Chirps from Center Ice

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6                                                        3

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Wednesday night games mean hurried recaps. Mind any spelling errors. If you’re an email customer, head to the blog at some point for a the refined piece in the morning or whenever. The idea is to get this right on the first attempt. Here goes.

Here’s your box for this one. The Checkers win 6-3, their sixth win in row. The Penguins are struggling. Leading scorer in Pittsburgh, a game opponent on a good run of form and a defense that looks worse and worse by the day. You just have to fight out of it.

That’s three straight games where they have given up six goals against. Defense can’t stop a nose bleed.

Casey DeSmith opposed Alex Nedeljkovic.

Lineup:

Lineup Notes: Everything was shuffled from Saturday. Cole Cassels was the first line center with Andrew Agozzino on recall with Pittsburgh. Thomas DiPauli was back down and was on the third line. David Warsofsky returned from injury and was paired with Matt Abt. Michael Kim was out.

First Period: Charlotte wasted no time. First shift of the game, David Gust snaked in and scored at :40 to give the Checkers the lead.

The Penguins got it together and got a goal when Jordy Bellerive led a rush and centered to PO Joseph who dished off to Cole Cassels who tapped in an easy goal for his first as a Penguin that tied the game at one.

Good response by the Penguins there who got slapped cold at the open and got it back level. It could have got bad but didn’t.

Second Period: Charlotte found themselves on the wrong end of a four on three against after getting called for too many penalties at the open. Someone on the bench voiced their displeasure at referee Tim Mayer and Mayer issued a misconduct. It didn’t matter to Charlotte who scored a breakaway 3 vs. 4 goal against the Penguins when Clark Bishop scored to make it 2-1.

Anthony Angello, at least I think it was Anthony Angello, scored on a deflection of a David Warsofsky shot on the tail end of the two man advantage to tie the game yet again.

Anthony Angello forced a turnover and found Adam Johnson who scored to give the Pens a lead.

It was a lead that the Penguins could not protect, Charlotte would score twice to take a 4-3 lead into the second intermission.

Steven Lorentz on a most ridiculous backhander with a scramble in front tied the game again.

Then PO Joseph tangled up with Casey DeSmith taking out his goaltender and Charlotte capatilized with a power play goal that gave them the lead again.

I mean our goaltenter was taken out on the play, but you do you, Checkers social media guy or girl.

Game had a track meet feel. Set up for an interesting third.

Third Period: Hardly the same story of the first two periods offense wise in the third. Julien Gauthier found himself alone in front, made a move and stuck it past DeSmith to give the Checkers a two goal lead.

Penguins tried for an extra attacker with DeSmith off but Joseph bobbled a puck in the neutral zone, and the Checkers scored on the empty net to ice the game away. Steven Lorentz with his second. Ballgame.

Three Stars: 3) David Gust 2) Julien Gauthier 1) Steven Lorentz

The Good: They stayed step for step with a game Checkers team for 40 minutes. But…

The Bad: They waited for something to develop in the third and got developed. Leading scorer in Pittsburgh, down one in the third and a team on a positive run of form gets a goal from their all-star and wins the game.

Turning Point: Gauthier’s goal in the third was pretty much it. WBS wasn’t coming back, that goal made sure of it.

Around the Division: The only other game on this Wednesday night was Hershey and Hartford. That box is here. Hartford gets a goal with under a minute to play in the third and win 2-1.

Standings: Hartford 51 — Hershey 47 — Providence 43 — Springfield 42 — Charlotte 41 — Penguins 39 — Lehigh Valley 31 — Bridgeport 31

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off and don’t play until Friday.

Video Highlights: I will look later and work them in as a morning update likely.

Mid-January AHL Power Rankings here Thursday at 11. Check them out then.

Pens are back in action again Friday at 7 against Hershey.

Let’s Go Pens!

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6                                                     3

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Well, a nightmare scenario late in the third period of a tie hockey game is what dooms the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins Saturday night. Three goals in the span of about two minutes and thirty seconds from the Thunderbirds and it’s Springfield who wins 6-3.

The Thunderbirds are on the upswing and the Penguins are trending down. With Providence, Hartford and Hershey essentially the class of the division currently, the four and five ranked teams are what’s the buzz and right now the Thunderbirds are playing maximal effort games and the Penguins not so much. Lax in some areas, it’s costing them.

Casey DeSmith opposed Philippe Desrosiers.

Lineup:

Lineup Notes: Wait, Cassels? Who’s he? Cole Cassels. Wilkes-Barre acquired him in the afternoon from Belleville where he was on a PTO with the Senators. They signed him to an AHL SPC for the rest of the season. Get used to him, his ECHL rights are where he initially came from in Utah, so he can’t go down to Wheeling if he’s ever reassigned.

First Period: Kind of like the third period Friday against Hershey if you stuck around for it. They were flying around, limited chances against and took a 1-0 lead into intermission after Sam Miletic’s offering was kicked in by Desrosiers.

Shots after one were 11-6 Penguins. They seemed to let off in the final five and the Thunderbirds got a few cheap shots in before the bell.

Second Period: They went back and forth, with Springfield having more of the advantage. The Thunderbirds outshot the Penguins 17-10 in the period and led 3-2 after the period.

Thomas Schemitsch followed his own shot and put his rebound past DeSmith which tied the game at one.

Adam Johnson wired a shot past Desrosiers to give the Penguins a lead again and it was 2-1.

Then the Thunderbirds scored within a few minutes of one another when Dryden Hunt connected with a power play goal and Jake Massie followed with a man marking issue and gave the Thunderbirds a 3-2 lead heading into the third.

Really, the same things that bit Wilkes-Barre Friday against Hershey were starting to nip again here.

Third Period: They came out with great pop and Jordy Bellerive finished off a great individual effort with a goal which tied the game at three.

But the Thunderbirds are well coached and kept punching. Leading goal scorer Owen Tippett found himself wide open when Adam Johnson went for a poke check, missed leaving Tippett open to beat DeSmith five hole to give the Thunderbirds a 4-3 lead.

Less than two minutes later, a shot from the point by Brady Keeper broke his stick. The force of the shot wasn’t as great and Rodrigo Abols put in his first of the season that gave Springfield a 5-3 lead.

About two minutes after that, a Dryden Hunt redirect beat DeSmith for Springfields sixth goal.

Three Stars: 3) Sam Miletic (goal, assist) 2) Dryden Hunt (two goals, assist) 1) Owen Tippett (goal, three assists)

The Good: First period was good. Second was lax, third was OK but devolved from there.

The Bad: They are in a funk they have to punch out of themselves, cause it’s a bare bones roster with guys hurt or on recall.

Turning Point: Springfields three unanswered goals had the Penguins spiraling out of control quickly.

Around the Division: Charlotte shuts out Providence  4-0….Hershey goes ahead with 40 seconds to play in the third to beat Bridgeport 2-1….Hartford beats Utica 3-1….Belleville beats Lehigh Valley 5-3.

Standings: Hartford 49 — Hershey 45 — Providence 43 — Springfield 42 — Penguins 39 — Charlotte 37 — Bridgeport 31 — Lehigh Valley 29

Wheeling Update: Nailers were shutout 4-0 in Cincinnati.

Video Highlights: Doubt they will have them, if they do I will run an edit here if I see it.

Charlotte is in Wednesday. I’ll update the charts sometime Sunday. If anything breaks between now and then, I’ll have an update here.

Let’s Go Pens!

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6                                                     2

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The Penguins came out flatter than the leftover champagne you had at midnight Wednesday and it cost them, losing 6-2 to the Hershey Bears Friday night. Andrew Agozzino, on his birthday and on a day he was selected to All-Stars, scores both Penguin goals.

Dustin Tokarski started the game but was chased after the fourth goal. Any effort to try and kickstart a run before or after failed. The Pens made a furious push in the third, but never got close.

Tokarski opposed Vitek Vanecek.

Lineup:

Lineup Notes:

Casey DeSmith served as backup. I suppose he decided to stick around and make Thomas DiPauli drive while he flys to Montreal Saturday. Pens signed Sebastien Caron to a PTO per AHL transactions.

First Period: Pens had the better start, Hershey had the better finish.

Andrew Agozzino opened the scoring after getting named to the All-Star team earlier in the day on his birthday.

I’ve missed Taylor.

Anyway, Hershey has a power play come and go then killed a penalty. As it was expiring, Brian Pinho streamed up ice and scored unassisted to get the Bears on board.

Hershey really took it to the Penguins, outshooting them 14-6.

Second Period: Garrett Pilon and Eddie Wittchow scored within minutes of one another to give the Bears a 3-1 lead. Setup went like this, draw attention to far side, get players to overcommit and draw off a man, opponent passes to streaking team mate and the goal is scored.

Off of the faceoff following the Wittchow goal, Kale Kessy and Jamie Devane fought.

But there’s a problem. They fought off of the faceoff which is a direct violation of Rule 46.10 of the AHL Rulebook which outlaws fighting off of a faceoff. In part…

46.10 Fighting Prior to or at the Drop of the Puck – Unless this occurs prior to the start of the game or any period (see 46.9), a player or players who enter into a fight, prior to, at the drop of the puck, or immediately following any face-off during the game, shall be assessed an automatic game misconduct in addition to any penalties assessed.

They have had this rule in the book for a few years now but you may as well outlaw fighting altogether if you are going to write rules like this. They already suspend you for 10 fights, guys like Steve MacIntyre are out of the league and fights are becoming less and less.

There’s a time and place for it. Getting scored on again in the period was the perfect time to try and spark the bench to get a rally going. Kale Kessy and Jamie Devane are both willing, trained professionals who probably know more about what you read about CTE than the people writing it. That doesn’t stop them from trying to knock each other out, so why stop them and come up with 5,000 rules trying to disavow it.

Just ban it. I’ve wasted three full paragraphs veering off base on it. Just make a rule that if you fight, you’re thrown out of the game and suspended for one. If you do it again, you’re suspended for two games and your team is fined $500. Double the fines and suspensions from there. Simple.

Hershey continued to pile on with another Pinho goal for a tap in which chased Tokarski for DeSmith and then on a tail end of a two man advantage when Philippe Maillet hacked and whacked at a puck that got by DeSmith that made it 5-1.

Third Period: Andrew Agozzino with his second of the game in the first minute of the period.

Pens put on a clinic in the offensive zone but couldn’t get a few power play chances to fire and were running out of time. Liam O’Brien iced it away with an empty net goal.

Wilkes-Barre had 14 shots through two periods, ended up with 18 in the third. Vellucci’s challenge going forward is going to be getting a full effort out of his team with all three periods.

Three Stars: 3) Philippe Maillet 2) Andrew Agozzino 1) Brian Pinho

The Good: That third period was promising. They dominated Hershey but it may have been a wolf in sheep’s clothing given the scoreline.

The Bad: Absent the rules on fighting, they got their asses kicked tonight by a blood rival and are now out of a playoff spot.

Turning Point: Hershey’s two quick goals to open the second put the Penguins on tilt, and it spiraled from there.

Around the Division: Hartford doubles up Providence 3-1….Lehigh Valley is shutout 4-0 in Laval….Springfield beats a game Utica club 3-2….Binghamton beats Bridgeport 3-1. Charlotte was off.

Standings: Hartford 47 — Hershey 43 — Providence 43 — Springfield 40 — Penguins 39 — Charlotte 35 — Bridgeport 31 — Lehigh Valley 29

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 2-1 in overtime in Cincinnati. Cam Brown with both goals including the overtime winner. Alex D’Orio faced a firing squad in goal, stopping 34 shots.

Video Highlights: 

Springfield in Saturday with a chance to get back above the cut line. More Saturday at 3.