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Home Game: 32

AHL Game: 986

Who: Providence Bruins

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m.

Media Kit

Last Game: Last night in Binghamton the Pens won 3-2 in overtime. Kael Mouillierat scored in overtime to win the game for the Pens. Tom Kostopoulos had the other two goals on the power play. For Providence, the Bruins were in Allentown last night and lost 4-3 to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Bruins were down 3-1 and battled back to tie it at three, but the Phantoms would not be denied the victory.

Last Meeting: February 28 in Providence the Pens lost 3-2. Carter Rowney and Dominik Simon collected goals for the Pens in the loss.

Record: For WBS 40-21-4-1 (85 pts. 1st place Atlantic Division) — For PRO: 34-20-9-3 (80 pts., 3rd place Atlantic Division)

Why you should care: Expect a mad Providence team tonight. The Bruins had no business losing to the Phantoms last night who snapped an eight game losing streak by beating Providence last night. The Pens will need to be cautiously aggressive tonight with a Providence team that is extremely dangerous.

Referee(s): Fred Leblanc / Jake Brenk

Linesmen: Richard Jondo / Scott Pomento

Twitter: @WBSPenguins / @WBSGameDay / @AHLBruins

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /providencebruins

Instagram: wbspenguins / ahlbruins

Beat Writers: @CVSethLakso and @TLTomVenesky / @MarkDivver

Broadcasters: WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / PRO: Nick Gagalis @NickGagalis

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep 

Radio: For WBS: WILK NewsRadio / For Providence: WNRI 1380 AM

Television: AHL Live and on MyNetworkTV local in Wilkes-Barre

Promotion(s): Super Hero Night

Other Game to Watch: Since the division is such a dead heat between the Pens and Bears, we are going Hershey hosting Albany tonight.

Next Five Games: SPR 3/29, BRI 4/2, POR 4/3, LV 4/8, @ HER 4/9

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You kind of expected that the Binghamton Senators would come out tonight and put up more of a fight than they did Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre.

They did tonight, And it still wasn’t enough. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins win the game tonight by a score of 3-2 in overtime.

The Penguins were threw a lot of curveballs tonight. Three hit posts in the first period. They bottled up Binghamton to the tune of just 18 shots against but got scored on twice on the power play and at times appeared to be chasing the game at key moments but still somehow found a way to win the game. It was a big two points that they could have easily let slip away.

Tristan Jarry opposed Matt O’Connor

Lines were…

Dominik Simon – J-S Dea – Adam Krause
Mattias Plachta – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Jake Guentzel – Kael Mouillierat – Josh Archibald
Tom Sestito – Jarrett Burton – Teddy Blueger

Tim Erixon – Steve Oleksy
Niclas Andersen – Harrison Ruopp
Will O’Neill – Barry Goers

Tristan Jarry – Franky Palazzese

Lineup Notes: Blunger made his pro debut and took the spot of Dustin Jeffrey, who missed the game because his wife had a baby. Congrats to the Jeffrey family.

First Period: Period was divided into two halves. One, where the Pens took two penalties and got scored on the power play when Michael Keranen scored from the far dot while a Binghamton player was laying on Tim Erixon’s stick. Then the Penguins settled in the second half of the period and got a power play goal of their own by Tom Kostopoulos on the doorstep while the Penguins were on a 5-on-3.

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Shots ended up being 9-3 in favor of the Penguins who despite the large shot difference, looked like they were chasing the game at times.

Second Period: Pens ran into more penalty troubles. On another five on three, Binghamton scored again when Casey Bailey one timed a shot from the far side to put the B-Sens up 2-1 again.

But the Penguins fought back and got a few power play opportunities and Tom Kostopoulos scored his second of the game on a tap in that tied it at two for the Penguins.

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Third Period: Tom Sestito and Zack Stortini fought each other. Here is the video of the fight captured on my iPhone:

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Binghamton headed to the power play and  the thought was, ‘ here we go again’ but the Penguins did a fine job of not allowing the Senators a shot on goal during the power play.

Will O’Neill had a memorable shift. He created a two on one opportunity with him and Tom Sestito then skated all the way back to break up a B-Sens odd man rush all in the span of about thirty seconds.

Sestito had another chance to score when Jarrett Burton picked off a Senators exit pass and fed Sestito but he couldn’t tap the pass from Burton by O’Connor.

Overtime: Tristan Jarry had a big stop on Phil Varone in the first minute of overtime then Barry Goers pounced on a clear by the Senators, passed to Mattias Plachta who dropped it back to Goers who shot it. The puck hits the post, doesn’t cross the line before Kael Mouillierat poked it across to give the Penguins the overtime win.

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The win was the Penguins fourth in a row and got them to 40 wins in the season. The 40 wins in a season is significant because the Penguins set an AHL record with 11 consecutive 40 win seasons.

All that is left is clinching a playoff berth. The magic number drops to 11.

Three Stars: 3) Jason Akeson (two assists) 2) Tom Kostopoulos (two goals) and 1) Kael Mouillierat (overtime game winning goal, assist)

Around the Division: Hershey beat Utica 2-1 in overtime to stay in lockstep with the Penguins for the division lead….Lehigh Valley beat Providence 4-3 to snap their long losing streak…Hartford beats Bridgeport 2-1 in overtime and Portland beat Springfield 4-3.

Standings: Penguins (.644 percentage points) — Hershey (.644) — Providence (.606) — Bridgeport (.590) — Portland (.577) — Hartford (.568) — Lehigh Valley (.470) — Springfield (.415)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers lost 6-4 in Kalamazoo to the Wings.

If I see any infographics or video highlights, I will try to work the edits in.

Pens are home Saturday night against Providence. I will not be at that game, as I will be with family for Easter but I still plan on having the Gameday setup and a postgame recap for you Saturday night some time.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Late in the second period of this game and with the Penguins cruising 4-0, I had the thought of a tank that was running out of control downhill. That was the story of this game, a 5-0 Penguins win against the Binghamton Senators.

The Senators had come into the game winning four games in a row and were looking to slow the momentum of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins who had just finished a weekend sweep of their bitter rivals in Hershey.

A sleepy Wednesday night game against an opponent well out of the playoff discussion. The definition of a trap game, if there ever was one.

But not tonight. The Penguins got on the board early, dominated the visitors in large portions the entire game and methodically win the hockey game to remain in first place in the Atlantic Division. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot shrinks to 13.

Tristan Jarry opposed Chris Driedger.

Lines were…

Dominik Simon – Dustin Jeffrey – Adam Krause
Mattias Plachta – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Jake Guentzel – Kael Mouillierat – Josh Archibald
Tom Sestito – Jarrett Burton – J-S Dea

Tim Erixon – Steve Oleksy
Will O’Neill – Barry Goers
Niclas Andersen – Harrison Ruopp

Tristan Jarry – Franky Palazzese

Lineup Notes: Nic Andersen was back in the lineup and Reid McNeill was out sick. Jake Guentzel made his professional debut on the third line with old college buddy Josh Archibald and Kael Mouillierat. Patrick McGrath took warmups but was scratched.

First Period: Period zipped by with no penalties and few stoppages. The Pens got on the board quickly as Carter Rowney banged home his 21st goal of the season:

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That goal extended Rowney’s career best point streak to eight games. He has 15 points (7G-8A) during the run.

Shots were 12-4 Penguins who controlled the period in large chunks.

Second Period: Despite the good start by the Pens, it was still just a one goal game.

The Penguins took care of that quickly.

Dominik Simon collected this puck from out of the air, let it settle and knocked it in on a Penguin power play:

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The Penguins then continued to dominate the offensive zone time. Harrison Ruopp connected with J-S Dea and Dea whipped home this one for a 3-0 Wilkes-Barre lead.

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That was Harrison Ruopp’s first ever AHL point.

Kael Mouillierat and Josh Archibald started up ice and Mouillierat fed Archibald who tapped it in for a 4-0 Pens lead.

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At this point the tank was rolling downhill, obliterating everything in its path.

In the next shift, Zack Stortini tagged Tim Erixon hard into the boards. Josh Archibald then fought Travis Ewanyk.

Third Period: Simon added his second power play goal of the night putting home a rebound of a shot by Tom Kostopoulos that iced the game away and drowned any Binghamton hopes of a comeback:

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Pens killed two consecutive Binghamton power plays quite easily.

Harrison Ruopp, clearly feeling the momentum of picking up his first AHL point, then fought Buddy Robinson. Here is tail end footage of the fight:

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Penguins then had a power play and spent the entire time in the offensive zone but could not connect.

Tristan Jarry didn’t see many pucks in the game, so the only question would be would he collect the shutout. He was dialed in and stopped a quick developing chance by Binghamton who was looking to break up the clean sheet by the Penguins rookie netminder.

I thought that Jake Genteel had a fine debut. He has a nose for the puck, can skate, and doesn’t want you to blink or else you will miss his shot. Once he rounds into form and eases into the pro game, he should be fine.

Three Stars: 3) J-S Dea (goal, assist, +1) 2) Dominik Simon (two goals, even) and 1) Tristan Jarry (20 save shutout)

Around the Division: The Hershey Bears took out a weekend of frustration out on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and defiled the Phantoms 8-0….Portland beats Bridgeport 6-3….Providence edges Hartford 3-2 in overtime. Springfield was off.

Standings: Penguins (.638 percentage points) — Hershey (.638) — Providence (.615) — Bridgeport (.591) — Portland (.570) — Hartford (.562) — Lehigh Valley (.462) — Springfield (.422)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers lost 1-0 in overtime out in Fort Wayne, Indiana to the Komets.

Video highlights…

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Rematch between these to teams is Friday in Binghamton. Don’t be surprised if Franky Palazzese starts that one to keep Jarry fresh for Providence Saturday at home in a game which has bigger implications.

Let’s Go Pens!

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What a weekend for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins as compared to weekends past.

Two games with their biggest rivals looking to overtake them in a weekend with a lineup patched together by ECHL talent and some high profile trades against a Hershey Bears side firing with all cylinders driving towards a playoff spot gunning towards a twelfth Calder Cup Championship.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins played the brick wall that the Hershey Bears crashed into this weekend.

A thrilling, come from behind victory by the Penguins overcoming a two goal deficit in the third period to win 6-5 in overtime. With the win, both teams are tied in games played, points and percentage points but due to the first tie breaker which is most regulation or overtime wins, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are again in first place in the Atlantic Division.

Gobs of video to look at in this game recap. Hit the jump if you didn’t link in direct.

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This game was a lot closer than the scoreline would indicate.

The shots at one point of the second period were 19-9 Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. Then the Hershey Bears took the game over from a standpoint of it felt like they were on a perpetual power play.

A lot of turning points from this one but the one that stood out the most was a third period stand with about seven minutes played where the Hershey Bears set up shop in their offensive zone and continually cycled the puck and continually generated chance after chance at Tristan Jarry and an already tired Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defensive corps trailing 2-1.

Another turning point you could say was the Bears inability to score on any of the five power play opportunities that the referees awarded them tonight.

It was a game that the Penguins were prepared for and one that they executed the game plan perfectly.

The final tonight was 4-1 Penguins, but the game was much closer than that as it was 2-1 late and the Bears in desperation mode pulled starting goaltender Dan Ellis in favor of an extra attacker for an empty net while the Penguins found the empty net twice.

Lines were…

Kael Mouillierat – Dustin Jeffrey – Dominik Simon
Mattias Plachta – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Sestito – J-S Dea – Josh Archibald
Adam Krause – Jarrett Burton – Patrick McGrath

Tim Erixon – Steve Oleksy
Reid McNeill – Barry Goers
Ryan Parent – Will O’Neill

Tristan Jarry – Franky Palazzese

First Period: Bears power play woes would get started off the bat when Carter Rowney had a Grade A chance on a shorthanded try on a Penguins clear. He skated in unabated towards Ellis and was denied but in the scrum that ensued Chris Bourque was penalized for roughing.

The Penguins would get a full two minutes of five on three when the Bears were called for two separate penalties but would not cash on the two man advantage. Will O’Neill was slashed but referee Cameron Voss thought that he sold the play a bit too much and also put O’Neill in the box for embellishment so the teams were four-on-three. In that sequence, Tom Kostopoulos knocked home a loose puck on the crease of Ellis to put the Penguins ahead 1-0.

How crucial is it for the Penguins to score the first goal with half of the regulars up in Pittsburgh? I should dig up the stat line on scoring first under Donatelli.

Hershey would respond 1:09 later as Travis Boyd took a shot that Riley Barber pounced on and poked home to tie the game at one.

Then Tom Sestito fought Liam OBrien. Video…

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Liam O’Brien, channeling his inner Dennis Bonvie, did the following after the fight…

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I suppose that O’Brien didn’t take kindly to getting punched in the head by Sestito after being prone on the ice. Sestito was assessed a ten minute misconduct for continuing the fight, so O’Brien’s antics were justified in my eyes. Total heel move doing that three or four times to the Wilkes-Barre faithful, but hey, as the band ‘The Jam’ used to sing, “That’s Entertainment.”

Second Period: Penguins would edge ahead on a shot from Barry Goers at the point that would get tipped in by Dustin Jeffrey to give the Pens a 2-1 lead.

Then, the turning point I referenced in the lede.

Bears would go on a power play and only manage one shot on goal at Jarry. An adjustment had to have been made by Bears head coach Troy Mann because Hershey set up shop in the Penguins end and stayed there the remainder of the game. They forced the Pens into a too many men on the ice call when the Pens were hemmed in deep and were trying to exchange tired bodies for fresh ones.

The Penguins killed that penalty but the pressure was mounting into the…

Third Period: Tristan Jarry robbed Christian Djoos coming down the slot with the glove that I hope runs in the Coal Street highlight reel package I can embed later because it was a highlight reel save.

Then, the stand.

Bears set up and just came with chance after chance at the Penguins keeping the puck in the zone and not allowing for the Penguins to clear or Jarry to cover up. Barry Goers made a big block that he told Tom about postgame…

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It really felt like a continual power play for Hershey, but the Penguins withstood it all and came out unscathed.

Teams traded power plays but neither could score. Then Mann pulled Ellis giving the Bears the extra attacker. Dustin Jeffrey flipped one in the air from about 160′ away that found the Bears empty net to give the Penguins a 3-1 lead.

Ellis was pulled again and this time Tom Sestito of all people scored which made it 4-1 and made Chris Bourque mighty angry…

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Bourque was assessed a 10 minute misconduct for his antics. He was mad that the linesman missed Josh Archibald potentially being offsides during the sequence that led to the Sestito goal.

Three Stars: 3) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, even) 2) Dustin Jeffrey (two goals including the game winner, +2) and 1) Tristan Jarry (25 saves n 26 shots)

Barry Goers to Tom postgame:

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Won’t have long to wait. These two teams rematch Sunday afternoon.

Around the Division: Providence goes into Toronto and wins 5-4. Despite the loss though the Marlies are the first team to clinch a playoff berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs….Bridgeport beats Portland 2-1 in overtime…Hartford beats Springfield 4-3 in a shootout. Lehigh Valley was off.

Standings: Hershey (.635) — Penguins (.627) — Providence (.603) — Bridgeport (.594) — Portland (.556) — Hartford (.556) — Lehigh Valley (.477) — Springfield (.435)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers win in Kalamazoo by the score of 5-2. John McCarron had a goal for the Nailers in the win.

Coal Street infographic…

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And video highlights…

The Gameday setup for what is essentially first place in the Atlantic Division will hit the blog Sunday at 1.

Let’s Go Pens!

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If the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins lose out to the Hershey Bears for the Atlantic Division Championship at the end of the year by a few points, it will be this weekend here that they can point back to and say cost them. Or, at the very least, this weekend will have played a big part.

But for one lineup change for both teams, it was the same teams and just a different day. Same goaltenders too, with Tristan Jarry opposing Stephon Williams again. It was the same scoreline as well, a 3-2 win for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

The Sound Tigers started the weekend in Syracuse Friday and lost 5-2. They came to Wilkes-Barre with a goaltender that gave up five goals the last time he saw the Pens and were stymied by him Saturday. Today, they were lulled to sleep by the Sound Tigers and Justin Florek scores all the goals for Bridgeport and beat a Penguins team that had come into the weekend winners of three of their last four games. A Penguins team decimated by call-ups that was still managing to keep its head above water.

Not so fun fact: The first ever hat trick scored by a Bridgeport Sound Tiger against the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

So a crushing weekend for a Wilkes-Barre team pursuing first place being pursued by a Providence team on a tear for second or higher. It will be interesting to see how Clark Donatelli prepares his team for a huge weekend against the Hershey Bears in a weekend home and home next weekend.

I have a lot of videos here in this recap, so hit the jump if you didn’t link in direct…

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In my Rapid Recap tonight, I used a run-on sentence to sum up the play of Bridgeport Sound Tigers starting goaltender Stephon Williams tonight and summed up the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins night as a whole.

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A puck left harmlessly in the crease of Williams as the Penguins were pressing for the third goal late may have been another key to the way this one went, a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Penguins were unable to take over first place in the Atlantic Division with Hershey losing 2-1 to St. John’s earlier in the evening.

Williams was opposed by Tristan Jarry, back from illness.

Lines were…

Kael Mouillierat – Dustin Jeffrey – Josh Archibald
Mattias Plachta – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Ty Loney – J-S Dea – Adam Krause
Jarrett Burton – Oskar Sundqvist – Patrick McGrath

Will O’Neill – Barry Goers
Tim Erixon – Steve Oleksy
Reid McNeill – Niclas Andersen

Tristan Jarry – Franky Palazzese

Lineup Notes: Harrison Ruopp skated the extra in warmups. As eluded to in the lede, Conor Sheary and Dominik Simon were recalled to Pittsburgh an hour and a half before the game in the wake of the news that Evgeni Malkin will miss 6-8 weeks with a wrist upper body injury. In the Simon / Sheary transaction, Tom Sestito was sent back. Coal Street earlier in the day recalled Adam Krause. Krause is the twelfth player from Wheeling that started the season there. Seth mined a gem that the Pens have averaged roughly one new call-up from the ECHL affiliate in West Virginia very five games this season.

First Period: Stephon Williams was quickly introducing himself to the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and was clearly in revenge mode. The last time that Sound Tigers head coach Brent Thompson put Williams out there to face the Penguins, they put five pucks behind him. Not this time. Williams slides over to stop Josh Archibald one-thing a shot from a Kael Mouillierat setup on a 2-on-1 and then later Ty Loney took a shot from the high slot that Adam Krause got to but Williams got over in time to deny.

Turning point of the game would end up coming 10:52 into the first period when Kane Lafranchise tripped Mattias Plachta then four seconds later Matt Careener took a cross checking penalty and the Penguins were on a 5-on-3 for 1:56. The Penguins could not score. Bridgeport ground through and Williams made stop after stop with his glove.

Then Adam Krause found himself alone in on a breakaway. Not only did Williams stop Krause, he denied the rebound attempt then lost his stick then stopped the puck in his chest.

The Penguins threw 16 shots at Williams and he stopped them all.

Second Period: A dirty goal was going to be the only thing that beat this hot Bridgeport goaltender in Stephon Williams. Who else but Tom Kostopoulous to deliver it on a power play that made it 1-0 in favor of the Penguins:

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While the teams were four-on-four, Steve Oleksy blocks an initial shot but the puck caromed right to Colin Markison who had all day and all the space needed to fire one past Jarry that made it 1-1.

Dustin Jeffrey attempted a shot through  heavy screen. Any mortal goaltender is fishing that one out of his net and the Pens are glove tapping to Val Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love” in front of a bunch of fans wearing ecto plasma St. Patricks’ Day Penguins themed hats, but not Stephon Williams. He made the glove save like David Wright sees a line drive at third base for the New York Mets.

Third Period: Bridgeport scored to make it 2-1 off a quick developing 2-on-1 that Carter Verhaeghe blew by Jarry. Will O’Neill tossed a shot into traffic that got blocked by Bridgeport which resulted in the odd man rush.

Oh, that Williams guy. His glove had eyes I tell you. A Tim Erixon shot from the point through bodies is gloved by the Bridgeport netminder.

Then the Sound Tigers made it 3-1 on a power play when James Wright takes the shot from the point and Mike Halmo deflects the puck past the five hole of Jarry to make it 3-1. Deflating goal to give up considering the Sound Tigers power play is ranked 29th overall in the AHL and dead last on the road.

Pens couldn’t score on a power play but figured it out and scored on another when Kael Mouillierat ripped a shot off a face-off win just two second into the man advantage that made it 3-2.

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Then Carter Rowney was denied of a goal that I celebrated as one from my seat that surely should have gone in but was swept away at the last second that ultimately preserved the win for the Sound Tigers. With Jarry pulled, the Penguins never found the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Carter Rowney (two assists, -1) 2) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, -1) and 1) Mike Halmo (goal, assist, +1)

If I was the one picking three stars it would have been 3) Rowney 2) Halmo and 1) Williams 30 saves on 32 shots)

Carter Rowney picked up two assists, giving him nine points (5-4-9) in his last four games. I think he is making a case for AHL Player of the Week. We will see.

Around the Division: You know about the Hershey loss from the lede but let me link that 2-1 loss to the IceCaps here…Lehigh Valley lost in Hartford 4-2…Springfield beat Portland 3-2 in a shootout and Providence continues the home point streak that dates back to December 4 with a 3-2 overtime win against the Toronto Marlies.

Standings: Hershey (.639 percentage points) — Penguins (.631) — Providence (.600) — Bridgeport (.574) — Portland (.568) — Hartford (.533) — Lehigh Valley (.484) — Springfield (.432)

All of a sudden it’s Providence who is snaking up on Hershey and Wilkes-Barre for first or second in the division. The P-Bruins have a game in hand on both the Bears and the Penguins, too.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers won tonight at home against the Kalamazoo Wings by a score of 4-2. Brian Foster stopped 18 of 20, including a penalty shot. Cody Wydo had two goals.

Coal Street infographic and the video highlights…

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These two teams rematch Sunday at 5. It’s an hour sooner than you think. Make sure you set your clocks ahead an hour.

Let’s Go Pens!