Chirps from Center Ice

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6                            2

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A four point game by Penguins forward Rutger McGroarty aids the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins to a 6-2 win in Providence Sunday afternoon.

McGroarty had a pair of goals and a pair of assists as the Penguins routed the Bruins to a 5-0 lead. The Penguins outscored their opponents 13-3 this weekend.

They will head home then likely bounce for Cleveland midweek, probably stop off in Pittsburgh for practice before taking on the Monsters Friday and Saturday in The Land.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Lucas Ciona makes his debut up front, Ilya Solovyov on defense. Phil Kemp also was back in. Finn Harding and Jake Livanavage drew out. Melvin Fernstrom was out for Ciona.

By that time, Tristan Broz made it 2-0 off of this nice feed from Rutger McGroarty.

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Taylor Gauthier stopped all 8 shots he saw and was generally solid in net, especially late when the Bruins applied pressure on a late power play.

Second Period: Wilkes-Barre kept its foot on the gas with a pair of goals in the period.

Bill Zonnon just :43 into the period followed by Rutger McGroarty via the power play at 4:26.

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Taylor Gauthier continued to play strong in net, stopping all 15 shots seen.

Third Period: Rutger McGroarty scored his second of the game with this nifty move that made it 5-0 Penguins.

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But then the Bruins finally got on the board when Maxence Guenette scored here to put Providence on the board.

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However, the Penguins re-established the five goal lead when Oliver Okuliar scored on a redirect from a shot from the point which made it 6-1.

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Wilkes-Barre finds itself in late, avoidable power play trouble and Riley Duran scores to make it 6-2.

(no GIF here)

Three Stars: 3) Oliver Okuliar (goal, assist) 2) Taylor Gauthier (39 saves) 1) Rutger McGroarty (two goals, two assists)

The Good: Taylor Gauthier had a career high 39 saves and was outstanding, when he needed to be, for the Penguins in a laugher of a hockey game.

The Bad: Nitpicking, but they kind of let off in the third period after they went up five early.

Turning Point: The Zonnon goal :43 in gets it here. You let the Penguins start running downhill spotting them two after the first and then it turned into a runaway train in the second that you couldn’t recover from in the third, not with the way that Taylor Gauthier was playing.

Around the Division: A pair of finals as Laval thumps Hartford 5-2 and Cleveland does the same to Lehigh Valley with the same score. Springfield / Charlotte box here and Hershey / Texas box here.

Standings: The Penguins will have 5 points and depending on how the other finals fall this Sunday will be as high as second or as low as fourth. It’s too early for this!

Florida Update: The Everblades start next weekend.

Video Highlights: For those sickos, the Bruins YouTube page is here and they should post the highlights when they are ready.

Back at it here on the blog Friday with the Wekened Preview setting the table for the games in Cleveland. Have a great week, everyone!

Let’s Go Pens!

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7                              1

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Bill Zonnon broke out in a big way Saturday in Hartford with a pair of goals and an assist in the second period as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins spoil the Hartford Wolf Pack’s home opener with a 7-1 win and the first victory of the season for the Penguins.

After going down 1-0 in the first, the Pens rattle off five in the second and two in the third to completely dominate the previously 3-0 Wolf Pack.

At times it looked like the Penguins could do nothing wrong in the game and no matter what they tried, Hartford could do nothing right.

Should be a happy ride up to Providence for Sunday’s contest against the Bruins.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Melvin Fernstrom and Ilya Solovyov were sent back to the AHL on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Fernstrom drew in, Solovyov did not. They returned to 12F and 6D. Daniel Russell, Brayden Edwards and Fernstrom were in for Maleek McGowan and David Gustafsson up front. Phil Kemp sat as the extra defender.

First Period: Liam Greentree scored a few seconds into the Wolf Pack’s first power play of the game for his first professional goal.

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Wilkes-Barre outshot the home team 11-5, yet took three penalties. They did not score on their only power play of the period.

Second Period: It was a blitzkrieg of goals for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, who scored five in the period. They went in shorthanded, on a power play and three at even strength.

Bill Zonnon scored at the expiration of a Wolf Pack power play to put the Pens even at one. Then 2:58 later, Atley Calvert scores on a deflection at the front of the net off a Chase Pietila shot that made it 2-1.

About four and a half minutes later shorthanded, Avery Hayes scores to make it 3-1. The Penguins have all of the shorthanded goals scored in the AHL (2) thus far in the second weekend of AHL action.

Bill Zonnon cleaned up a rebound for his second of the period about 90 seconds after the Hayes shorthanded goal after Caleb Jones crashed the net to make it 4-1 and then for good measure Mikhail Ilyin capped off a power play for the Penguins with a goal at 17:11 which made it 5-1.

Here’s all the goals….

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I need a break!

Third Period: No letting off for the Penguins who killed a two man advantage for the Wolf Pack and then see Tanner Howe score to make it 6-1 and then :50 later see Owen Pickering score to make it 7-1.

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Hartford could not get any closer as the Penguins simply limited them to just seven shots in the period.

Three Stars: 3) Avery Hayes (goal, two assists) 2) Caleb Jones (three assists) 1) Bill Zonnon (two goals, assist)

The Good: Nice to see them come out of the first intermission gangbusters like that for five goals. If ever a team that has something like that in them, I think it’s the Penguins.

The Bad: Five defensemen took penalties. That, I didn’t like.

Turning Point: Let’s give it to Avery Hayes and the shorthanded goal that made it 3-1.

Around the Division: We were a 6 p.m. start against a scoreboard and a night that normally starts at 7 (7:20 if you are Lehigh Valley) and with this being the second weekend of AHL action, let’s mail this in and leave the Saturday scoreboard here for anyone who cares to see how the rest of the division did Saturday.

Standings: Sickos click here.

Florida Update: Rain and lots of it thanks to Hurricane Isaias. The Everblades don’t start till next weekend when they host Orlando.

Video Highlights: I don’t feel confident the Wolf Pack will put on together, considering the last one they did was in April.

Talk to you Sunday after the Pens play the Bruins.

Let’s Go Pens!

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3                              2

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From this weekend’s Weekend Preview, under, “bold predictions”…

Give us a bold prediction…

They win both games, handily, and at the end of the weekend they will be in the top five on the power play.

Power play goes 1/9 for the weekend, the Penguins are 0-1-1after a 3-2 setback from the Hartford Wolf Pack Sunday afternoon / evening in Wilkes-Barre.

Usually broken clocks are right once or twice a day. My clock? Are we sure it’s from this planet?

But it’s Game 2 of 72. No need to panic, yet.

Here’s how they lined up, Hartford didn’t post lines.

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Lineup Notes: David Gustafsson cleared waivers and was in, along with Maleek McGowan, making his AHL debut. They replaced Brayden Edwards and Daniel Russell.

First Period: First shot of the game for the Pens hopes in off the stick of Jake Livanavage and Wilkes-Barre is off and running at 1:29….

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Less of a frenetic pace in comparison to Saturday for the Penguins, who led after one. Each team traded a power play with no success.

Second Period: Marc Del Gaizo scores :53 into a Hartford power play to even the score for the visitors.

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This goal was challenged for possible offsides. After an arduous replay, it was adjudged to be onside, so that cost the Penguins another penalty.

Late, Taylor Raddysh gets a feed from below the crease from Cole Beaudoin and the Wolf Pack went ahead 2-1.

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Third Period: Any questions about Taylor Gauthier’s readiness at this level were put to bed in this game with saves in this sequence here.

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He deserved a better fate Sunday.

Penguins do not score to tie in the period and late, take a penalty and then it’s Nathan Aspinall who scores off of a rebound.

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Penguins keep it interesting till the end and cash on a power play when Avery Hayes scores with Gauthier pulled for his first goal of the season.

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But would get no closer.

Three Stars: 3) Cole Beaudoin (two assists) 2) Jake Livanavage (goal) 1) Taylor Raddysh (goal)

The Good: Coming out of opening weekend after playing back to back games with no wins to show for it stinks, but it seems like they have correctable issues.

The Bad: Power play stinks, and I don’t think that is correctable.

Turning Point: The Aspinall goal gets it here, as it stands up and the game winner.

Around The Division: The Springfield Thunderbirds had to travel overnight to Providence for a 3 pm start and shut the Bruins out 2-0. The Bruins had the best regular season record last season and are 0-2….Hershey gets in the win column with a 3-2 win over the Charlotte Checkers….Lehigh Valley was off.

Standings: Hartford and Springfield 4, Charlotte and Hershey 2, Penguins 1, Lehigh Valley and Providence 0

Everblades Update: Pay attention! I told you yesterday they don’t start for a few weeks.

Video Highlights: 

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The entire AHL is off this week till Friday, which I find strange, and the Pens are off Friday, so we will still be back this Friday afternoon with the Weekend Setup setting the table for a road game in Hartford Saturday, Providence on Sunday.

Let’s hope I’m in the right universe with a bold prediction next week.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Wilkes-Barre puts up an eye popping FORTY-FIVE shots on net, but Springfield Thunderbirds goaltender Georgii Romanov stops 43 of them and it’s Springfield that walks away with a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday spoiling the Penguins home debut.

Let’s get this elephant in the room out of the way right now, the Penguins went 0/5 on the power play and that is what cost them the game. If you can’t execute on special teams, especially since the referees were giving them to you, you probably don’t deserve to win on most nights, no matter how many shots you put on the board.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: First game of the season, dummy, there were no lineup changes.

First Period: Penguins come out hot, but it’s the Thunderbirds scoring first at 3:11.

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Uncontrolled, loose puck, and it goes in.

But then Atley Calvert, who I think is primed for a breakout season, scores the first goal of the season for the Penguins that ties it at 5:05.

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Wilkes-Barre was being gifted power play after power play but the Springfield penalty kill stood up. Late, Springfield goes up 2-1 here….

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Owen Pickering should know better. T.J Tynan is a future AHL Hall of Famer. I didn’t like Pikcering’s game at all.

Second Period: Springfield goes on a power play but it ends up in disaster as Atley Calvert comes through for a shorthanded goal that leveled it at two.

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The Penguins kept punching at Springfield and Romanov, but no dice as the score stayed 2-2 heading into the…

Third Period: No scoring. Both teams sweat through the others power play. Rutger McGroarty was hauled down late on a sticky tack hooking call from Adam Tobias and Mason Riley who I thought were fair tonight, and this put the Pens on a late power play but they failed to score in regulation.

Overtime: They didn’t score in overtime either and while four on four, Calle Rosen misses on the first attempt, but that just teed up his second attempt he didn’t miss.

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Ballgame.

Three Stars: 3) Georgii Romanov (43 saves) 2) Atley Calvert (two goals) 1) Justin Carbonneau (goal, assist)

The Good: Sucks to lose your first game and the power play is an abomination it would seem, but if your team puts 45 shots on goal night in and night out, I would venture that I like my chances.

The Bad: Again, 0/5 on the power play.

Turning Point: The Rosen goal in overtime gets it here, as an overtime game winner usually would.

Around the Division: Charlotte beats Hershey 5-2, spoiling the Bears home opener….Hartford does the same to Lehigh Valley with the exact same score. Providence was off.

Standings: Charlotte, Hartford and Springfield 2, Penguins 1, Providence Hershey and Lehigh Valley 0

Florida Update: I have to come up with a better name for this section and will, but for now the Everblades don’t get going with their regular season until October 17 when they host the Orlando Solar Bears.

Video Highlights: 

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More Sunday evening after the Wolf Pack come calling.

Let’s Go Pens!

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A few seasons ago, Alex Nylander ended the Hershey Bears season in an overtime playoff game playing for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

Sunday night in Game 6, he did it again, but this time he was playing for the opposing Toronto Marlies.

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Wilkes-Barre loses 2-1 in overtime and their season is over in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games. The Marlies, a four seed in the North Division, will advance to the Calder Cup Finals.

Don’t get it twisted, this was their best chance to win a Calder Cup in 27 years. They had it all. They had hot shot prospects at forward, they have a goalie that will be in the NHL next season and they had a solid defense that was tested and next man up. They had no pressure from in front with Pittsburgh making a recall either.

All that goes away when Avery Hayes, Rutger McGroarty, Harrison Brunicke and Sergei Murashobv graduate to full time NHL work next season. My knee jerk reaction is that they are lucky to be a playoff team next season but there’s a whole ECHL team that lost in their Easter Conference Finals that are loading, so all may not be lost.

Still, a disappointing end to a promising postseason ends in heartbreak and disappointment. Again.

Saw a younger fan, maybe in his 20s, utterly gutted and distraught and weeping after the game. I felt like going upon to him and saying, “get used to it kid.”

But that would be rude.

So we have, albeit a shorter summer, to wonder what might have been for this team and this franchise.

Aidan McDonough scored for Wilkes-Barre just six seconds into a power play to give the Pens an early 1-0 lead.

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Where would we be without Aidan McDonough?

In the second, an Easton Coawn goal at 9:11 tied the game.

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The teams stayed cool and Beau Halkidis and Mike Sullivan let them decide it on their own which is admirable, but some things got let go where maybe they shouldn’t have. In Game 6 of an Eastern Conference Finals game is no time to be trying to settle scores on teams full of fake fighters.

In the third, it seemed like the Penguins were on the front foot the entire period but were stymied time and  time again by Artur Akhtyamov in net for Toronto.

In overtime, Sergei Murashov bailed his club out twice, but couldn’t save them deep in overtime after an offensive face off from the Marlies which ended up on the tape of Alex Nylander and into Murashov’s net to end the season.

Three stars were Easton Cowan with a goal, Artur Ahktyamov with 39 saves and Alex Nylander with the series clincher in that order Thanks for the fish.

For posterity and old times sake, here’s how they lined up:

Alex Alexeyev returned from injury. They also swapped Tristan Broz and Gabe Klassen at center.

Here’s the highlights…

101 points and a first round bye is good and all and playoff wins over Hershey and Springfield are fun times, but running into a “hot team” at the “wrong time” always seems to happen here for the Penguins.

I don’t want to complain, because when I complain I start to get sour and when I get sour I question why I do it all. I don’t want to do that. Congrats to the Marlies, the were the better team. Congrats to the Pens on a hell of a season. Them’s the breaks sometimes.

Thanks for reading and following along this season as always if you have been for a while or for the first time. I’m just trying to capture the spirit of the thing.

Talk to you next month on the schedule release, sooner if there is news on realignment which is worth noting and we will do this all again in the fall.

Where’s my bathing suit? I’m jumping in the pool.

Let’s Go Pens!

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1                           5

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The last time the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins were in the Calder Cup Finals, all the way back in 2008, they needed seven games to advance past the Portland Pirates.

They won those games at home.

They will need to do the same starting Sunday in Game 6 and hopefully in Game 7 on Tuesday after the Toronto Marlies race out to two quick goals in the span of 4:14 in the third period to boat race the Pens and take game Game 5 5-1 for a 3-2 series lead with a chance to end the series Sunday.

These two teams hate each other, coming unglued in the third with the game already out of reach for the away team. The Penguins will need to convert those pugilistic emotions into goals come Sunday with their season on the line.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Sebastian Aho and Phil Kemp, who were absent in the third period in Game 4, were indeed out and replaced by David Breazeale and Emil Pieniniemi on defense. No changes to the forward pairings.

First Period: Basically a staring contest. Both teams killed the others penalties. There were general post whistle scrums. Nothing really to write home about.

Second Period: Offense opened up a bit in the period, with Mikhail Ilyin getting the scoring going with a power play goal that gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

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But the lead lasts just :50 as Lanson Sim tips in a Ben Danford shot through a sea of bodies to tie the game at one.

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The Penguins penalty kill would continue to struggle against the Marlies power play as :27 into  Scooter Brickey hold at 13:54, Bo Groulx would score at 14:21 to put the Marlies up 2-1.

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Both Sergei Murashov and Artur Ahktyamov would trade ten bell saves late, but there would be no further scoring.

Third Period: Easton Cowan. who’s turnover late in Game 4 led to Rutger McGroarty’s heroics, scored at 2:57 to make it 3-1 Marlies and then Logan Shaw swept a puck which squeaked past Sergei Murashov 1:17 later to make it 4-1 and the rout was on.

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Game devolved into a 2 and 10 festival for referees Stephen Hiff and Liam Maaskant.

Avery Hayes, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, William Villeneuve, Scooter Brickey, Tanner Howe, Landon Sim, Michael Pezzetta  and Easton Cowan were all dismissed at various points after the scoring with 10 minute misconducts. The Penguins had a 4:00 power play at one point and, with Murashov pulled in the hopes of an 85 yard Hail Mary touchdown, Marshall Rifai would score an empty net goal to make it 5-1.

No further penalties or shenanigans.

They sure as hell aren’t making it easy.

Three Stars: 3) Marshall Rifai (goal, assist) 2) Artur Ahktyamov (32 saves) 1) Landon Sim (goal)

The Good: Didn’t exactly want to see the home team in Game 5 of a 2-2 series deadlock win the game, but the Marlies popped that cherry.

The Bad: I don’t do either. but if you smoke or drink, how many packs and cases are you going through between now and 6:05? I quit drinking and started walking to shed about 40 pounds. I may walk to the Arena Sunday in lieu of my normal daily walk.

Turning Point: The Shaw goal gets it here as it was a multi goal lead late for the home team, with the away team boiling over with emotions.

Video Highlights: 

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Bring all the good mojo and channel your Connor James and Tim Brent energy for the next two games, hopefully.

To the end…

Let’s Go Pens!

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4                           3

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Stop me if you have heard this before, but the Toronto Marlies scored another  pair of fluke-ish goals in this series.

In Games 1 and 2, they used those goals to win the game.

In Game 4? Not the case.

Wilkes-Barre / Scranton scored three unanswered goals in the second period to carry a 3-2 lead into the third where the Marlies score another controversial goal to tie the game but it’s Rutger McGroarty picking the pocket of Marlies sensation Easton Cowan to score the go ahead goal late and the Penguins hang on to win Game 4 4-3 and tie the best of seven series at two games a piece.

The ‘no holes’ explanation in the headline? The Penguins absorbed several punches in the game and still came out on top. This team is playing some unshakable hockey at present.

Oh, and Scooter Brickey, a Game 2 insertion in the series for Finn Harding, has been gangbusters in the series and scored a goal. If or when either Finn Harding or Alex Alexeyev may be healthy enough to play again, head coach Kirk MacDonald will have some impossible lineup decisions to make if the time comes.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: No changes for the Penguins from Game 3 here in Game 4.

First Period: Wilkes-Barre to an early power play and goaltending adventurism from Sergei Murashov leads to this shorthanded goal from Bo Groulx.

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If you watched Game 3, this is the umpteenth time that this net has given Murashov problems. He narrowly averted disaster in Game 3 a few times, but here early in Game 4, it bit him.

On the same power play, Mikhail Ilyin made a move and beat Artur Ahktyamov, but the puck was kicked out by Dakota Mermis.

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Wilkes-Barre is later caught with too many men and :08 into the power play that followed for Toronto, Vinni Lettieri makes it 2-0 for the home team.

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The Penguins, despite the luxury (or lack thereof, given the score line thus far) trailed 12-8 on the shot board heading to the…

Second Period: Wilkes-Barre / Scranton storms back to the tune of three goals after an initial opening face-off breakaway from Vinni Lettieri. That would be the last shot that the Marlies would register because the come back was on.

Scooter Brickey scores at 3:14 to get the Pens on the board.

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A lotta noise in front of the crease there, but it’s playoffs. Goals aren’t supposed to be easy to come by.

Penguins get a power play and it felt like a, “not a must have but a good to have” type of power play.

Well, they didn’t score on the man advantage, but :14 later Chase Pietila let one fly from the blue line and scored to tie the game at 9:00.

Tertiary scoring. You love to see it.

Toronto woke up after that, being outshot 10-2 by the Pens after the Lettieri initial breakaway, and even had a power play.

Well, Wilkes-Barre killed that one decently enough but Toronto was still on the front foot.

But then Joona Koppanen throws a shot at Ahktyamov that goes off the pads and Gabe Klassen goes deep into the forest amongst the timbers to chop in the rebound to edge the Penguins ahead 3-2.

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Hell of a way to respond and a night vs. day effort for Wilkes-Barre / Scranton that period.

Third Period: For a long part of the period, the Penguins were missing defensemen Phil Kemp and Sebastian Aho. I don’t think I saw Aho at all in the third period and only Kemp in parts. He was favoring his shoulder early on, went off and returned late. I don’t know if it was matchup or what.

Toronto was playing fast and loose in their defensive zone. Avery Hayes, who has been offensively snakebit recently, had a chance but was stopped.

Here’s where Toronto scored on yet another controversial goal. This was on a power play.

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Here’s what I saw:

• Referee Graedy Hamilton in excellent position, as he should be.
• Way too much noise outside (emphasis added) of Murashov’s crease.
• Hamilton points, to signal Murashov is interfered with, then waves off.
• Goal is scored.
• Hamilton waves it off.

Hamilton was joined by his colleague Mike Sullivan and linesmen Luke Pye and Shawn Oliver and the overturned goal is awarded.

I don’t know. They don’t know. You don’t know. You can argue for or against till you’re blue in the face. Unless or until they clearly define what it is and what it isn’t they will never get it right and it’ll always be a guess.

Video review I don’t think will change this, it’s coming next season (I think) and they have it a league down in the ECHL where you can review. But if they review and let it stand, does it make you feel any better if you get jobbed on a call? I don’t know. I guess we find out next year, maybe.

Undeterred, the Penguins pressed on.

Enter Rutger McGroarty.

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Hoo hoy!

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Miss you in these parts, JB!

After a timeout and with Ahktyamov pulled, the Marleis were not able to find the equalizer.

Series tied.

Three Stars: 3) Vinni Lettieri (goal) 2) Scooter Brickey (goal, assist) 1) Gabe Klassen (goal, assist)

No love for McGroarty? Bollocks!

Video Highlights: 

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More Friday after Game 5. One of these teams will be heading to the brink, with Game 6 looming and now necessary in Wilkes-Barre Sunday at 6:05 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!