Chirps from Center Ice

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These aren’t your uncle’s Worcester Sharks.

This Sharks team won six games in a row coming into tonight’s game and were three point behind the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins for the four seed. Worcester isn’t a pushover. They are a damn good team and this was on full display tonight as the Penguins do a lot of things right but lose 4-2.

Prior to the game, Pittsburgh announced the recall of Taylor Chorney, assigned Kasperi Kapanen from his Finland team and Wilkes-Barre recalled Clark Seymour.

In another move, this report that the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have signed a kid by the name of Adam Krause. Krause was the captain of the Minnesota-Deluth team. That’s all I know about him. He will start his pro career in Wheeling and help the Nailers make a push towards playoffs, learn the pro game and will get here eventually.

Jeff Zatkoff vs. Aaron Dell

Lines were…

Scott Wilson – Andrew Ebbett – Tom Kostopoulos
Bryan Rust – Jayson Megna – Josh Archibald
Tom Kuhnhackl – Matia Marcantuoni – Dominik Uher
Pierre Leblond – Adam Payerl – Bobby Farnham

Scott Harrington – Brian Dumoulin
Danny Syvret – Alex Boak
Nick D’Agostino – Clark Seymour

Jeff Zatkoff – Matt Murray

Carter Rowney missed the game with what Mike O’Brien called a, “day to day upper body injury.” Add Harrison Ruopp to that list also with the same malady. J-S Dea was the extra that took warmups but was scratched.

Quick blurb on Rowney, I would add that the has been the best player on the ice for the Penguins on a most consistent basis for Wilkes-Barre for the better part of a month and a half.

First Period: Penguins did everything right in this period but score. Lots of offensive zone time, a power play opportunity, but it was the Sharks that scored in the final minute after Nikolay Goldobin scored his first pro goal after swooping around the net and beating Zatkoff to the post.

Second Period: The question coming into this period was how the Penguins would respond to start after dominating the period but getting scored on in the final minute. The answer was no issue. The Penguins would go on a power play and Danny Syvret would score through bodies to even the score at one.

But Worcester would edge ahead after a faceoff win in the offensive zone that saw Willie Coetzee squeak a shot past Zatkoff and in for a 2-1 lead.

Teams would trade 4×4 opportunities to close out the period leading to the….

Third Period: Bad defensive zone coverage by the Penguins and the Ryan Campbell scored to make it 3-1. John Hynes called his time out. I would call it out of frustration, as the Penguins were doing a lot of things right but still trailed 3-1.

It didn’t matter. The Sharks would score on a power play with Daniil Tarasov scored to make it 4-1.

Dell wouldn’t fully cover a puck and Dominik Uher would swoop in from no where to make it 4-2, but the Penguins would not get any closer. It was the first goal scored on the Sharks even strength in 178:50 of play between the two teams. This math provided by The Great Daryl Hunt of Sharks Page.

Penguins ran out of time to mount anything that resembled a comeback and that was that.

Three Stars: 3) Tom Kuhnhackl (two assists, -1) 2) Nickolay Golobin (goal, assist, even) and 1) Daniil Tarasov (goal, assist, even)

Around the Division: Binghamton beat Lehigh Valley 4-3. Hershey lost to Norfolk in Virginia 4-0.

Standings: Hershey 92 — Penguins 85 — Lehigh Valley 69 — Binghamton 68 — Norfolk 57

Conference: MCH (98) 2) HER (92) 3) SYR (89) 4) WBS (85) 5) WOR (84) 6) HFD (83) 7) PRO (83) 8) POR (81)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers, needing a win, lose to last place Evansville by a score of 6-1. Zack Torquato had the only goal for Wheeling in the loss.

SendToNews Highlights: Not up yet. You never like to see losing highlights anyway.

Phantoms in town for a 7:05 start against the Penguins. Gameday for that will be up at 3 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

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At the end of the day, a win is a win.

If you stuck around and watched the final seven minutes of this 4-3 win by the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, you saw the Hartford Wolf Pack get two desperation goals to make it a game, but a game with under a minute to go.

Two big third period goals by Dominik Uher were enough insurance for the Penguins to hold on and win, separate themselves from the fifth place Wolf Pack and shrink the magic number to clinch playoffs down to 5 points. Realistically, the Penguins can punch their ticket to their thirteenth straight playoff appearance this weekend.

Jeff Zatkoff vs. Mackenzie Skapski

Personnel News: J-S Dea was sent to Wheeling in the afternoon….Matt Murray won AHL Goaltender of the Month for the second consecutive month, the first AHL Goaltender to do so since Phillippe Sauve for Hershey in 2002…Taylor Chorney was a late scratch for the Penguins tonight, presumably recalled to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who played a defenseman short again tonight.

First Period: Alex Boak misplayed a puck in his own zone, was dispossessed by the Hartford forecheck and Oscar Lindberg scored to make it 1-0 Wolf Pack 4:00 in. The Penguins were flat to start and did not register a single shot on goal until 6:44 left in the period. Jeff Zatkoff kept the Penguins in the game during the period. Final shots on goal was 13-4 Hartford after the first period.

Second Period: Period started with the Penguins on a carryover power play from the first period. Here’s how bad that went. The Penguins were whistled for a deliberate offside which brought the faceoff in their own end. Hartford easily killed it and hit a post seconds after.

Finally, the Penguins got to the cycle. Hartford was on their heels. It felt like the Penguins were building momentum and that if they slipped and allowed to let the Wolf Pack to score to make the score 2-0, that it would be game over.

It didn’t happen. Tom Kuhnhackl found Brian Dumoulin at the far wall, who saw a streaking Jayson Megna cutting down the slot. Dumoulin shot the puck at Megna’s stick and Megna was able to deflect home the puck for a tie game. Next level a) shot pass by Dumoulin and b) defection by Megna to manufacture a goal in that sequence.

More forechecking by the Penguins. Hartford was forced to ice. Dylan McIlrath roughed Tom Kostopoulos. Penguins power play. Then Chris Bourque goes for slashing. Full Penguin five-on-three for 63 seconds. Penguins time out.

Turning point. Get one here and it’s an entirely different ballgame from here in.

Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Oh man, they aren’t going to score here. Pass. Pass. GOAL! Scott Wilson put it on net and Tom Kostopoulos, parked right in front, deflected it in for a 2-1 Penguin lead.

The fact that the Penguins came out flatter than a pancake in the first period was long forgotten.

The Wolf Pack would get 1:32 of their own five-on-three but not score on it. You could argue, and I would let you, that this was the turning point of the game.

How did the Wolf Pack get a two-man advantage you ask? Scott Wilson was sent off for a holding infraction. During the kill Carter Rowney tried to bat down a pass to him at his own blue line but missed. He chased the puck down to Skapski but had to stop abruptly and sprayed Skapski with snow. Referee David Banfield didn’t like this and assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Rowney. A horrible call. Look, you have two playoff teams battling one another in an overall clean game which is closely and hotly contested. Let the players decide the outcome, dammit.

Hartford wouldn’t score on the power plays, so it went all for naught.

Third Period: :10 in, Dominik Uher whipped a one timer past Skapski for a 3-1 Penguins lead. Later, Brian Dumoulin would slap pass again to Uher who deflected it past Skapski for a 4-1 Wilkes-Barre lead.

Proof that the Penguins are a well coached team. Not just this article that appeared on the AHL site this week, but the Penguins just found another gear and zoomed past the Wolf Pack and were running circles around them.

But hold on. Hartford coach Ken Gernander is no slouch himself and the Wolf Pack are, after all, a playoff team. They started a push back. Zatkoff had to save two redirects. He didn’t save the third. Chris Bourque (who else) scored it and it was game on again.

With Skapski vacated, Mat Bodie boomed in a slap shot from the blue line that made it 4-3 with just 24.9 seconds left. But the Penguins won the faceoff and the Wolf Pack didn’t gain entry into the offensive zone again and the Penguins would hold on.

Three Stars: 3) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, -1) 2) Brian Dumoulin (three assist, +1) and 1) Dominik Uher (two goals, +1)

Around the Division: The Hershey Bears lost in a shootout to the Worcester Sharks 3-2. The Sharks are in town Friday and have won six straight, battling for their playoff lives as well. Lehigh Valley was in Norfolk and won 3-2. Binghamton was in Syracuse and won in overtime 3-2.

Standings: Hershey 92 — Penguins 85 — Lehigh Valley 69 — Binghamton 66 — Norfolk 55

Conference: 1) MCH (96) 2) HER (92) 3) SYR (89) 4) WBS (85) 5) WOR (82) 6) HFD (81) 7) PRO (81) 8) POR (80)

Wow. Worcester is fifth in the conference with a game in hand on the Penguins, Wolf Pack and Bruins.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were in Elmira tonight and lost 4-1.

SendToNews Highlaights: Are not up yet. You may be on your own to get them because I am traveling tomorrow and may not be able to edit them in. The Penguins will probably have them up on YouTube at some point.

Worcester is in Friday. If you are wondering where I am traveling to, it’s to my brothers in New Jersey which means that I won’t be at the games Friday or Saturday vs Lehigh Valley. I don’t like missing home games, but family first. Anyone that has one will understand.

I do plan on watching the games from afar and will have full service here on the blog and every place else you know me for.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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Earlier in the day today, the Phantoms recalled Jason Akeson (20-23-43) Mark Alt (1-6-7) and Olivier Lauridsen (3-3-6) were recalled by the Philadelphia Flyers for their afternoon game today. The trio of players were returned to the Phantoms in time for the game against the Penguins tonight. Only Akeson played of the three that did.

The Phantoms have lost four straight and are having all of the key elements of their team being taken away from them, were in for a doozy against Matt Murray and the high flying Penguins.

Or at least it seemed that way….

Wilkes-Barre lays an absolute egg tonight and loses 4-1. Despite outshooting the Phantoms 19-1 in the third period, couldn’t mount enough of a comeback and Rob Zepp and the Phantoms shut the door and take away the two points.

The Penguins need to play the same intense way that they play against the Hershey Bears when it comes to a team that they play 12 times a year, just like Hershey.

Matt Murray vs. Rob Zepp

The only lineup change from last night for Wilkes-Barre was Josh Archibald out and Pierre Leblond in. Adam Payerl bumped up to the second line from the fourth and Pierre Leblond took Payerl’s spot on the fourth line.

First Period: The Phantoms jumped the Penguins from the start. After a Dominik Uher and Brett Hextall fight at five seconds in, Lehigh Valley never looked back.

Scott Laughton scored on a power play with enforcer Zack Stortini in front causing a disturbance. 1:15 later, Jesper Pettersson scored from the high slot that made it 2-0.

With the Penguins in deep trouble and getting trucked by the Phantoms, John Hynes called his time out.

Things settled from there, including a Penguins power play that produced a few chances, but Wilkes-Barre would not score at all in this period.

Second Period: Needing a comeback, the Penguins just went through the motions and the Phantoms scored another goal, this time Steve Delisle on a shot that Murray just missed.

It was a while before the Penguins registered their first shot on goal in the period on Zepp. They finally got three on a late power play but were unable to score. Wilkes-Barre was outshot 10-3 in the period.

Third Period: Penguins pour on the pressure, get this goal from Andrew Ebbett….

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/581987222657830912]

…but nothing else. They had a power play late, but didn’t score on it and are now just 1 for 19 in their last 20 attempts.

Three Stars: 3) Jesper Pettersson (goal, +1) 2) Rob Zepp (33 saves on 34 shots) and 1) Scott Laughton (two goals, assist, +2)

Miscellaneous: First regulation loss for Matt Murray since a 5-0 loss to these Phantoms on January 31. Murray had been 11-0-1 prior to tonight’s game. And how about this gem from the VP of Communications for the AHL, Jason Chaimovitch…

[tweet https://twitter.com/JChaimo/status/581974740430143488]

Around the Division: Bears exact revenge against last nights loss to Manchester with a 6-2 win. Binghamton loses 4-1 at home to Bridgeport and Norfolk loses 3-1 at home to Albany.

Standings: Hershey 89 — Penguins 83 — Lehigh Valley 67 — Binghamton 64 — Norfolk 55

Conference: 1) MCH (92) 2) HER (89) 3) SYR (88) 4) WBS (83) 5) HFD (81) 6) PRO (81) 7) POR (80) 8) WOR (78)

Hartford and Providence both won their games tonight and are just two back of the Penguins for the four seed. All three teams mentioned in that last sentence are off Sunday. The Penguins and Wolf Pack have a game in hand on the Bruins.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers hosted the Reading Royals tonight. Box here.

SendToNews Highlights: Aren’t up yet. Not much to look at that you haven’t already seen in this blog recap.

The Week 25 AHL Power Rankings hit the blog at 4 Monday. Check them out then.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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You never buy into the myth that a game is won or lost in the first five minutes of any given game. For the Penguins, it seemed that way. Here is why.

In the first five minutes of tonight’s game, the Binghamton Senators got in behind the Penguins defense and nearly scored. Noted Penguin killer Shane Prince hit the post of the net that Matt Murray was guarding.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins settled in, getting two goals in the first period, and Matt Murray made 25 of 26 saves en route to a 3-1 Penguins win tonight. Another solid performance by Murray, who lost his shutout bid in the third period with 4:22 remaining.

Murray is 11-0-1 in his last twelve starts, by the way.

Murray opposed Scott Greenham.

Lines were…

Scott Wilson – Andrew Ebbett – Tom Kostopoulos
Bryan Rust – Jasyon Megna – Josh Archibald
Tom Kuhnhackl – Carter Rowney – Dominik Uher
Bobby Farnham – Matia Marcantuoni – Adam Payerl

Brian Dumoulin – Taylor Chorney
Scott Harrington – Danny Syvret
Nick D’Agostino – Harrison Ruopp

Matt Murray – Jeff Zatkoff

Alex Boak took warmups but was the healthy scratch along with J-S Dea and Pierre Leblond. Bryan Rust was back in the lineup for the first time since February 21.

First Period: If Binghamton scores on those two partial breakaways that I spoke of in the open then it’s a much, much different ballgame. Thankfully they did not and Murray was able to make 11 saves in the period. Meanwhile, Tom Kostopoulos created a turnover, passed to Scott Wilson who put it on net which trickled in past Greenham with Kostopoulos providing interference to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

Then, with the Penguins about to go on the penalty kill, Andrew Ebbett wins a face-off and finds a streaking Jayson Megna exiting the zone. Megna turns on the jets and powers past the Binghamton defense and backhands one in past Greenham for a 2-0 lead. Only the third shorthanded goal scored by the Penguins this season.

Second Period: Penguins played a boring period. They were not about to let the explosive Binghamton offense start something that resembled a comeback. Matt Murray made some more saves, most memorable of the period a shoulder save that started a fight between Adam Payerl and Max McCormick.

Third Period: More saves by Murray, denying a quick developing two on one for Binghamton. Carter Rowney scores in a pile just as the Penguins power play expired to make it 3-0. At this time, it was all about whether or not Matt Murray would pick up his 11th shutout.

He wouldn’t. Freddy Claesson fired a shot that Max McCormick tipped in to put Binghamton on the board with 4:22 left. The B-Sens made it interesting late and Murray had to make some more key saves, but the home team would get no closer.

I do love this quote from Carter Rowney as told to Tom Venesky after the game…

[tweet https://twitter.com/TLTomVenesky/status/581638835290947584]

Shows that while Murray may not pay much attention to shutouts and personal accolades, his teammates do.

Three Stars: 3) Scott Wilson (goal, even) 2) Jayson Megna (goal, +1) and 1) Matt Murray (25 saves on 26 shots)

The Penguins forechecking was ferocious tonight. I don’t know if the B-Sens are just in cruise control or what for the remainder of what is left of their season but the Penguins jumped on the B-Sens from about the face-off dots up to the blue line and caused many turnovers. One led to the first Penguins goal.

Around the Division: This is the last stand for the division. So far, so good. Hershey hosted the AHL leading Manchester Monarchs and were defeated 6-3. The Penguins need the Monarchs to win tomorrow, in regulation, and win in Allentown against the Phantoms which would pull them to within two points of the Bears. Elsewhere, Norfolk lost in overtime 4-3 to Albany and the Phantoms were idle.

Standings: Hershey 87 — Penguins 83 — Lehigh Valley 65 — Binghamton 64 — Norfolk 55

Conference: 1) MCH (92) 2) SYR (88) 3) HER (87) 4) WBS (83) 5) POR (80) 6) HFD (79) 7) PRO (79) 8) WOR (76)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers beat the Fort Wayne Komets by a score of 2-1. Eric Hartzell was in goal and stopped 35 of 36 and also picked up second star honors.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here.

Penguins travel to a rested Lehigh Valley Phantoms team that was idle tonight. Gameday for this will be up on the blog here at 3 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I had a feeling this morning that Matt Murray was going to start in goal this afternoon in Allentown and would probably, provided that the Penguins do what they need to both offensively and defensively, get another shutout. I had the feeling that he was due again.

Face it, the Phantoms have struggled this season on the ice. They probably aren’t making playoffs this season after this weekend’s performance, getting just one point out of a possible six. But, they give the Penguins fits matchup wise.

But the Penguins haven’t been good since sweeping Hershey last weekend and have only had a point in four games since. We all know that the Penguins are an extremely well coached team and John Hynes won’t sit by idle while his teams falls down the rungs of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

So couple the Phantoms recent struggles and the whip that is Hynes on the horse they call Penguins, and you get a Wilkes-Barre win, this time 3-0.

Matt Murray’s tenth shutout. He is 10-0-1 in his last 11 starts. He breaks another record that existed for a long, long time. This is Gordie Bell’s shutouts in a season for a rookie goaltender, a record that has stood since 1942-43. Just a remarkable display for the Penguins rookie goaltender.

Murray opposed Rob Zepp, who has given the Penguins fits himself.

Lines were…

Scott Wilson – Jayson Megna – Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Kuhnhackl – Carter Rowney – Dominik Uher
Bobby Farnham – Matia Marcantuoni – Josh Archibald
Pierre Leblond – J-S Dea – Adam Payerl

Brian Dumoulin – Taylor Chorney
Derrick Pouliot – Scott Harrington
Danny Syvret – Nick D’Agostino

Matt Murray – Jeff Zatkoff

Conor Sheary and Barry Goers were out, so it was all hands on deck for the Penguins. No healthy scratches.

First Period: Not really much going in the first period. Phantoms had the first nine shots on goal before the Penguins began to store and come to life but there wasn’t any scoring.

Second Period: Penguins had a few power play opportunities, but were getting murdered in the face-off dot. Ever since Andrew Ebbett went up, they have struggled. The Penguins didn’t score on any power plays in the period, but Tom Kostopoulos, at the end of his shift, did this…

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/579769861976494081]

1:03 later, Bobby Farnham did this…

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/579770452211576832]

Phantoms tried to create chances, but Matt Murray was sharp.

Then, this happened….

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/579772797624442880]

Stortini was only given a 2:00 boarding minor. Farnham was fine. Stortini should have been ejected. The Penguins should send tape to the league. If that is any other player on the receiving end of that “hit” by Stortini, they are incapacitated. Stortini should have been ejected.

Matia Marcantuoni’s speed was on full display in this game. He used his speed to generate several chances.

Third Period: Boring period if you are a casual hockey fan that would be happening to watch. Penguins clamped down defensively and all Phantoms chances were one and done. Time dwindled and it became a question whether the Phantoms would squeak one past Murray and start a comeback. It didn’t happen. Murray made a big stop before on a Mark Alt redirect.

With the Phantoms net vacated, Scott Harrington backhanded a shot from his own blue line that went in that sealed the 3-0 win for the Penguins.

Three Stars: 3) Bobby Farnham (goal, +2) 2) Tom Kostopoulos (game winning goal, +2) and 1) Matt Murray (32 save shutout)

Don’t let the 18 shots that the Penguins had in the game concern you. They were looking to preserve the win in the third period and later to preserve the shutout for Murray.

Around the Division: Can’t figure this one out. Binghamton comes to Wilkes-Barre last night and hands the Penguins a 4-3 loss yet goes to Bridgeport, with Peter Mannino in net again, and lose 7-1. Bridgeport is the worst team in the Eastern Conference, by the way. Norfolk and Hershey were off.

Standings: Hershey 87 — Penguins 81 — Lehigh Valley 65 — Binghamton 64 — Norfolk 54

I am not calling the division race over yet. Wilkes-Barre won its game in hand on Hershey today. Had they lost, then I would have conceded to the Bears. Hershey still has to play the East’s best team in Manchester for a pair soon.

Conference: 1) MCH (90) 2) HER (87) 3) SYR (84) 4) WBS (81) 5) PRO (79) 6) HFD (77) 7) POR (76) 8) SPR (75)

Providence was up 2-0 on St. John’s today at home and lost 3-2. Bruins have a game in hand. Just something to watch. Hartford has a game in hand on Providence and two games on Wilkes-Barre, but the Pens and Wolf Pack play each other on April 1.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

The Week 24 AHL Power Rankings go up Monday at 4. Check them out then.

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There were no fights in this game, but this game was a slugfest between two rival teams. The Penguins came out on the short end of the game with a 4-3 loss.

They did a lot of things right in this game. But what they did wrong, cost them, and big.

Jeff Zatkoff vs. Peter Mannino.

Lines were essentially unchanged but for a late Conor Sheary scratch. He took warmups and was skating his usual top line position but was announced as a scratch. Must have been an injury, because he leads the team in points and you aren’t going to scratch a guy that leads in that category. J-S Dea took his spot in the lineup.

First Period: Penguins jump was noticeable, holding the B-Sens to without a shot for the first ten minutes of play. Really great to see.

Then out of no where, Mike Sdao scored through a screen that made it 1-0 Binghamton. Probably the second shot of the game.

Off the face-off, Troy Rutkowski high sticked Tom Kuhnhackl and drew blood. Penguins 4:00 power play. Off that face-off, Buddy Robinson scored to make it 2-0 Binghamton. That was the fourth shot on goal for the B-Sens in the period. Not good at all.

Penguins finally cashed on the power play though with Danny Syvret’s first as a Penguin.

Second Period: Penguins carried momentum into the second period and were rewarded with a goal in the first minute. Taylor Chorney put the puck on the pads of Mannino and Carter Rowney, who has been excellent of late, pushed it past Mannino and in for a tie game.

Game then hit a lull which I said at the time benefitted the B-Sens.

In the final minute though, Scott Wilson cashed on a rebound of a Tom Kostopoulos shot that made it 3-2 Penguins.

Third Period: I don’t know what it was. Whether the Penguins played tentative or what. Binghamton is a team that plays fast and loose and if you are not used top playing that style of hockey, you get burned. It happened to the Penguins. Max McCormick scored on a one timer that came out of nowhere that tied the game at three.

Barry Goers left the ice bloodied and holding his left arm as play was stopped so he could get off. He did not return.

Penguins had a few chances late on the power play to either take the lead or tie the game after a Shane Prince backhander of a fluttering pass to him that made it 4-3.

With Zatkoff pulled with over a minute to play, the Penguins never found the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Cole Schneider (assist, even) 2) Taylor Chorney (three assists, a career high, +2) and 1) Shane Prince (game winning goal, +1)

Around the Division: Bears win in overtime up in Portland by a score of 4-3. Hershey has 6 points in their last three games and are getting hot again. Lehigh Valley got thumped by Worcester 6-1 and Norfolk lost 4-3.

Standings: Hershey 87 — Penguins 79 — Lehigh Valley 65 — Binghamton 64 — Norfolk 54

Conference: 1) MCH (88) 2) HER (87) 3) SYR (82) 4) WBS (79) 5) PRO (79) 6) HFD (77) 7) POR (76) 8) SPR (75)

Wheeling Update: Nailers lost 2-1 in Elmira.

SendToNews Highlights: Aren’t up yet. If I remember Sunday morning I will look again.

Pens face-off against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tomorrow at 5:05. Gameday for this at 1 here on the blog.

Let’s Go Pens!!

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Depending on whether or not the Hartford Wolf Pack can catch the Northeast Division leading Crunch, Syracuse is probably going to win that division.

The Crunch have 82 ponts. Really depending on whether Hershey or Wilkes-Barre win the East Division and where they finish, what I am getting at here is that a Wilkes-Barre / Syracuse playoff series would be a fun one.

That was because despite a 2-1 overtime loss to the Crunch, this was a really defensive battle and a fun game to watch in retrospect. Adjust here and alter there and the Penguins can easily go seven games with this Crunch team.

Matt Murray vs. Kristers Gudlevskis.

Lines were…

Conor Sheary – Jayson Megna – Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Kuhnhackl – Carter Rowney – Dominik Uher
Scott Wilson – Matia Marcantuoni – Bobby Farnham
Pierre Leblond – Adam Payerl – Josh Archibald

Brian Dumoulin – Taylor Chorney
Scott Harrington – Danny Syvret
Derrick Pouliot – Barry Goers

J-S Dea took warmups but was scratched. Nick D’Agostino was the only other healthy scratch. were the other healthy scratches. Injury wise, Nick Drazenovic, Reid McNeill and Bryan Rust are still, “week to week.”

First Period: Ended with the shots 10-10 and was an even period, but the Crunch opened with a large swath of offensive zone time, then it opened up considerably, then the Penguins took advantage. Seemed to me that the Penguisn were taking too many chances that weren’t paying off, including making too many passes. At one point, it was a 7-2 shot advantage for the Crunch. Wilkes-Barre nearly scored on the power play with a few good chances by Carter Rowney at the end of the period.

Second Period: Game was slowly into a defensive struggle when Syracuse’s Yanni Gourde scored from the slot to make it a 1-0 lead for the Crunch. What scant offense the Penguins did manage to generate, they did so in spurts. Syracuse enjoyed about 75% of the possession and offensive zone time, yet somehow, the shots were an even 17 all at the end of the period.

Third Period: Started really herky-jerky. At one point, the Crunch would win an offensive zone face-off, shoot and Matt Murray would make the save. This continued a couple times in a row. Pens needed something to break up the monotony of the lack of offense.

It came when Leblond went offsides entering the offensive zone but shot the puck anyway at Gudlevskis. Jake Dotchin took offense and started shoving Leblond before the linesmen stepped in. Refs put both Dotchin and Leblond into the penalty boxes which opened up four on four ice for both teams. Derrick Pouliot made a pass to Tom Kostopoulos….

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/579088073578844160]

…and the captain scored with three Syracuse players draped on him to tie the game at one a piece.

John Hynes at this point was shuffling up lines and was looking for anything to get a goal. Nothing came of it and it was off to…

Overtime: Penguins dominated the overtime period but it was the Crunch that scored when Jonathan Marchessault made a flip pass to Slater Koekkoek when the Crunch were three on one in three on three and Syracuse would take away the extra point.

Three Stars: 3) Matt Murray (27 saves on 29 shots) 2) Kristers Gudlevskis (27 saves on 28 shots) and 1) Slater Koekkoek (game winning overtime goal, even)

Around the Division: Hershey wins 3-2 in overtime in Portland. Binghamton beat Norfolk 4-3 at home. Lehigh Valley lost in Hartford, 3-2.

Standings: Hershey 85 — Penguins 79 — Lehigh Valley 65 — Binghamton 62 — Norfolk 54

Conference: 1) MCH (86) 2) HER (85) 3) SYR (82) 4) WBS (79) 5) PRO (77) 6) HFD (76) 7) POR (75) 8) SPR (73)

Penguins get help from Providence and Springfield losing in regulation. Magic number for playoffs will be 19. It was 22.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers won 2-1 in a shootout in Elmira.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here.

Penguins are at home tomorrow against the Binghamton Senators. Gameday setup hits the blog at 3 Saturday afternoon.

Let’s Go Pens!!!