Chirps from Center Ice

        @       

0                                         2

–

So the theme of this series so far is, “first team to score, wins.”

Penguins won Game 1 4-0, the Bears win tonight in Game 2 by a score of 2-0. Justin Peters had a 27 save shutout.

Bears did all of their scoring in the second period on easily correctable plays. They got scored on shorthanded (just be better or more conservative) and then Carter Camper scored on a low angle shot that Casey DeSmith didn’t’ seal completely off on.

A goalie makes a mistake at the minor league level. It happens. If DeSmith makes that save, it’s still a 1-0 game and win for the Bears I think. I guess what I am saying is that this series has seven written all over it. These teams are so evenly matched.

Lines were…

Kael Mouillierat – Dustin Jeffrey – Daniel Sprong
Jake Guentzel – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Mattias Plachta – J-S Dea – Adam Krause
Sahir Gill – Teddy Blueger – Josh Archibald

Ryan Parent – Barry Goers
Tim Erixon – Harrison Ruopp
Will O’Neill – Steve Oleksy

Casey DeSmith – Tristan Jarry

Lineup Notes: Sahir Gill was in for the injured Dominik Simon, making his return from injury since February 23. Adam Krause took Simon’s place on the third line and Gill played on the fourth…Niclas Anderson had a baby boy (his wife did all the work) so he was out of the lineup and Steve Oleksy, back from assignment from Pittsburgh, took his place.

First Period: Pens played the Bears to an even first ten minutes then saw the Bears score twice on back to back shots.

Daniel Sprong turned a puck over in his own end on a power play, Dustin Gazley, in for the suspended Liam O’Brien, raced a puck up the ice on a two on one and passed to Sean Collins who danced around DeSmith and scored to make it 1-0 Bears…

–

DeSmith’s shutout streak ends at 104:34. He had stopped 58 straight shots. The Penguins have now given up three shorthanded goals in the postseason, tops amongst all teams.

Carter Camper doubled the Bears lead on a far side low angle shot that DeSmith didn’t seal completely off on. A goal that DeSmith wanted back, but it counted nonetheless.

Hershey would find its way onto the power play, but the Penguins killed it, with Tom Kostopoulos playing without a stick for much of the kill.

Shots were 10-5 Bears heading into the…

Second Period: Pens killed an early penalty then Dustin Jeffrey was stopped on a breakaway by Justin Peters…

–

Clerk Donatelli was shuffling the lines this period and even at the start of the game, with Gill moving up to the third line and the lines shuffling at every stoppage.

Pens had a power play but did little with it.

Then the Penguins started to come to life at even strength forcing Hershey into an icing call and Troy Mann to use his time out.

But the game can turn on an instant, ad after a too many men on the ice call against Wilkes-Barre, :05 later Steve Oleksy hooked Travis Boyd.

But the Penguins were able to kill off the entire five on three only allowing Hershey just two shots on the long two man advantage. Hershey was looking for the perfect shot and making too many passes.

Ryan Parent went to the room with an apparent lower body injury. The Penguins had a power play that carried over into the…

Third Period: Parent tested out the lower body injury before the teams started the third period but didn’t record a shift. Pens couldn’t score on the carry over power play and did not register a shot on goal. The Bears didn’t register a shot on goal util around the eight minute mark of the period but it was clear that they were content with sitting on the lead and not giving the penguins any chances.

Dustin Jeffrey was snakebitten tonight. He hit a post. But Peters was seeing everything tonight and was stopping deflected pucks, pucks shot through traffic and pucks in a pile of bodies.

Penguins inexperience was starting to show through as Jake Guentzel passed a shot at the top of the offensive zone that was nearly picked off by Sean Collins.

The Penguins, with DeSmith pulled. were never able to find the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Sean Collins (goal, +1) 2) Carter Camper (goal, +1) 1) Justin Peters (27 save shutout)

Video highlights…

–

Game 3 goes off Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre. Gameday setup here on the blog at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

        @       

4                                         0

–

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have not played a meaningful hockey game for 11 days.

You normally hear all the cheap cliches or excuses for a team that has all of this time off that drops Game 1 of a series in their next game.

Not this group, led by this coach, Clark Donatelli.

The Penguins, led by Donatelli’s astute acumen behind the bench and a stellar, dazzling, insert your own adjective set here performance by Casey DeSmith take home ice away from the Atlantic Division Champion Hershey Bears with a 4-0 win tonight in Game 1. DeSmith had 33 saves.

The Penguins offense? No cheap goals here. They scored at :45 of the first period and :15 of the second. They jumped Hershey from the drop and locked down and never let go.

Wilkes-Barre would have took a split coming back to Wilkes-Barre for a Game 3 Saturday. Now they are probably forcing Hershey into personnel changes and maybe a swap in goal heading into Game 2 Friday. If the Pens take that one? Could be all over soon. Who knows.

The aforementioned DeSmith opposed Round 1 hero for the Bears Justin Peters.

Plenty of video highlights included in this recap, jump through below if you didn’t link in direct.

Read more of this post

          @      

  5                                          4

–

Casey DeSmith is a goaltender that, for the longest time, was buried on the depth chart in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers for much of their season.

He did not see regular season action for the Nailers until December.

No, that is right, December. You put your kids to school in September, had a Halloween and Thanksgiving, before DeSmith saw action for the Nailers. That was in a December 5 game where he came in relief in mop up duty as the Nailers were dispatched by the South Carolina Stingrays by a score of 6-1.

DeSmith didn’t start seeing regular action for the Nailers until January. He didn’t pick up his first win until January 22. You celebrated Christmas, rang in a New Year and were probably complaining about how the Penguins should fire Clark Donatelli then.

DeSmith set the all time record for saves any a Wilkes-Barre / Scranton goaltender with a 59 save performance in Game 3 against the Providence Bruins as the Penguins sweep the Bruins in 3 games by a 5-4 score in double overtime.

Think of all the stud goaltenders and legends that have come and gone through here. Fleury. Murray. Curry. Chioido. Thiessen. Casey DeSmith, a guy that the Penguins signed on a PTO, stared down the Providence Bruins attack of names like Czarnik, Khokhlachev, Vatrano and Griffith and dismissed the second place team in the Atlantic Division in three games. All in overtime. Sweep.

And how about Clark Donatelli? Here is a guy that Penguins fans wanted to run out of town on a rail. The fact that he stuck to his guns and trusted in DeSmith over the guy we all expected and hoped for in this series in Tristan Jarry speaks volume about how in tune Donatelli is with the team and how much he has his finger on the pulse of what works and what doesn’t.

The Penguins will not know their second round opponent for at least a week, as Hershey and Portland are 1-1 in their series with Game 4 set for next Saturday.

DeSmith opposed Zane McIntyre.

Lines were…

Kael Mouillierat – Dustin Jeffrey – Daniel Sprong
Jake Guentzel – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Mattias Plachta – J-S Dea – Dominik Simon
Tom Sestito – Teddy Blueger – Josh Archibald

Niclas Andersen – Steve Oleksy
Ryan Parent – Barry Goers
Tim Erixon – Will O’Neill

Casey DeSmith – Tristan Jarry

Lineup Notes: No shuffling in or out personnel wise for the Penguins. Daniel Sprong was put on the top line. Casey DeSmith started his third straight game. For Providence, Zane McIntyre made the start in net for the Bruins.

First Period: It did not take long for the Penguins to get on the board. Jake Guentzel…

–

…:35 in and it was 1-0 Penguins. Steve Oleksy with the initial shot that Guentzel collected and finished.

Zane McIntyre was forced into some key saves and it easily could have been 2-0 or 3-0 Penguins early on. Providence did not register its first shot on goal till around 4:30 into the period. With ex-Penguin Max Talbot in the box for a high sticking penalty, Dominik Simon scored the first power play goal of the series for either team and it was 2-0 Penguins.

–

Penguins scored twice on six shots.

Providence couldn’t get anything going. Due to technical difficulties on AHL Live, I was on the home feed and heard Providence Bruins broadcaster Craig Durham say that this showing by the Bruins was uncharacteristic of the Providence team that finished second in the division.

Second Period: Casey DeSmith stopped Noel Acciari early on when the Penguins turned it over in their zone. Wilkes-Barre’s fourth line had a good :40- of zone time just cycling the puck in the zone with the Bruins doing little to take it off of them.

Then the Penguins turned it on again. Jake Guentzel hit Dustin Jeffrey with a perfect thread pass. The recipient was tripped by Zane McIntyre, Penguins power play.

Off of the ensuing power play, Daniel Sprong took a low, quick shot that went in for a goal that made it 3-0 Penguins…

–

Blink and you’ll miss it. Caught McIntyre leaning, went near side low.

DeSmith again. This time stopping Frank Vatrano twice in close. DeSmith would later stop a Vatrano bid with a flashy glove save. I noticed then that the Penguins had 3 goals on 11 shots.

Shots dried up for the Penguins but time started to move quickly for the Penguins. But off of a face-off after a media time out, Austin Czarnik scored that brought the P-Bruins to within two again. The Pens were caught scrambling.

–

Pens could have packed it in and played tight, but the offense quickly exploded again and they were back ahead by three on this firecracker by Tim Erixon…

–

Wilkes-Barre started to look a bit too lax for my liking after getting scored on. They made something out of nothing and were back ahead by three heading into the…

Third Period: Bruins would outshoot Wilkes-Barre 20-5 and score three times to force overtime.

Chris Breen from the blue line that made it 4-2…

–

Tommy Cross from almost the same spot that made it 4-3. This was power play goal…

–

Pens were being outplayed, outshot and out hustled. What they didn’t need to do was do something stupid.

Will O’Neill did something stupid…

–

Austin Czarnik scored his second of the game that tied it at 4.

Dustin Jeffrey had a chance to end it in overtime on a partial breakaway but could not get the shot off.

Overtime: J-S Dea had two shots blocked early. Casey DeSmith stopped one with his mask. Dustin Jeffrey had a chance to end it. Shots were 13-11 Bruins here. No one scored. It was off to…

Second Overtime: P-Bruins ended up on the penalty kill when Alex Khokhlachev cleared a puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty. Then, on the penalty kill, Brandon DeFazio slashed the stick of Will O’Neill in two. The Penguins had :17 of 5-on-3 to work with and called their timeout.

Providence killed it all.

Past half way, Tom Kostopoulos centered Jake Guentzel…

–

Ballgame.

–

Three Stars: 3) Casey DeSmith (59 saves on 63 shots) 2) Austin Czarnik (two goals, assist, +1) and 1) Jake Guentzel (two goals, two assists, double overtime game winner, +2)

Not only have the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins qualified for playoffs for 14 straight years, they have made it to the second round for six straight years. It’s one thing to make it. It’s another to make it past the first round. That these Penguins, left for dead by many, including myself, not only get past the Providence Bruins but sweep them, speaks volumes to the personnel in the room and the coaches. You and your #FireDonatelli hashtag on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook be damned.

Pens will draw the winner of the Hershey / Portland series which like I stated in the open will go at least four games with Game 4 set for next Saturday. It’s 1-1 heading to Hershey for Game 3 this Thursday. Game 5 would be Sunday, May 1 if necessary. You would think that Game 1 of the Atlantic Division Finals starts the following Wednesday at the very least.

I will keep you posted.

Sunday at some point I will have an update to my postseason charts. I will tweet a link sometime Sunday.

Now, go. Forget about hockey for at least a week. Rest up. We still have work to do.

Let’s Go Pens!

          vs.       

  3                                           4

–

Daniel Sprong is a highly touted prospect that was mismanaged in Pittsburgh earlier in the season and sent to his junior team. It’s been an up an down year and no doubt an emotional roller coaster ride for the 19 year old. No idea what is going though is head when his junior team, Charlottetown, is dismissed from the QMJHL playoffs and he heads to Wilkes-Barre and suits up for the Penguins in the span of about 48 hours.

Score goals. Big goals.

Two goals from Sprong, one the overtime game winner, and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Providence Bruins in the best of five series as the series shifts to Providence Saturday night with a 4-3 overtime win Thursday night in Wilkes-Barre.

The footnote in the game and the series is going to be what is going on in goal for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. Casey DeSmith led the team out for warmups and started and won his second straight game. Tristan Jarry was the backup again after initially being pegged to be the Game 2 starter.

You ride the hot hand if you are Clark Donatelli. The worst the Penguins could have done was a 1-1 split heading to Providence. If things fell apart for DeSmith, Jarry is right there.

Lines were…

Kael Mouillierat – Dustin Jeffrey – Dominik Simon
Jake Guentzel – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Mattias Plachta – J-S Dea – Josh Archibald
Tom Sestito – Teddy Blueger – Daniel Sprong

Niclas Andersen – Steve Oleksy
Ryan Parent – Barry Goers
Tim Erixon – Will O’Neill

Casey DeSmith – Tristan Jarry

Lineup Notes: There weren’t any. Patrick McGrath took warmups but was scratched.

First Period: Bad luck bit the Penguins.

They got the first power play of the game early but a Daniel Sprong turnover to Noel Acciari led to this…

–

…and the Bruins were up 1-0 on another shorthanded goal.

But the Penguins continued to pressure and hit the Bruins forwards at every opportunity. Pens couldn’t do anything with a full power play. It was looking like it was going to be 1-0 Bruins after one but then this happened…

–

Will O’Neill’s stick snaps in two on a clear and the puck sat there for Chris Casto to collect and score to make it 2-0 Bruins.

Providence just robbed the hen house with the wolf watching. Or something.

Second Period: But then the wolf woke up. And he was angry.

Penguins killed off a carryover 5×3 to start the period. Then they got one back when Tim Erixon unleashed a slapshot from the blue line.

–

Then Daniel Sprong atoned for his first period turnover and tied the game. Nice centering pass by Kael Mouillierat, Jeremy Smith didn’t know what hit him.

–

Shots were 8-3 Pens through half way of the second period. Every time Providence touched to puck, there was a Penguin player there ready to lower the boom. I counted one Providence shift where they turned the puck over three times on account of hits by the Penguins.

The offense wasn’t finished. The opposite of what happened last night in overtime happened when Tom Kostopoulos finished off this service by Carter Rowney.

–

I called it a meat grinder period by Wilkes-Barre with the home team playing the role of butchers and the Bruins playing the role of ground chuck. It was one of the most aggressive periods played by the Penguins all season and arguably the best period played under Clark Donatelli’s tutelage thus far.

Third Period: Providence didn’t take long to even the score at three. Frank Vatrano.

–

Providence needed to score a dirty goal and got one. Puck may have deflected off of DeSmith’s skate and in but nonetheless, the Bruins showed life.

Pens did a good job of killing a Bruins power play. Hitting picked up. Some borderline illegal, but it’s playoffs.

Nothing was decided. It was off to…

Overtime: DeSmith made a pad stop and the Bruins were hunting to finish the game. Then Nic Anderson took a puck over the glass delay of game penalty. Bruins to the power play with fresh ice. The Penguins appeared to have scored when Kael Mouillierat beat Jeremy Smith to a puck. Mouillierat knocked Smith over and the Penguins scored on the empty net. Referee Keith Kaval initially signaled goal but consulted with the linesmen and trailing referee Kendrick Nicholson and rightly washed the goal out on account of contact with Smith.

The Penguins killed the penalty.

Sprong ended it shortly there after…

–

That one counted.

The Penguins have played nearly perfect hockey so far this postseason. They have brought it to the Providence Bruins and the Bruins have not responded at all, other than to make the Penguins work that much harder to win. The Penguins have, the Bruins haven’t. The Penguins have all the momentum now. The Bruins are one or two sequences away now from their season being over.

Three Stars: 3) Carter Rowney (assist, -1) 2) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, -1) and 1) Daniel Sprong (two goals, +1)

Video highlights…

–

The series now shifts to Providence for Game 3 at 7:05. I will probably bring back my postseason charts for Friday with analysis of anything that the data I chart gives me. I may make a blog post out of it. I don’t know yet. Stay tuned.

Bruins in 4? Huh. What idiot said that.

Oh, wait.

Let’s Go Pens!

          vs.       

  2                                           3

–

Regular season accomplishments are fine and all, but when the playoffs start, all of the regular season accomplishments, records and what have you don’t mean a thing. Playoffs are their own animal.

For the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, they started the animal in the eye tonight, and it blinked.

A Carter Rowney overtime goal at 1:09 is enough to give the Penguins a 1-0 series lead and a 3-2 overtime win tonight.

The Penguins still need to win at least a game in Providence. Games 3 and 4 are there and if there is a Game 5 it is in Rhode Island as well.

Even if the Penguins would have lost this game tonight, they were only one or two adjustments away from completely turning the series around. Now that they have the series lead, they can really focus on putting the Bruins down for good when the series restarts for Game 2 Thursday.

It was Casey DeSmith vs. Jeremy Smith tonight in goal.

Lines were…

Kael Mouillierat – Dustin Jeffrey – Dominik Simon
Jake Guentzel – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Mattias Plachta – J-S Dea – Josh Archibald
Tom Sestito – Teddy Blueger – Daniel Sprong

Niclas Andersen – Steve Oleksy
Ryan Parent – Barry Goers
Tim Erixon – Will O’Neill

Casey DeSmith – Tristan Jarry

Lineup Notes: Patrick McGrath took warmups but was scratched. Tristan Jarry was reassigned by Pittsburgh in the morning and was the backup tonight and is pegged as the Game 2 starter.

First Period: Pens set the tone early getting the first four shots of the period. Providence quickly caught up on the shot board but DeSmith was up to the challenge. Much like Saturday the physicality and hitting was dialed up with the Pens dishing out the majority of the blows.

Carter Rowney won a face off to Will O’Neill. O’Neill put it towards goal and Jake Guentzel got a stick on it and it was 1-0 Pens.

–

It was the perfect reward for the Penguins who matched Providence’s speed. DeSmith played a solid 20 minutes with some tough saves.

Question was, could the intensity be sustained?

Second Period: The second period started out very well for the Penguins. :18 in, Dustin Jeffrey knocked one past Jeremy Smith to double the Penguins lead.

–

Casey DeSmith continued his sorcery in net denying Max Talbot twice in quick fashion.

–

But Providence is too stacked of a team to go one, no less two periods without scoring. The Pens were caught in a miscommunication and Seth Griffith knocked one in far post for an easy tap in and the Bruins were dangerously back within one.

–

The final five minutes were crucial here for the Penguins to either re-establish the two goal lead or take it to the break as it was and not get scored on again. They escaped up 2-1 heading into the…

Third Period: Penguins played well, but got bit on a shorthanded goal by Colby Cave that tied the game at two:

–

The Bruins were trying to slow the game down and it worked. They were looking for their spot and found it when Cave scored shorthanded. Again, the Pens played well, but could not muster another one past Smith and it was heading to…

Overtime: Carter Rowney.

–

Pens chipped a puck in deep. Tom Kostopoulos got to it, centered to Rowmey who knocked it in. I don’t think Providence touched the puck once in the overtime only just to knock it out of their zone.

Three Stars: 3) Casey DeSmith (31 saves on 33 shots) 2) Dustin Jeffrey (goal, even) 1) Carter Rowney (overtime game winning goal, assist, +1)

Video highlights….

–

I do not think that there is any doubt that Clark Donatelli goes to Tristan Jarry for Game 2. Casey DeSmith did what he was supposed to do, stop pucks while the starting guy was on recall to Pittsburgh. He did a fine job of it and if Jarry were to fall ill or get recalled back to Pittsburgh at some point down the line I have the full faith in his abilities. But Pittsburgh wants Jarry to get the playoff experience and that is what they will get.

Expect Providence’s best Thursday. They did not play a great overall game and at times were frustrated by the Penguins physicality. Expect them to crank it up looking to even the series up heading back to Rhode Island Saturday for Game 3.

Gameday for Game 2 hits the blog Thursday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

        @       

1                                         2

–

In a game that meant nothing to Hershey seeding wise and a game that still had substance to a Penguins team who needed to win and get outside help to overtake the Providence Bruins for the two  seed in the Atlantic Division and home ice, it was the play of Bears ECHL callup Vitek Vanecek that helped the Hershey Bears defeat the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins 2-1 in a shootout.

Vanecek is a name that Penguins fans need to get familiar with as he is next in the Hershey pipeline of excellent goaltenders that have gone through there. With half of a team in front of him with the Bears resting regulars like AHL MVP Chris Bourque, he stopped 25 of 26 shots and was perfect in the shootout round to help his team win a meaningless points game for them but showed a preview of coming attractions of sorts for the Bears fans, coaching and management.

He opposed Casey DeSmith.

Lines were…

Kael Mouillierat – Dustin Jeffrey – Dominik Simon
Jake Guentzel – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Mattias Plachta – J-S Dea – Jarrett Burton
Josh Archibald – Teddy Blueger – Patrick McGrath

Ryan Parent – Steve Olesky
Tim Erixon – Ethan Prow
Will O’Neill – Barry Goers

Casey DeSmith – Sean Maguire

Lineup Notes: Tom Sestito was sent down from Pittsburgh in the morning. Niclas Andersen and Harrison Ruopp played Saturday but were out of the lineup for Ethan Prow and Ryan Parent. Adam Krause and Tyler Biggs were out as well with Jarrett Burton and Patrick McGrath in for Krause and Biggs. Casey DeSmith started his third game in a row, making it the first time since John Curry did it for the Penguins back in January 2011.

First Period: No scoring but the Penguins had two power plays they couldn’t do anything with on Vanecek making is AHL pro debut up from South Carolina in the ECHL. Pens looked like they carried the momentum in the period but couldn’t get anything past. Shots after one were 10-5 Penguins.

Second Period: It was shaping up to be one of those games where the only thing that happened was a team taking a penalty. The Bears took one, the Pens took three. Neither team scored. The Penguins only had two shots on goal through about 11:30 played in the period. One sequence that happened was Ryan Parent chipping a puck past a Bears defensemen and centering to Patrick McGrath that nearly chipped one past Vanacek.

Third Period: Riley Barber finally broke the scoreless deadlock with a rocket of a shot on the power play…

–

…that game the Bears a 1-0 lead.

J-S Dea took a penalty and Vanecek denied Dustin Jeffrey shorthanded.

Then a moment which may be a bit of a concern for the Penguins going forward, Madison Bowey took a shot that clipped DeSmith up high…

–

…DeSmith would finish out the shift but at the next stoppage was replaced by Sean Maguire who was making his pro debut. Talk about getting tossed out of the frying pan, into the fire, right?

Casey DeSmith would go to the locker room and was not seen at all the rest of the game.

Dustin Jeffrey scored on a nice drop pass by Josh Archibald that tied it and spoiled the Vanecek shutout…

–

Pens took two penalties late which gave the Bears a 5-on-3 power play heading into…

Overtime: Wilkes-Barre was able to kill it all off then after a stoppage played three on three with 1:40 to play. No one scored.

Shootout: Christian Djoos and Riley Barber scored in Rounds 2 and 3, Carter Rowney and Dustin Jeffrey were both denied in their attempts and the Bears took home the extra point.

Three Stars: 3) Casey DeSmith (21 saves on 22 shots) 2) Jakub Vrana (power play goal, even) and 1) Vitek Vanacek (25 saves on 26 shots)

Donatelli to Tom postgame on the status of DeSmith:

–

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley beats Syracuse 5-2…Providence beats Bridgeport 6-1 and as a result are the two seed…Portland beats Springfield 3-1.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were actually pulling into Wheeling, West Virginia just as the Pens / Bears game went final. They took a sleeper bus down and back to Estero, Florida. Game 3 is this week between the Nailers and Everblades.

Note: Daniel Sprong’s junior team was eliminated from the playoffs tonight. Sprong is tabbed to join the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins fairly soon.he was 4-11-15 in 12 games for his Charlottetown Islanders side.

Here is the first round playoff schedule for the Penguins and Bruins:

–

AHL only makes teams travel once in the first round. It must be a building issue for the Bruins with the Penguins opening up playoffs Wednesday.

Anyway, if I see video highlights of tonight’s game and can work in an edit, I will put them up later.

I will update my charts for the final time this regular season and have the final AHL Power Rankings up on the blog sometime Monday. I haven’t decided when. I would like to do a quick AHL Calder Cup Playoff Preview for all the teams and offer predictions before the full workup for Pens / Bruins on Tuesday. Stay tuned here on the blog.

Let’s Go Pens!

          vs.       

  3                                           1

–

The Providence Bruins and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins better get used to one another. They will be seeing a lot of one another in the coming weeks.

That is because with a Hershey Bears win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tonight, the Bears win the Atlantic Division and the Providence Bruins and Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are playing for second place and home ice in their five game series which should begin next weekend.

So tonight, a 3-1 Bruins win, was a playoff preview.

Long and short of things, this was a competitive game that the Penguins were in until the very end. The issue that doomed the Penguins besides the fact that they faced a well coached team with its full compliment of players was the 0-f0r-6 on the power play. The Penguins could not score on the power play tonight in a close game and it cost them. How many times is that said, seen or heard in these types of games?

So tomorrow decides home ice. Pens are in Hershey facing a Bears team with nothing left to play for in their final game of the regular season as division champions and the Providence Bruins head to Bridgeport where the Sound Tigers are still jockeying for playoff positioning. Here is how the scenarios can play out on the AHL’s final day of the regular season:

–

For this game, Casey DeSmith opposed Jeremy Smith. No lineup changes were made for the Pens but for Harrison Ruopp in for Etahn Prow on defense.

Pens had their awards pregame, here is who went home with what:

–

First Period: Providence jumped out early and took control but it was Casey DeSmith that made a diving save to keep the Pens in it and the game goalless. Pens had a power play that they couldn’t score on but had many looks. Then, Jake Genteel led Carter Rowney up ice on a two on one and Rowney finished to give the Pens a 1-0 lead…

–

Every whistle was met with pushing and shoving. The Penguins were the more physical team on the ice and it was frustrating the Bruins.

Shots at the end of one were 20-9 Penguins. Wilkes-Barre subtly dominated the period.

Second Period: But with a lineup full of starts like Austin Czarina, Alex Khokhlachev and Frank Vatrano, in a one goal game, that isn’t enough.

Through two consecutive power plays, the Pens only had one shot on the board.

Finally the Bruins were moving their skates to a point to where they forced a Penguin power play. It did not take long for Providence to finally break through and score on their first power play of the season against the Penguins. Austin Czarink scored on the far dot off of a one timer and it was a tie game.

DeSmith came up big denying Co-Rookie of the Year Frank Vatrano on a breakaway.

It was 1-1 going into the third. Tom had this observation…

–

And this was a period where it was 10-3 in shots favoring the Bruins.

Third Period: Czarnik again. Quick transitioning play and it was 2-1 Bruins.

Pens had two more chances to score on the power play in the period but couldn’t. With DeSmith eventually pulled for the extra man, the Penguins never found the equalizer.

I tweeted this with 18.2 seconds left…

–

What a jinx I am.

–

–

Three Stars: 3) Alex Khokhlachev (two assists, +1) 2) Carter Rowney (goal, -1) 1) Austin Czarnik (two goals, +1)

Around the Division: Hershey beats Lehigh Valley 4-2 to lock up the Atlantic Division Championship…Bridgeport loses in Albany 3-0 in a game that had 280 penalty minutes. No, that’s right, two hundred and eighty penalty minutes….Hartford loses in St. John’s 2-1…Springfield beats Portland in overtime 3-2.

Standings: Hershey (.640 points percentage) — Providence (.620) — Penguins (.607) — Portland (.587) — Bridgeport (.580) — Hartford (.559) — Lehigh Valley (.487) — Springfield (.400)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers lost 4-1 in Game 2 of the Kelly Cup Semifinals to the Florida Everblades that ties the series 1-1. The series shifts to Wheeling April 20. Anton Zlobin had the goal for the Nailers in the loss.

Pens and Bears go off Sunday at 5. Gameday setup for that hits the blog Sunday at 1.

Let’s Go Pens!