Chirps from Center Ice

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From yesterday’s Bold Prediction that ran in Saturday morning’s Weekend Preview…

Nail biter and win against Laval Saturday and then a blow out win against a tired Lehigh Valley on Sunday. Come Monday there’s a line out the door at Abide for free coffees before the Monday morning workday begins.

A dominating performance by the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins who dispatch of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms with a 5-1 win on Sunday afternoon on a goal and three assists from Tanner Howe, who jumped onto the top line with Joona Koppanen and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, who also scored goals in a laugher of a hockey game that the Penguins were in control of from the drop.

A 7-1 Phantoms shot disparity to start the game? Didn’t matter.

Five penalties against? Killed them all.

Howe had a goal and two assists by the first intermission as the Penguins were in command 3-0. Joel Blomqvist had his shutout bid broken up with under two minutes to play in the third period when an Adam Ginning shot was tipped in by Zayde Wisdom. Blomqvist would make 30 saves.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Apparently Avery Hayes was not an injury scratch, so read into that however you may. Zach Gallant replaced him. Scooter Brickey for Finn Harding on defense was the other change.

First Period: Gave some of the action away in the paragraphs above, so let’s roll from there.

Phantoms had the first two power plays of the game killed.

Joona Koppanen opens the scoring with a nice feed from Tanner Howe, then Chase Pietila answers after a gong show performance in goal from Carson Bjarnason, then Howe is rewarded with a goal via tap in and Wilkes-Barre was off to the races…

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Second Period: Aidan McDonough scores his fourth goal in as many games at least, this time on the power play and it’s a 4-0 lead…

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Enjoy that free coffee at Abide tomorrow, tell them Donzo sent you.

Lehigh Valley was getting frustrated with the officiating, trying to rope in the Penguins, but cooler heads prevailed on the side of the home team.

Third Period: Howe would secondarily assist on a Harvey-Pinard tap in goal as he and Joona Koppanen continued to produce and it’s 5-0 Penguins…

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Only question as time dwindled would be would the Phantoms be shutout and Zayde Wisdom ensured that answer would be no.

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The hand / eye coordination to tip a shot zipping at you with your stick in traffic, on ice on skates is something I will always be in awe of.

Three Stars: 3) Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (goal, two assists) 2) Joona Koppanen (goal, two assists) 1) Tanner Howe (goal, three assists)

The Good: Do not, under any circumstances, break up that line if you are Kirk MacDonald. He found money here.

The Bad: Blomqvist was robbed a star of the game because his team let one in on him. It’s nitpicking.

Turning Point: The Howe goal in the first gets it here because maybe you can chip away at a 2-0 lead. The Phantoms were doing all they could to beat Blomqvist, the Penguins would just transition the other way and score. You wish they were all this easy.

Around the Division: Providence loses 4-2 to Springfield….Charlotte needs a shootout to beat Hartford 2-1.

Standings: Providence 99 – Penguins 90 – Charlotte 83 – Hershey 65 – Bridgeport 64 – Springfield 62 – Lehigh Valley 62 – Hartford 56

Wheeling Update: Nailers win again over Worcester and are playoff bound. 4-1 win there.

Video Highlights: 

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Have a great week. I will be back here Friday morning with the Weekend Preview setting up the home and home with these very Phantoms starting Friday in Wilkes-Barre.

Let’s Go Pens!

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It’s the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins 40th win of the season, second time that Kirk MacDonald has achieved same as the Penguins outlast the Laval Rocket 3-1 on Saturday night.

I think that Avery Hayes is the straw that stirs the drink and it’s no coincidence that they are winning again with Hayes in the lineup.

But the bigger story is where would the team be without Aidan McDonough? More on that in a minute.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Next time I am putting the Weekend Preview out five minutes before puck drop because Avery Hayes and Joona Koppanen were sent back to Wilkes-Barre and it was Rutger McGroarty that went up. Melvin Fernstrom (injured), Ville Koivunen and McGroarty (recall) out, Zack Urdahl, Nolan Renwick and Raivis Ansons in. No changes on defense.

First Period: Wilkes-Barre held Laval without a shot till 13:56, outshooting the Rocket 8-0 at that time but it squared up after that.

An Avery Hayes shorthanded goal made it 1-0 Penguins.

Hayes scored on Hunter Shepard, and you’ll never convince me that he doesn’t look like Groucho Marx.

Also, no one under 50 gets the reference but let’s move on….

Second Period: Laval fired 17 shots on Sergei Murashov and he kept the Penguins in it and the Rocket out of the net.

But then the Penguins started running into problems with the officiating, Jack Young in particular who awarded the Rocket three consecutive power plays. He called a tacky tack hook call on Atley Calvert like it was a 5-0 whitewashing and this further incensed the Penguins when Alex Belzile scored.

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Wilkes-Barre will see Young again Sunday, just so you know.

Remember when I was saying about Aidan McDonough?

14 seconds later…

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Easily the MVP of the team min my opinion. Where would the Penguins be if not for Aidan McDonough? Time and time again he has come through in the clutch for this team.

Third Period: An excellent defensive play by Finn Harding in his own zone and outlet pass to Avery Hayes sees Hayes score his second of the game and give the Penguins a 3-1 lead that Laval would never be able to overcome.

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Late, a yeoman like shift turned in by Alex Alexeyev who, without a skate blade, manages to block a couple shots and keep Laval from scoring with Shepard pulled.

Three Stars: 3) Aidan McDonough (goal) 2) Sergei Murashove (33 saves) 1) Avery Hayes (two goals, assist)

The Good: Playoff like atmosphere and playoff like intensity from two teams who have already punched their ticket. Last regular season meeting between these two teams, perhaps they meet up again in about two months?

The Bad: I don’t want to whine about officiating in a 3-1 win so I won’t, but it was questionable at best at times.

Turning Point: That McDonough goal gets it here and I get a sense it may be bigger then just a turning point in this game, but a turning point in the season.

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley beats Hershey 4-2…Charlotte beats Hartford 2-1 in overtime..Providence beats Bridgeport 6-4.

Standings: Providence 99 – Penguins 88 – Charlotte 81 – Hershey 65 – Bridgeport 64 – Lehigh Valley 62 – Springfield 62 – Hartford 55

Wheeling Update: Nailers lead the Worcester Railers 2-1 late in the third when this goes up at about 9:50 p.m. on the blog. Box here.

Video Highlights:

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More Sunday after the Phantoms drop in.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins play by play man almost foreshadowed his team to possible disappointment.

Hart stated at the end of the second period when the Penguins were up 4-1 that back in November the Toronto Marlies overcame a three goal deficit and defeated the Penguins that night.

Disaster averted. Despite a pair of goals by ex-Penguin Alex Nylander, Wilkes-Barre holds on to win 4-3 Sunday afternoon in Toronto.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Ville Koivunen was assigned down from Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon and was in town so made it in the lineup, replacing Zach Gallant. On defense, Chase Pietila for Emil Pieniniemi on defense.

First Period: They certainly started on time to the tune of three goals.

Avery Hayes on the power play at 5:11, followed by Hayes setting up Rafaël Harvey-Pinard in transition at 15:17 and then Aidan McDonough scoring his 18th goal of the season on a wrist shot at 16:54.

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Shots were 9-4 and but for a few early scares, Joel Blomqvist had the Marlies shooters covered.

To quote an old friend, the period was okay if you like perfect.

Second Period: Harvey-Pinard potted his second of the game off of a rebound of a Finn Harding shot and the Penguins were up 4-0.

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We don’t see enough of Toronto to. know if this is their modus operandi, but they were a totally different team after this.

A Ben King goal was put in after Brandon Buhr broke away and had a shot on Blomqvist. Blomqvist stopped prior breakaways and this one here, and nearly got over to the King rebound try but it beat him.

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Third Period: Wilkes-Barre lost Melvin Fernstrom to an injury when he was caught awkwardly on the boards by Blake Smith. He skated off with his right arm dangling and didn’t return.

Alex Nylander got the Marlies to one on two different occasions. The first came on the power play after a questionable penalty against Alex Alexeyev and then at even strength after a blown assignment.

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But the Marlies would get no closer, but if there were five to seven minutes left in regulation then there were in reality, I am not too sure that Toronto would have tied it and maybe took the lead.

Disaster averted. This time.

Three Stars: 3) Avery Hayes (goal, assist) 2) Alex Nylander (two goals) 1) Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (two goals)

The Good: I have waited all season for Harvey-Pinard to start cooking and it looks like he’s warming up. If you get him going, mix in a Hayes goal like you did today with output from Koivunen and hopefully a returning Tristan Broz, this team can go far.

The Bad: I don’t know what happened when they went up 4-0. They nearly played two completely different halves of hockey here. Gangbusters the first thirty minutes and then edge of your seat let’s try not to blow this in the final thirty minutes. That strategy is not going to work in mid-to late April.

Turning Point: The second Harvey-Pinard goal gets it here because it was what won them the game, we just were oblivious to it at the time.

Around the Division: At 7 p.m. on Sunday, Bridgeport looks like they are headed for a home and home sweep of the Hershey Bears, up 5-1 when this post goes up…other games final as Charlotte sweeps Lehigh Valley with a 6-2 win ad Rochester beats Hartford 6-3.

Standings: Providence 95 – Penguins 86 – Charlotte 79 – that’s all that matters really, as I can’t give you the Hershey points because they are still playing. If you are interested late Sunday night or anytime after that, click here.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers sweep the Trois-Rivières Lions 3-1. Raivos Ansons and Logan Pietila had goals and Max Pavlenko stopped 26 shots.

Video Highlights: Marlies YouTube page is here. I note that because the highlights aren’t posted yet so if you want to go hunting, click here.

They are off till Saturday when they host the Laval Rocket on Saturday and then the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on (sigh) Sunday afternoon. I’ll have the Weekend Preview up on Saturday morning bright and early with the latest on the rest of those rascals. Regular blog readers know wheat I am talking about.

Have a great week.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Let’s get business out of the way first.

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For the 21st time in team history, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are headed to the Calder Cup Playoffs after a 2-1 shootout win in Belleville Friday night.

This game had a ‘fight forever’ feel to it. Goals were hard to come by for the Penguins with just Aidan McDonough scoring his team leading seventh power play goal in the second period and Tyler Boucher scoring later in the period to respond.

So it was a defensive battle and the Penguins, despite being outshot 29-20, managed to get it to overtime to qualify for the postseason. Adian McDonough, Gabe Klassen and Avery Hayes all scored in the shootout to give the Penguins the extra point.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Avery Hayes was returned to Wilkes-barre on Thursday and was in the lineup for the Penguins Friday, replacing Zach Urdahl. Emil Pieniniemi for Chase Pietila on defense.

First Period: Nothing doing. Pens were being badly outshot in the period before a late power play upped the shot total. Both teams traded power plays.

Second Period: 2:10 into the period Aidan McDonough scored a power play goal that gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

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Then a bad pinch in the neutral zone by Emil Pieniniemi sees Tyler Boucher score on a 2 on 0.

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Penguins sweated out two Belleville power plays.

Third Period: Penalty kill really did work here, killing two late penalties virtually back to back. No scoring, though.

Overtime: Avery Hayes had two shots to end the game in overtime via breakaway but was stopped both times by Leevi Meriläinen who was impressive all game but really outstanding here in the overtime period.

Shootout: Aidan McDonough on a backhand shot, Olle Lycksell followed with a carbon copy shot, Gabe Klassen scored through the five hole, Arthur Kaliyev, who leads the AHL in goal scoring was stopped and then Avery Hayes won it in the top of the third.

Three Stars: 3) Avery Hayes (shootout goal) 2) Riley Kidney (assist) 1) Joel Blomqvist (28 saves)

Really thought that Leevi Meriläinen deserved a star here, he was outstanding. He had no run support though.

The Good: 21 trips to the playoffs out of 25 tries is good, right?

The Bad: Power play scored, yeah, but that was it. The Penguins are a good 5-on-5 team? Someone forgot to tell Belleville, but that’s nitpicking on a clinching night like this.

Turning Point: Took till the very end but the Hayes goal that won it gets it here.

Around the Division: Penguins would have backed if they didn’t win, because Laval beat Springfield 4-1…Providence wins 4-3 in Utica.

Standings: Providence 93 – Penguins 84 – Charlotte 75 – Hershey 62 – Lehigh Valley 60 – Springfield and Bridgeport 56 – Hartford 54

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 4-3 in a shootout over Trois-Rivières. Newly acquired Blake Bennett had a had trick and Logan Pietila had the shootout game winning goal.

Video Highlights: 

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More Sunday evening from Toronto. Enjoy the Saturday off.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Good things come to those who wait, I suppose.

Needing just one point to clinch a playoff berth in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs, Wilkes-Barre / Scranton gets no out of town help and lay an egg in Laval, QC, a place they have not won in since 2018 and lose 5-1.

Game was decided, in my opinion, in the first six minutes. Laval goaltender plays like he has ants in his pants whenever he has the puck on his stick or nearby him. He played way too fast and loose in the games opening stages and the Penguins were not able to capitalize on this loosey goosey-ness and Laval settled in and methodically turned the game into a rout.

The Rocket lead the North Division and have the second best home record for a reason. They wear you down.

Gabe Klassen had the lone goal for Wilkes-Barre / Scranton, his 15th of the season.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Alex Alexeyev and Finn Harding for Jack St. Ivany and Scooter Brickey.

First Period: Shots 9-1 for the Penguins to start, Laval goaltender Kaapo Käkhönen swimming in his crease making ridiculous out of position saves but then a neutral zone hooking call against Aidan McDonough stops that momentum and the Rocket start to catch up. Then a careless too many men on the ice call against Wilkes-Barre sees Jared Davidson score :09 into the ensuing Rocket power play.

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Shots ended up 11-9 for the Penguins.

Second Period: Penguins went down a pair of goals and returned only two shots on Käkhönen in the process.

Sammy Blais catches a long lass from ex-Penguin Nate Clurman, deep in his own zone, and Blais steps in and scores on the breakaway.

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Then, a pass from Joshua Roy bounces off of the elbow pad of Josh Jacobs and caroms to Sean Farrell who scores to make it 3-0.

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I mean that’s just ugly puck luck.

Third Period: I liked the initial response here and this is where Gabe Klassen scored at the 2:55 mark and I liked the vibe they came with but was troubled by the, “just turn it on and go” mantra they have won games with in the past with.

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But the Rocket continued to wear down the Penguins, but not without more goalkeeping adventurism by Kaapo Käkhönen. Sebastian Aho was unable to score, however.

Joshua Roy scores late as the Penguins stared desperation in the face and then Florian Xhekaj scored into an empty net with Sergei Murashov pulled.

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Three Stars: 3) Joshua Roy (goal, assist) 2) Kaapo Käkhönen (29 saves) 1) Sean Farrell (goal, assist)

The Good: Gabe Klassen is warming up again.

The Bad: Three players were even on the +/-, the rest were all -1 or worse. Finn Harding and Atley Calvert were -2’s. That’s the definition of wearing a team down.

They clearly miss Ville Koivunen, Tristan Broz and Avery Hayes. They are rudderless offensively and whatever Kirk MacDonald is doing (or not doing) doesn’t seem to be working.

Turning Point: The Blais breakaway goal gets it here because that opened the Rocket floodgates.

Around the Division: Can’t rely on Providence for jack. They needed to beat the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the Penguins to back into the Playoffs. They didn’t. Phantoms win 6-3. Hartford sweeps Charlotte with a 5-2 win Wednesday after beating the Checkers on Tuesday. Forget quantum mathematics. I will never figure out how a team like Charlotte that gives the Penguins fits it swept by a Hartford team that was booed 7-0 by Providence last weekend.

Standings: Providence 92 – Penguins 82 – Charlotte 75 – Hershey 62 – Lehigh Valley 58 – Springfield 56 – Bridgeport 56 – Hartford 54

Wheeling Update: The Nailers had the night off.

Video Highlights: The Rocket’s YouTube page they put game highlights is here. Tonight’s package isn’t up yet at 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

Talk to you Friday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Wilkes-Barre salvages the weekend with a gritty, gutsy 3-1 win in Allentown on Sunday and are a point away from qualifying for a berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

They were a second half team Sunday, falling down 1-0 in the first period, no shots about halfway through the second, but then tie the game in the second on a Rutger McGroarty deflection, a Gabe Klassen power platy goal in the third and then an Owen Pickering empty net goal that iced it away.

Off now to Canada and a date with the first place North Division’s Laval Rocket on Wednesday with a chance to punch a ticket to the playoffs.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Nick Hart mentioned on the broadcast pregame that Alex Alexeyev was yo-yo’ed from/to Pittsburgh earlier in the day. On ice, Boko Imama for Zach Gallant up front, Sebastian Aho, Scooter Brickey for Ryan Graves and Finn Harding.

First Period: Ex-Penguin Phil Tomasino opens the scoring for the Phantoms after a puck is chopped out of the crease by Sergei Murashovb which then finds its way to Tomasino who scores to make it 1-0.

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Marathon period with a lot of icings and both teams feeling the effects of a three in three weekend.

Second Period: Despite not registering a shot on goal till around the 8:30 mark of the period, the Penguins were the better team in the period and tied the game on a Rutger McGroarty deflection.

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They had a few cracks (and a few good looks) on the power play but could not solve Aleksei Kolosov.

Everything was coming up aces here for the Penguins but the score remained tied at one heading into the…

Third Period: They had about 3:30 of leftover power play from a double minor high sticking call to Phil Tomasino. It almost seemed like they had to score on the power play or else you are looking at a momentum shift.

They got it, off the stick of Gabe Klassen.

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But then they had another chance at the power play with an opportunity to ice it away, and that turned into four, maybe five Lehigh Valley Phantom shorthanded chances.

Owen Pickering buried one from deep, late.

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Ballgame.

Three Stars: 3) Phil Tomasino (goal) 2) Sergei Murashov (16 saves) 1) Gabe Klassen (goal, assist)

The Good: They smothered the Phantoms last night even strength and lost. They smothered the Phantoms on Sunday and won.

The Bad: The power play needs work. It may be too late to fix, sadly.

Turning Point: The Klassen power play goal got it here. My faith in MacDonald is starting to slip, but they are too well coached to let a result that happened to them Saturday happen to them less than 24 hours later on Sunday.

Around the Division: Springfield beat Providence 4-3 so the Penguins could not clinch because they needed out of town help. Belleville is up on Hershey at 6 p.m. on Sunday. That box is here.

Standings: Providence 91 – Penguins 82 – Charlotte 75 and that’s as far as I can go without the Hershey final. If you are interested after like 7:30 on Sunday, click here.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: They would be here if you are so inclined, as they are not up yet.

Canada trip is next, Weekend Preview is here Wednesday around lunch time.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I’m going to let play by play man Bob Rotruck explain this one for you.

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Straight up, this Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins team is going nowhere fast if they can’t…

a) score
b) defend a lead when they score
c) win special teams battles

They did two of the three this evening. Even me, a C student and the living embodiment of the term, “C’s get degrees” would think this has to be enough to win the game, right?

Wrong. They lost 4-3 in overtime. They carried a 3-1 lead into the third period, the Phantoms score a power play goal to get within one then a late goal with Carson Bjarnason pulled to tie it and then Lane Pederson scores his second of the night on the power play to win it in overtime.

The two teams rematch Sunday in Allentown. The only silver lining out of the evening was that no matter what happened here, the Penguins could not clinch a playoff spot. More on that in a bit.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Zach Urdahl for Boko Imama up front, Chase Pietila for Sebastian Aho on defense.

First Period: Ryan Graves atones for his -3 in the second period Friday against Hershey with a goal that gives the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

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Good link up there with the passing.

Penguins were playing with fire giving away two power plays to the Phantoms.

Second Period: Joona Koppanen scored two goals but only one of them was deemed good as the other was taken down after video review. Finn Harding had the other goal in the period when he snaked to the far side and fired a shot that was screened.

Ex-Penguin Boris Katchouk scored the opposition goal, the Phantoms only even strength goal of the game.

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Third Period: All they need to do is defend a lead and not give a sliver of momentum to the opponent.

Wilkes-Barre couldn’t do anything with a power play about midway through the period, Lehigh Valley cashes on their sole opportunity in theirs, and here’s Mr. Moe Mentum changing his address.

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But it’s still a one goal game and the Penguins have second in the division thanks to defense and goaltending and…

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Momma, there go them men (Jack St. Ivany and Ryan Graves) again.

Overtime: I mean it was inevitable, and more so when they take not one, but two penalties in the period. They get out of one, but momentum, man. It’s a game of momentum, and Lehigh Valley wasn’t going to miss on the second power play of overtime.

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Ballgame.

Three Stars: 3) Anthony Richard (three assists) 2) Joona Koppanen (goal, assist) 1) Lane Pederson (two goals, assist)

The Good: I mean they manufactured a point?

The Bad: They are developing bad habits at the worst time of the season and it is going to cost them a first round bye. Kirk MacDonald has his first real headache of the season to deal with because fans will not stand for another first round exit this season. It’s trending straight in that direction. I saw it last year with the New York Mets in a different sport when they collapsed in June and never were the same team and completely missed playoffs. It’s a different story here because the Penguins are a playoff team, but what does that mean when everyone makes it and all the momentum you have is bad momentum.

Turning Point: The Pederson goal that tied it gets it here, because the rest was elementary.

Around the Division: Providence wins 7-0 over hapless Hartford….Charlotte picks up another two points with a 2-0 shutout at home against Bridgeport where the Islanders are shutout in back to back games in North Carolina…Springfield wins 6-3 at home against Utica so the Penguins couldn’t clinch anyway and Belleville doubles up Hershey 6-3.

Standings: Providence 91 – Penguins 80 – Charlotte 75 – Hershey 62 – Lehigh Valley 58 – Bridgeport 56 – Springfield 54 – Hartford 50

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 4-2 over visiting Adirondack. Matty De St. Phalle with a goal and and assist.

Video Highlights: 

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Hope for a better fate Sunday in Allentown. Talk you to then.

Let’s Go Pens!