Chirps from Center Ice

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Some numbers for you.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins went 107:31 in between goals by Anthony Angello.

They go 243:07 since the last time a player not named Anthony Angello scored a goal for them of any kind since Thomas DiPauli’s empty net goal December 14 in Cleveland when Jake Lucchini scored a shorthanded goal in the third period.

Anthony Angello scored three goals for the Penguins tonight, the third being on an empty net and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins roll the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4-2 on Friday night.

Stefan Noesen was the straw that stirred the Penguins drink for the firs two months of the season. He’s gone now and someone, anyone, has to pick up the slack.

It’s Anthony Angello, who now after his three goal night, leads the Penguins in goals.

Coming into the season Angello was kind of at a crossroads. I felt he hit a wall last year and was just a body. Well now, he’s become an invaluable piece for a team which has lost a lot of offense due to call-ups or defections.

The other story on the night was the status of Casey DeSmith. He became ill during the game and was replaced by Dustin Tokarski to start the third period. The scuttlebutt was that he was throwing up in the locker room. No, he wasn’t traded, no he’s not injured.

DeSmith opposed Alex Lyon.

Lines were….

Lineup Notes: 

First Period: :31 in and the Phantoms were on the board. Gerry Fitzgerald pounced on a rebound and scored to make it 1-0 Phantoms.

(WBS social only tweeted Angello’s first goal and were out to lunch on his other, non-empty net goal and the Lucchini shorthander, so in the interest of consistency, no GIFs of the goals in tonights recap)

Alex Lyon had a good save on Chase Berger going post to post to deny the Penguins forward. Later, the Penguins thought they scored when Sam Miletic drove to the net and appeared to have scored, but parallax is a funny thing. After a video review, referees Patrick Hanhrahan and Reid Anderson confirmed the initial call on the ice of no goal.

Second Period: Anthony Angello (who else at this point) ended the Penguins goalless drought at 107:31 when he wired a shot over Lyon’s shoulder to tie the game at one.

(I know I said I wasn’t going to do it but I did)

Third Period: To the shock of many, Dustin Tokarski replaced DeSmith in net.

This is when the game really took off for both teams because no one held back anything.

Angello connected on the expiration of a Penguins power play to give his team a 2-1 lead.

Later, P-O Joseph led a shorthanded charge up ice and put a shot on that Jake Lucchini was there for the rebound to get past Lyon to extend the lead to 3-1.

Matt Strome connected for a goal as an expiration of a Phantoms power play had just expired to make it 3-2. The puck deflected off of a skate and in past Tokarski.

Tokarski would get some help from his teammates as Kevin Roy would sweep a puck off of the line to preserve the Penguins one goal lead.

The Phantoms, with time running out and the deficit still to one, pulled Lyon in the hopes of a game tying goal. Tokarski had a great stop with his pads on one attempt and finally the puck was cleared out to Andrew Agozzino who was off on a two on one with Angello. Angello collected the pass from his teammate and scored the hat trick into the empty net.

Three Stars: 3) Andrew Agozzino (three assists) 2) Jake Lucchini (goal) 1) Anthony Angello (three goals)

The Good: Angello is stepping up and scoring big goals when needed. The team overall isn’t playing bad, but the object of the game is to ultimately score, Angello just has been the only one doing it.

The Bad: Casey DeSmith leaving the game with sickness all but rules him out for Saturday in Hershey. The Penguins have Emil Larmi back on the roster and the thought is with the Penguins only having two games this weekend is to split the starts between DeSmith and Tokarski so it was always going to be Tokarski’s game Saturday regardless, but you hate to see a guy lost to sickness.

Turning Point: On a night where we have typed his name a lot, it isn’t Anthony Angello who get the rub here, it’s Jake Lucchini’s shorthanded goal that extended the Penguins lead to two that kind of put the game out of reach for the Phantoms to a point where you knew they weren’t going to be able to come back from it.

Around the Division: Hershey survives a scare in Utica to win their ninth straight, 5-4 in overtime. The Bears were leading 4-2 at one point….Bridgeport, who has been on the upswing, beats Hartford 5-1….Providence edges Springfield 4-3. Charlotte was off.

Standings: Providence 43 — Hartford 41 — Hershey 39 — Penguins 36 — Springfield 34 — Charlotte 31 — Bridgeport 30 — Lehigh Valley 29

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 2-1 out in Toledo, Ohio. Cam Brown had the goal for Wheeling in the loss.

Video Highlights: 

Pens hit the road to Hershey Saturday. Bears have won nine straight and are on fire. Gameday setup hits the blog here Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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They got by with just one goal Friday at home against Providence and played well defensively and rode a hot goalie to a win over Providence.

But you can’t carry over momentum and cash them for goals, and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are shutout 3-0 Saturday night in Bridgeport. Dustin Tokarski, who we made a strong case to start this game did, but the goaltenders don’t score the goals.

They have scored just 14 goals all month. That’s…not good and also what happens when you lose your top scorer.

Dustin Tokarski opposed Jakub Škarek.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: The same as it was Friday.

First Period: If I did a good and bad like I do from time to time here on the blog the good in this period would be the fact that the Penguins went 4-for-4 in the period on the penalty kill, including a 1:55 of two man disadvantage against. The bad would be the 1-0 deficit the Penguins chased all period. A Jan Drozg turnover resulted in a Kieffer Bellows goal at 1:11.

Shots were 11-8. Hard to get momentum when you are constantly killing penalties, no matter how bad the unit you are killing against is.

Second Period: Kevin Roy had the best chances to score in the period but couldn’t. First, he had a puck knuckled on him but Škarek went post to post to deny him. Then, on a two on one, the Penguins forward was again denied by the Sound Tigers goaltender.

Mike Cornell and Jamie Devane tangled, Cornell went to throw a punch and slipped. You really can’t constitue it as one.

Travis St. Denis would score on a fourth our fifth attempt on goal in a scrambling attempt on a Sound Tigers power play.

Third Period: Nothing of memory occurred until about half way through when the Penguins went on the power play. Mike Vellucci opted to pull Tokarski for an extra attacker to try anything to score a goal. The Penguins power play came and went but Tokarski stayed on the bench. Finally, a miscommunication in the neutral zone and Travis St. Denis finished off a pass from Josh Ho Sang to make it 3-0 into the empty net.

Three Stars: 3) Keiffer Bellows (goal) 2) Travis St. Denis (two goals) 1) Jakub Škarek (30 save shutout)

The Good: A week to regroup, the organization to heal up, maybe get bodies back and get ready for Lehigh Valley back at home next Friday.

The Bad: Still haven’t scored a ton of goals this month, that obviously has to change.

Turning Point: If you would have shut your radio off after Bellows scored 1:11 into the game tonight and said to yourself if recent history was any indication that was the game, you would have been right.

Around the Division: Providence is shutout in back to back games, 3-0 in Hartford against the Wolf Pack….Hershey beats Springfield 2-1 in overtime….Lehigh Valley beats Charlotte 3-2.

Standings: Providence 41 — Hartford 39 — Hershey 35 — Penguins 34 — Springfield 34 — Charlotte 29 — Lehigh Valley 29 — Bridgeport 26

Wheeling Update: Emil Larmi’s second ECHL game doesn’t go as well as his first, Kalamazoo beats Wheeling 3-1.

Video Highlights: I mean you have the goals up top and I don’t think Bridgeport really does a video highlight package but if they do, I will add them in this spot.

So they are off until next Friday. Blog wise, I’ll have the AHL Power Rankings early next week. Depending on how quick I get them done Monday you may see them then. If not, definitely Tuesday. Also, look for the stat board to get updated (the static one anyway, the one at the bottom auto updates) some time on Sunday, provided I get to it.

Enjoy the Christmas break.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Let’s recap the week that was on Coal Street, shall we?

They get throttled 6-0 Wednesday against the Providence Bruins in a lifeless, toothless, punch drunk affair. Casey DeSmith gets shelled and chased in the third period.

Thursday, they learn that Stefan Noesen was claimed on waivers by the San Jose Sharks. Noesen was, at the time he was signed and then recalled by Pittsburgh, the leading scorer.

On account of that fact and the other that Pittsburgh lost Justin Schultz to a knee injury, Thomas DiPauli and Kevin Czuczman were recalled Friday morning.

Friday night, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins hosted the Providence Bruins in a rematch of Wednesday. The first place Providence Bruins and the same Providence Bruins who had a shutout streak of over 130 minutes going.

So of course the team that lost their leading scorer, one of their better penalty killers and a veteran presence on defense and shuts out the Providence Bruins 1-0. 23 saves for Dustin Tokarski, his 27th all time which ties him for 10th all time in AHL history.

Hockey is a funny sport.

I’m one of Casey DeSmith’s biggest fans. He’s in my top five of all time favorite Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins players to come through here.

In no way shape or form, if I am Mike Vellucci, do I give him the net Saturday night in Bridgeport.

They are a different team with Tokarski in the net. They just are. Examples:

– After getting shutout in Cleveland last weekend, Vellucci turns to Tokarski and they win 3-1 the very next night. A steadier performance and the first win of the month.

– After getting bombarded by Providence with six goals Wednesday after Tokarski comes in, they allow just three and he stops them all.

You will hear me say all the time that I don’t coach the team, I blog about them and when you need to choose between a player at a position go with the guy with the NHL deal (DeSmith) over the one who doesn’t have one (Tokarski) but in. my opinion, Dustin Tokarski has played his way into a starters role and Casey DeSmith has played, maybe through no fault of his own (it isn’t the goaltenders job to score goals) his way out of the starters role. We will see what happens Saturday in Bridgeport, but I think that Dustin Tokarski should get the start and not DeSmith.

Anthony Angello scored the only goal and if you are thinking to yourself that I have brought his name up a lot you’d be right, he’s the only Penguin player to score a non-empty net goal for the team in the last four games.

A defense, with four rookies on it mind you, limit the Providence Bruins to just 23 shots after allowing 30 on Wednesday, six of those for goals.

Funny sport, that hockey.

I mean that’s pretty much it. A scoreless first and third. Providence had 11 in the first (which was their best period) and then six in the second and third. Anthony Angello was the last Penguin to touch a puck which deflected off Providence’s Jeremy Lauzon’s leg and past Dan Vladar on a power play. Wilkes-Barre only mustered 20 shots of their own, but they outshot Providence 38-30 Wednesday anyway and still lost 6-0.

Pretty vanilla game, but when you are a team in flux, with the loss of your leading scorer and two recalls which kind of were like a punch in the gut Friday morning, just what the doctor ordered.

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Three Stars: 3) P-O Joseph 2) Anthony Angello (power play, game winning goal) and 1) Dustin Tokarski (23 saves)

Around the Division: Springfield beats Saturday’s opponent Bridgeport 3-1. Some guy named Ryan Haggerty scored the game winning goal assisted by some other guy named Ethan Prow. Fire Jim Rutherford….Hershey, Lehigh Valley, Charlotte and Hartford were all off.

Standings: Providence 41 — Hartford 39 — Penguins 34 — Hershey 33 — Springfield 33 — Charlotte 29 — Lehigh Valley 27 — Bridgeport 26

Wheeling Update: 

That’s four straight wins for the Nailers, too. Here’s your box.

Video Highlights: 

Pens are in Bridgeport Saturday before the Christmas break. Gameday setup hits the blog Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!