do it!

Gameday post for tomorrow’s rematch will drop at 3 p.m. Let’s Go Pens!

Real quick postgamer out of me tonight because I have work in the morning. Eric Tangradi had a break out game tonight with the first hat trick of the season for WBS in a 5-1 romp over the Toronto Marlies.

John Curry vs. Jussi Rynnas this evening. Geoff Walker was the scratch as Keven Veilleux was back in the lineup.

First period: Tangradi got the party started at 1:17 when he went five-hole on Rynnas. I didn’t realize at the time but Wilkes-Barre really dominated the Marlies tonight in all aspects of the game. At 7:54 of the first Jess Boulerice scored from the high slot to make it 2-0 and, at the time, the shots on goal were 15-3 in favor of the Penguins. Later, Brett Sterling scored a goal which should be on the AHL highlight reels for the rest of the season. A shot blocker-side of Rynnas which struck his water bottle and sent it flying. Not just that, but the top came off! With 3:58 left to play in the game, Wilkes-Barre already put 20 shots on Rynnas. As soon as I noticed that, Justin Hodgson for the Marlies scored to give the Marlies life. That goal was due to yet another defensive breakdown by Steve Wagner. The worst possible time for the Penguins and the best possible time for the Marlies. Brett Sterling went to the box for tripping and the Pens and their 16th ranked penalty kill disposed of it and the period would end 3-1, with a 20-8 shots advantage for WBS.

Second period: Ben Scrivens would relieve Rynnas in goal. Tangradi again at 6:46. Joe Vitale dispossessed a Marlie defenseman and went down on a 2 on 1 with Eric and the Big Dog buried it. Later in the period Darryl Boyce for Toronto would sit on a rough and Eric Tangradi would cause the lids to fly in Wilkes-Barre with a power play, hat trick goal. The period would end with the Pens leading the shot category by a 31-14 advantage.

Third period: No scoring. No penalties. Toronto had a bevy of opportunities to score, missing wide open net after wide open net. Other than the 5-1 lead, an otherwise boring period of hockey.

Joe Vitale, Brett Sterling and Eric Tangradi were +3 tonight and were your three stars in that order. Vitale is near the top of the league in +/- so I will have to see tomorrow where he shakes out. Dustin Jeffrey’s goal and point streak ended. It appears Toronto focused on him tonight and forgot about the rest of the Penguins. This is depth in action friends: Tangradi a four point night (3-1-4), Sterling a three point night (1-2-3). Vitale three assists.

Ex-Penguins Luca Caputi and Danny Richmond were pointless tonight. Caputi registered one shot on goal.

Around the East: Norfolk scores three goals in the third to tie the score at three only to lose in overtime to the Crunch 4-3. Hershey beat Albany 3-2. Referee Chris Brown’s arm got a workout tonight as there were 71 PIMs in that game.

Standings: With the win, WBS improves to 21-4 and 42 points, good for 1st in the division and conference. Overall tops by five points over the West Division leading San Antonio Rampage. Norfolk picks up the losers point with the OT loss to the Crunch, I think they overlooked Syracuse tonight for the meeting this weekend versus Wilkes-Barre / Scranton. Hershey is all of a sudden relevant again (when weren’t they?) in third with 31 points. Charlotte is idle with the same 31 points and sit fourth. Bingo is eight points back in fifth with 23 points. Albany has 22 points in sixth, Syracuse seventh with 22 points and Adirondack has been stuck on 8 points.

Travel day for the team tomorrow to Norfolk. Likely no updates from Bombulie or any other entity. I’ll try to think of something creative, but if not check us out here Friday afternoon for the Gameday post for Norfolk.

Let’s Go Pens!