Technical difficulties hounded me all night tonight on AHL Live. It was on my end with my internet service provider just being painfully painfully slow in buffering the action in Rochester tonight. Suffice to say, I wasn’t able to watch more than :30 of live action, so I gave up and simply relied on radio on 102.3 The Mountain.

Brad Thiessen v. Tyler Plante in goal this evening. Tim Wallace, Ryan Craig and Andrew Hutchinson had the A’s tonight. Brett Sterling was back from injury. Corey Potter tweaked something in the morning skate so Joey Mormina skated on D in his place. This was all before AHL Commissioner Dave Andrews. Whatever Potter had radio called, “not serious”.

Before the game was 9:30 old, Rochester was up 3-0. Ryan Del Monte even strength, Michael Duco on a power play after a Chris Collins hold to snap the penalty kill streak then Bill Thomas after a Brett Sterling slash.

At this point, we are down 0-3, and are 0-2 on the penalty kill and flirting with disaster. John Curry per radio had the stomach flu so Thiessen needed to ride the storm out. What happened next was a thing of beauty.

Chris Collins with the answer goal with 4:30 left to play in the first period. Then, Eric Tangradi cleanly puts an American into the boards. Michael Duco takes exception and fights the Big Dog, but Eric doesn’t throw punches and is rather body slammed to the ice. Referee Marcus Vinnerborg assessed a 5-minute fighting major and a high sticking call (could have called him for instigating) and Brett Sterling, back from injury, makes the Amerks pay. 3-2.

Second period saw fisticuffs in front of Tyler Plante’s crease. Apparently Mr. Plante doesn’t know who Jesse Boulerice is as per radio (again I was not able to see on AHL Live due to internet issues) Plante swung his stick at Boulerice. Jesse took exception and in the dogpile, outside of Plante’s crease he took some swings. Dumb. Momentum shift right there for WBS. Later, Chris Conner scored to tie the game at three.

Third period Eric Tangradi took a 4 minute double minor for a high stick. I thought at this point if Rochester was going to score, it was going to be here. No. Dustin Jeffrey, long known as a quality penalty killer, intercepted a pass and scored a shorthanded goal to make it 4-3 WBS.

After that, radio described Rochester buzzing all over Thiessen’s net in the offensive zone. Likely a forgettable game for Andrew Hutchinson as his name was called after some turnovers. Thiessen settled down and turned all the shots aside.

Tim Wallace scored at 16:52 of the third to make it 5-3 and it’s over right? Not so fast. Almost 30 seconds later, Scott Timmins makes it interesting to make it 5-4 unassisted. Rochester pulled Plante after a timeout but wasn’t able to get the equalizer, and Wilkes-Barre is a clean 9-0-0-0 to start the season.

Should be interesting to see what Bombulie thought of this game, as JB reported no issues in buffering from his home. I love the way we battled. It is obvious that this team can battle back from just about anything. If you are a Wilkes-Barre fan you are loving this.

Stars were 3) Duco, 2) Collins, 1) Wallace.

Elsewhere in the East, Norfolk beat Charlotte in a shootout, 3-2. Bingo, in front of 13,000+ at the Bell Centre in Montreal lost to Hamilton 5-2, Albany defeated Worcester 3-2 in a shootout and tomorrow’s opponent the Syracuse Crunch were defeated by the Springfield Falcons 3-2 in a shootout.

Points wise, we are four to the good over the nearest competition at this point which is Norfolk, with 18 points to their 14. They play Charlotte again tomorrow. Hershey is dormant until Sunday and can get leaped over in the points by Albany if the Devils defeat Rochester tomorrow.

That is about all. The boys are on the way back home probably as you read this. Get ready for some fun tomorrow vs. Syracuse. Let’s Go Pens!

Remembering my College Literature classes, I read Dante’s Inferno. I remember the famous phrase “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate“, or “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here” which was inscribed over the entrance to Hell.

What does this have to do with minor league hockey you ask? The Hershey Bears just do not lose at home. They had some insane home win streak last year, where they went like three months without suffering a home loss. Wilkes-Barre did not win there at all last year. I personally hated seeing WBS going there because I knew it was going to be tough, and likely a loss. Pens beat writer Jonathan Bombulie had this nugget on his Twitter feed regarding the Pens efforts tonight:

The last time WBS won at Hershey, Janne Pesonen had two goals and Chris Cichocki was behind the bench as an assistant coach.

Onto the game. John Curry v. Dany Sabourin tonight. Steve Wagner, Ryan Craig and Nick Johnson had the A’s tonight.

:49 into the game, Keith Aucoin scores on Curry. Ridiculous angle. Where have we seen this fish before? Just like that it’s a 1-0 Bears lead.

Here we go…

Twenty-five seconds later, Chris Conner ties it. Same angle as the Aucoin goal. Sean Collins took an interference call about three minutes later and Andrew Hutchinson scored on the power play :45 later. 2-1.

Nick Johnson sat for a slash, WBS killed it. Jesse Boulerice took a ticky tack trip call from referee Ryan Fraser and we were back to the penalty kill again. Joe Vitale dispossessed a Bear at center ice and skated in on Sabourin for a shorthanded goal. 3-1.

Sabourin hit the showers after stopping 4 shots on 7 attempts. Todd Ford came in the game then. Teams traded some penalties then late in the first Keven Veilleux dangles through a crowd, puts a shot on Ford, which then finds its way to Eric Tangradi’s stick and it’s 4-1 after 1.

Second period came and saw The Champs buzzing all over the place. Pressure. Pressure. Pressure. Whoops, Chris Conner gets by the D and it’s 5-1.

Third period came and so did the chippiness. Boulerice and Patricak Wellar fought. At the same time, Trevor Bruess and Geoff Walker did the same. Bruess / Walker were turfed because you can’t do that while there is another fight going on. Zach Miskovic made things interesting with a goal to make it 5-2, but after trading an Andrew Gordon trip and a Steve Wagner hook, Zach Sill fired a dart at Todd Ford and it was game over. 6-2 final. 8-0. 16 points. 5 points up on Hershey.

Three Stars were as follows: John Curry, Andrew Hutchinson and Chris Conner. Brian Strait was a +3.

Around the league: Norfolk coughed up a 5-2 lead to lose 6-5 in overtime to the Portland Pirates. Maybe it’s good we don’t play the Pirates this year, they are good. Syracuse beat Albany 3-2. Charlotte beat Bingo by the same 3-2 score in overtime. 5 points up on Norfolk and Hershey who have 11 points. 6 points up on Albany and Bingo who have 10.

Thoughts. Curry exorcised some serious demons tonight. Especially against this Hershey Bears team. Wilkes-Barre winning against Hershey in Hershey is a statement to The Champs that we mean business. A 6-2 manhandling in GIANT Center just isn’t seen, as the league tweeted the last time this happened was November 25, 2009 vs. the Providence Bruins. Tim Wallace played his 250th game in a Wilkes-Barre / Scranton uniform. Penalty kill was perfect again. I will check later this week to see where we stack up against the league, have to be tops.

All of this was done without The Ticket. Inject him into the lineup and what do you think the score is? Pittsburgh is getting healthier by the day. WBS is the winner on whoever loses the battle for 7th D up in the 412, either Engelland or Lovejoy. Imagine one of those two back skating in Wilkes-Barre Township.

Get on this train. Perfect October. I could not have predicted this. This team is looking more and more by the second to be better than advertised. Please believe that.

Next game is Friday up in Rochester. The Amerks sit on top of the North Division at present and would love to be the first team to drop the Pens.

Bring it. Go Pens.