Chirps from Center Ice

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Woof.

And Hartford, whom the Penguins play Saturday, beat up on Bridgeport 7-3.

Oh, and then Rochester, who probably has the best prospect group in the AHL, comes in Wednesday.

The hits, keep coming, like they did tonight.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins were down just 67 seconds into the game tonight and it got worse from there. Providence goes up 2-0 in the first period, outshoots the Penguins 16-4 in the period, then runs it up to 4-0 before the Penguins make a goaltender change, get two back but lose 6-2 Friday.

Like I said, woof.

Little bit of a regression to the mean after starting 5-1. They look lost offensively and defensively they give up way too many changes and shot opportunities. You could have started Ed Belfour in net tonight and the result wouldn’t have mattered.

Filip Lindberg opposed Jon Gillies, making his season debut.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Radim Zohorna was back from that nasty hit Tanner Kaspick laid on him last Saturday. Filip Hallander was back from his illness which kept him out of the game Wednesday. Sam Houde and Matt Alfaro came out of the lineup. On defense, with Taylor Fedun on recall to Pittsburgh, Chris Ortiz, up from Wheeling, made his debut.

First Period: $2 beer night at the Arena. Before the patrons could sip their first, the Pens trailed 1-0. Oskar Steen was the last to touch a puck I think was accidentally knocked in by Cam Lee.

Steve Fogarty tipped in a shot from the point on the back end of a double minor Mitch Reinke was serving that made it 2-0.

A 2-0 deficit is certainly manageable, but if you looked at the shot totals, 16-4 after the first, you would wonder if the Penguins knew the game started at 7:05.

Second Period: Bruins connect for another power play goal to go up 3-0. Zach Senyshyn tipped in a blast from the point that made it 3-0.

(the Bruins stopped tweeting GIFs of goals. Just be thankful you have the two they provided)

Chris Wagner made it 4-0 and the rout was on, if you didn’t realize.

That was all for reigning AHL goaltender of the month Filip Lindberg, you would swear that the award is cursed.

Louis Domingue settled things down slightly, Nathan Legare scores to make it 4-1.

Third Period: After a flurry of saves by Domingue, Kyle Olson takes a Jonathan Gruden pass and shoots for a goal that makes it 4-2. Life? Maybe.

Not if Eduards Tralmaks had anything to say about it. I’m glad I don’t have to type that name in often. Anyway he skated in the slot and took a pass from Joona Koppanen (no easier to spell) and ripped a shot past Domingue to make it 5-2.

Oskar Steen made it 6-2 on an empty net.

Three Stars: 3) Sam Asselin (two assists) 2) John Moore (three assists) 1) Zach Senyshyn (goal)

The Good: The response was there late, but they trailed by multiple goals and fought the clock.

The Bad: Too many penalties coupled with the fact that they weren’t ready to play spelled disaster.

Turning Point: Second period, Bruins take two penalties three seconds between each other. Pens down 4-0. Score one, get it to 4-1, see what happens with the leftover time, get lucky score agains and it’s 4-2 and a totally different game. They didn’t and the Bruins made it look easier than it really should have been.

Around the Division: Gave you the Hartford / Bridgeport final in my lede…Hershey loses in Springfield in overtime 3-2. The Thunderbirds still haven’t lost in regulation. Everyone else was off.

Standings: Springfield .875, Hartford .722, Hershey .698, Penguins .611, Charlotte and Providence .500, Bridgeport .444, Lehigh Valley .250.

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: Look away, kids! Look away!

Hartford Saturday and a hope for better fortunes lies ahead.

Let’s Go Pens!

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They couldn’t get out of second gear tonight and, more importantly failed to score on eight power play tries. Facing off against an opponent they have seen three times prior who has yet to win yet, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins lose 4-0 in Allentown to snap their five game point streak. Felix Sandstrom stops all 25 shots faced.

He opposed Louis Domingue.

Here is how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Sidney Crosby and Brian Dumoulin are in COVID protocol in Pittsburgh because it’s another week and another round of Pittsburgh and the sloppy shop that they have up there having COVID run rampant there and in the locker room. Sure, there are other teams that have COVID absences, but not to this level. Sloppy shops are sloppy.

Anyway, Matt Alfaro and Michael Chaput (back from his one game absence) were win for Radim Zohorna and Filip Hallander up front. On defense, Mitch Reinke made his WBS debut for P.O. Joseph.

Injury details are as follows:

Devane’s injury is lower body. Angello is listed as day to day, but I wholly reject that assertion. The season is 3 1/2 weeks old and he hasn’t played a game yet. Don’t play me like a fool.

First Period: The Penguins were bad at even strength but didn’t spend lots of time there because they gave the Phantoms four penalties in the period. After Maxim Sushko fired home a one timer to put Lehigh Valley on the board early on, Tyson Foerster connected on a 5-on-3 goal to give the desperate Phantoms a 2-0 lead.

Pens had a shot to get a goal back late on a power play but they — you guessed it, took a penalty and lost whatever momentum they were building to that point.

Second Period: Penguins have four opportunities on a power play as they evened up from the first period and weren’t able to score. I can’t remember anything of substance in the man advantages.

Louis Domingue stopped German Rubtsov on a penalty shot with under two minutes to play in the period. If a comeback was to be had in the third period, that save loomed large.

Third Period: They opened with a power play on fresh ice and didn’t score. Later they had a 4:00 power play and didn’t score either. Whatever they did put up shot wise Sandstrom was stopping anyway.

Hayden Hodgson scored at the 4:27 mark and you got the sense that the game was a little too far out of reach at that point. Proved to be right.

Gerry Mayhew scored on an empty net when the Penguins got a little too aggressive and didn’t do anything with an extra attacker on.

Three Stars: 3) Tyson Foerster (goal) 2) Max Sushko (goal) 1) Felix Sandstrom (25 saves)

The Good: You can’t get anything good out of a performance where you get shutout on the road and your power play goes 0/8.

The Bad: You were shutout on the road and your power play went 0/8.

Turning Point: Boy, there seemed like there were a lot of them. Every time they Penguins didn’t score on a penalty which could have or would have cut it to one when it was 2-0 seemed large, with the way that the Phantoms had previously coughed up big leads prior to Wednesday. Let’s give it to Hayden Hodgson. His goal basically ended any hope of the Pens hope of a winning comeback.

Around the Division: They all watched us. Odd for a Wednesday.

Standings: Pens will lose a few percentage points. I’m not doing math on a work night.

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off as well.

Back at it Friday at home against Providence. What’s this, a new opponent?!?

Let’s Go Pens!

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I was really looking forward to this weekend and in particular this game to see exactly how the Penguins would stack up against the other teams in the Atlantic Division not named Lehigh Valley.

I still don’t know. If I had to give you an answer, I would say they are lucky.

They were lucky last night when they were grossly outplayed by the Hartford Wolf Pack, but gutted out a point in a shootout loss.

They were lucky Saturday in Springfield to build up a big early lead then ride Filip Lindberg as long as they could to eke out an overtime win thanks to Nathan Legare’s first goal as a professional and win 4-3 in overtime on a power play goal.

Sometimes you can be lucky and good. I think it’s a mix of both.

Filip Lindberg opposed Joel Hofer.

Lines were as follows:

Lineup Notes: Jan Drozg and Felix Robert were in for Michael Chaput and Jamie Devane who Pens radio man Nick Hart advised were out with lower body injuries and are day to day. Niclas Almari was out for Will Reilly. I thought that Almari was particularly and last night in Hartford so the lineup change was justified in my opinion.

First Period: Matthew Peca plays shorthanded catch with High McGing and the Thunderbirds strike first with a shorthanded goal, their second of the season.

Too much standing around.

Felix Robert meanwhile, makes the best of his opportunity and scores over the shoulder of Hofer and ties the game at one.

Radim Zohorna was taken out with a high hit at the blue line by Tanner Kaspick.

Zohorna went to the room, the Penguins went to the power play.

Watch to see if the AHL follows through with supplemental discipline in the form of a suspension to Kaspick. If I remember my rules right, if Zohorna is injured, the Penguins can ask the League to look at the hit again and make a call on a suspension. But that’s only if there’s an injury. I could be wrong.

Zohorna did not return for the second period.

Second Period: Wilkes-Barre tacks on two more goals to lead 3-1. They came out flying to start the period and got another goal from Felix Robert…

…and then a goal from their leading scorer Valtteri Puustinen…

So a goal from the guy that has been doing it all so far offense wise and a second goal from a guy who wasn’t even in the lineup Friday in Hartford. Nice.

Penguins found themselves in penalty trouble late and Springfield had :40 of two man advantage but Wilkes-Barre was able to sail out of there unscathed.

Third Period: You could get the sense that the Penguins were just hanging on by a thread as the period wore on. The Penguins were outshot 15-5 in the second period but that’s because they were killing penalties in the period. In the third, Springfield took it to the Penguins at even strength. It was only a matter of time before the Thunderbirds would strike.

Keean Washkurak scores to cut the deficit for the Thunderbirds to one.

Shades of last night, handing on by a thread.

Also shades of last night, the team that pulls the goalie for the extra man scores to force overtime.

Calle Rosen with a shot which deflects off of Penguins defenseman Cam Lee’s face and into the net for a goal. I mean look at this.

It was off to…

Overtime: Springfield takes a penalty, a retaliatory one when Steven Santini thought he was tripped / interfered with but no call was awarded. He got mad and slashed called someone. The Penguins call timeout and score a power play goal when Nathan Legare shoots and scores his first professional goal to win it for the Penguins.

Three Stars: Keean Washkurak (goal) 2) Felix Robert (two goals) 1) Nathan Legare (game winning overtime goal)

The Good: You took 5 of 6 points out of the week and 3 of 4 out of teams not named Lehigh Valley. They have not been pretty by any stretch, but sometimes that’s all you need.

The Bad: I still can’t get a handle on this team. Goaltending is there. Scoring is, I think as well. Defense is hit / miss, but such is life.

Turning Point: Boy there were a lot tonight, weren’t they? The kill at the end of the second and into the third, the Rosen tying goal off Lee’s chin. Have to give it to Legare though for the game winning goal.

Around the Division: Good night overall on the scoreboard for the Penguins. Lehigh Valley was up 2-0 to start the third at home against Syracuse and lost 3-2 in overtime. The Phantoms still don’t have a win. Cleveland beats Hershey 2-1 in a shootout. Charlotte beat Hartford 3-2. The Checkers visit the Thunderbirds Sunday. Bridgeport outgunned Providence and won 6-4.

Standings: Springfield (on percentage points) have 10 points because they haven’t yet lost in regulation yet… then the Penguins with 11, Hershey 8 on percentage over the Wolf Pack’s 9, Charlotte 7, Bridgeport 8 Providence 6 and Lehigh Valley 2.

Wheeling Update: Nailers are out in Wichita, Kansas and are down multiple goals when this blog post went up. Alex D’Orio was chased from goal after giving up 4 goals on 8 shots. Box here.

Video Highlights: 

November is here! Power Rankings Tuesday, Weekend Setup Wednesday then an away game against the Phantoms, again.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Some nights, you need your goaltender to make a save or two.

Most nights, you need your goaltender to win a game.

Every night, your goaltender can’t do it all.

A dazzling 35 save performance for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins net minder Louis Domingue tonight as the Penguins battle back to force overtime but lose in a shootout 3-2 on Friday night. A point earned draws the Penguins even with idle Springfield, who is the opponent Saturday night.

Domingue was the best player on the ice in road black tonight for the Penguins. If Wilkes-Barre gets him run support, then maybe he isn’t the best player on the ice (the guy putting up all the points would be) but tonight, with goals becoming scarce, Domingue was the best player on the ice.

That wasn’t a good thing, because the Penguins were lucky to earn a point Friday and by rights should have lost the game. It was only Sam Poulin’s goal with Domingue pulled that earned the Penguins a point.

We talked this week about how the Penguins really haven’t answered any questions about what type of team they can be because Lehigh Valley is a mess right now and they aren’t a fair measuring stick. The real test was going to come this weekend against a rested Hartford and Springfield side.

Saturday night in Springfield can’t get here fast enough.

Domingue opposed Keith Kinkaid.

Here’s how they lined up:

Despite what the graphic says, the game was played at the XL Center in Hartford,. Connecticut.

Lineup Notes: Kasper Bjorkqvist was returned from Pittsburgh Friday afternoon. He didn’t play while up there. He replaced Felix Robert.

First Period: The thing about Wolf Pack goaltender Keith Kinkaid is that he spills rebounds everywhere. The Penguins, as well as every other team that Hartford plays, are aware of this. Example:

Initially it was announced by Nick Hart as Nathan Legare’s goal, but the scoresheet says otherwise.

Hartford draws even in the last five minutes of the period. Here’s where I thought that the Penguins let off here. Wolf Pack race through the neutral zone and into their attacking side, draw Domingue out who lost his stick. The Wolf Pack would score this goal after video review by referees Mathieu Menniti and Dominic Cadieux:

Hartford outshot the Penguins 8-1 over the last five-ish minutes of the first period and it cost them a goal.

Second Period: Louis Domingue was the best player on the ice for Wilkes-Barre / Scranton this period. Hartford peppered the Penguins net minder with 13 shots and bailed his club out on multiple occasions when Hartford had the Pens hemmed in their zone for long stretches. No one scored.

Third Period: Penguins were hanging on, Domingue continued to make saves. Finally a penalty on Valtteri Puustinen for a hook, saw Morgan Barron score on a deflection of a Zac Jones shot that gave the Wolf Pack a lead:

The Pens would pull Domingue in favor of an extra attacker and Sam Poulin would score to tie the game at two late:

Big goal. Hartford let off for the first time since the first period and it bit them.

No one else scored in regulation and it was off to overtime.

Overtime: More saves by Domingue, a few by Kinkaid too.

Shootout: Tim Gettinger scored in the top of the fourth. Puustinen, Zohorna, Poulin and Bellerive all missed in their chances, in that order.

Here’s Gettinger’s attempt:

Three Stars: 3) Anthony Greco (goal, assist) 2) Keith Kinkaid (26 saves) 1) Tim Gettinger (assist, shootout winning goal)

The Good: They battled back for a point which will probably come in handy later in the season.

The Bad: I didn’t like how they couldn’t seem to get anything going offensively. Again, it seems. The lack of offense is being shielded now by winning games with defense and goaltending, but you are going to need goalscoring if you want to win games.

Turning Point: Poulin’s goal that got the Pens the point gets it here.

Around the Division: The woes for the Phantoms continue, losing 5-2 up in Utica….Providence beats Charlotte 4-3.

Standings: Three way tie for first with Springfield, the Penguins and Hartford on 9 points. Hershey 7, Charlotte 5, Bridgeport and Providence 6 (remember they rank by points percentage) and then Lehigh Valley on 1. Eventually I will switch to the points percentages when I start taking this section more seriously.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers started an hour after the Penguins because they are out in Independence, Missouri playing the KC Mavericks. Here’s your box. Nailers were down 2-0 when this post went up on the blog.