Chirps from Center Ice

So they outshoot their opponent 42-16 and lose it in the third period 4-3. They faced another goalie I never heard of and of course the kid plays out of his mind and befuddles the Penguins.

When it rains, it pours.

Here is how they lined up, Alex D’Orio opposed Garrett Metcalf:

First Period: Penguins outshot the Phantoms 16-6. It was good to see, especially with how they got pushed around by the Bears these last however many games they have played Hershey. Felix Robert opened the scoring with a low shot in the slot that beat Metcalf to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

But Linus Sandin scored a goal for Lehigh Valley on a power play that tied the game at one.

But for that blemish on the penalty kill, a decent first period for the Penguins.

Second Period: No scoring, Pens continued to pepper Metcalf.

Third Period: Phantoms get two goals, another from Linus Sandin and one from Cal O’Reilly, to go up 3-1. Refs let them play so there wasn’t many power play opportunities. Not that it would have mattered with the Penguins dead last power play.

Valtteri Puustinen got a goal with just under 4 minutes to play to make it 3-2. J.D. Forrest pulled D’Orio and Adam Clendening scored on an empty net to make it 4-2 but as fate would have it Alex Nylander would score to make it 4-3.

Amazing. They did everything possible to score in the first two periods and in the games last four minutes, score two and still lose.

Three Stars: 3) Garrett Metcalf (39 saves) 2) Felix Robert (goal, two assists) and 1) Linus Sandin (two goals)

The Good: The quantity of shots was a good thing to see.

The Bad: The quality of shots were a bad thing to see. Most were routine.

Turning Point: Felt like the next goal to be scored would win the game in the third period and it came to fruition with Sandin bagging one for the Phantoms.

As fate would have it the empty net goal by Clendening stands as the game winner. What’s that about luck again?

They get a chance at revenge Saturday against the Phantoms.

 @

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They got their heads kicked in tonight and dressed two forwards short while Anthony Angello sat as a healthy scratch.

This season is devolving into a joke, like last year.

You have games being postponed daily. The Penguins have three players who played Tuesday in protocol. With the roster jockeying and postponements, it stops becoming fun and interesting anymore.

Pens lose 8-3.

I’m giving the AHL till the end of the year to figure out what to do. Pause the season, something. This isn’t hockey, this forcing a season through to force a  season through for the sake of forcing a season through.

I don’t know about you but I don’t want to watch this anymore nor do I want to devote anymore time towards it.

Here’s a half assed attempt at a game recap.

Lineup Notes: Michael Chaput is week to week after he was injured on Tuesday. Pens took precautions and held Felix Robert, Radim Zohorna and Nathan Legare out because of COVID or a possibility of COVID. Anthony Angello is clear of all this and as a result Pittsburgh wants to hold him out now in event of a recall.

Bears were in the same boat. At some point this roster jockeying becomes dumb. Holding out Angello as a healthy forward when you have to dress 10 and float Will Reilly as a forward / D and go 8 defensemen? Why? If you don’t have enough players to play, why play? Dangerous and unsafe.

First Period: It went 3-0 Bears and you thought (I did too) that the game was going to go off of the rails quickly.

Kale Kessy scores on a tic tac toe play by the Bears to make it 1-0.

Kody Clark on a steal on a Penguins breakout. 2-0.

Ryan Dmowski with a slap shot in the slot and it’s 3-0.

I’m not GIFing all that.

Pens went 2/2 on the kill and were good in that department. After they killed the second, that was a kick in the pants I think that got them a goal to make it a two goal game. Here’s Jordy Bellerive:

Second Period: Bears got three more. Valtteri Puustinen scored the most desperate power play I think I ever the Penguins execute and scored to make it whatever it was at that time.

I think Taylor stayed with the game the whole night. I sure didn’t.

Third Period: Matt Bartkowski got one.

Bears got another, meaningless short handed goal that Nick Hart said after drove the Hershey faithful to the exits. They saw enough of a slaughter and wanted to go home.

Pens have a game Wednesday in Rochester. Will they have enough players?

 vs.

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So Tuesday was my birthday. My father, who is still alive and kicking, still has some sage advice for me in his advanced age.

Old age don’t come alone.

I have all my teeth, have never had a cavity and every dentist I have ever seen has a picture of me on their wall as their best patient. Not really, but what I am getting at here is that as you age, you could possibly lose your teeth.

I still don’t know where I am going with this but the Penguins tonight had a toothless attack and lost 4-1.

They managed just 19 shots and went 0/3 on the power play. Ouchie.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: None. Juuso Riikola, Sam Pouling, Jan Drozg and Alex D’Orio remained in COVID protocols.

First Period: Pens spent a ton of time in the offensive zone, but it was Joe Snively getting smashed into the boards by PO Joseph then picks himself up and cuts back to the slot where he scores to put the Bears up 1-0.

Second Period: Pens lose Michael Chaput to a lower leg / ankle / foot injury. He needed help off and wasn’t putting any weight on his foot.

Jurusik was keeping his team in the game, but as I have said all along, goaltenders don’t score goals, they prevent them.

So Hershey scores twice within 63 seconds late in the period. Here’s one of the goals that the Bears GIFed, they didn’t do the other one.

Kody Clark had the other goal.

Pens had just 5 shots in this period, to the Bears 12.

Third Period: The toothless attack continued. The Pens went the first eight minutes of the period without a shot, and even had a laughable power play tossed in there. Also, while not mentioned by Nick Hart on radio, the Pens may have lost Vallteri Puustinen and Niclas Almari to injury as they were noted by Zach Fisch on the Bears side as not on the Penguins bench.

Just dandy.

P-O Joseph busts up Copley’s shutout bid with a shot from the point that goes in to make it 3-1.

But Matt Moulson scores to make it 4-1 later on to snuff out any faint hopes for the Penguins possible comeback.

Gotta move things along here, it’s a Tuesday and a work night, no GIFs here.

Three Stars: 3) P-O Joseph (goal) 2) Kody Clark (goal) 1) Joe Snively (goal)

The Good: Nothing to see here.

The Bad: Toothless attack. Hershey is an extremely average AHL team, but they have some offensive punch. These are the same Penguins who pumped the Springfield Thunderbirds for six goals Sunday. Was Springfield really that bad Sunday? My guess is yes, which isn’t good for Springfield’s prospects as they stand today.

Turning Point: Penguins waited for something to develop and instead, were developed, Kody Clark’s goal that made it 2-0 was really all Hershey needed to cakewalk the rest of the way. That the Penguins didn’t muster anything resembling an offensive attack in the third period but for the Joseph goal made it easy for them.

Around the Division: It could always be worse. We could be Rochester Americans fans. They witnessed their team lose 11-1 to Charlotte. Yes, eleven to one.

Standings: Bears to fourth, Pens to sixth. Pens are .500, and will probably play there all season.

Pens and Bears rematch Saturday in Wilkes-Barre’s only action of the weekend. I may preview that one and the two games midweek next week with Toronto and Rochester.

I’ll be back at the next Penguins home game on December 27 against Hershey. Can’t actually wait for that one.

Let’s Go Pens!