Chirps from Center Ice

          vs.       

  1                                     6

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The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins power play has been crud all season long. 28th overall in the AHL this season and just something that is never used the right way.

Not tonight. The Penguins scored three power play goals and crush the Providence Bruins by a score of 6-1 and even the series at a game a piece as the series shifts to Providence for Game 3 Wednesday.

Crush they did. The Penguins were scored on four times very early in Game 1 Friday, but continued to lay the body on the Bruins all night long. That continued into tonight and, with a little bit more sound defensive structure, wore the Bruins down to the point of frustration which reached its peak in the third period.

Let’s take a look at the penalties assessed in the third, shall we?

Penalties-Casto Pro (roughing), 4:18; Casto Pro (roughing), 6:00; Robins Pro (roughing), 6:00; Drazenovic Wbs (roughing), 6:00; Harrington Wbs (unsportsmanlike conduct, roughing), 6:00; Trotman Pro (roughing, misconduct – continuing altercation), 9:02; Kobasew Wbs (roughing, misconduct – continuing altercation), 9:02; Knight Pro (misconduct – continuing altercation), 12:29; Moore Pro (misconduct – continuing altercation), 12:29; Robins Pro (roughing, misconduct – continuing altercation), 12:29; Dumoulin Wbs (misconduct – continuing altercation), 12:29; Mikkelson Wbs (high-sticking, roughing, misconduct – continuing altercation), 12:29; Lindblad Pro (misconduct – continuing altercation), 15:18; McNeill Wbs (misconduct – continuing altercation), 15:18; Farnham Wbs (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 16:06; Zolnierczyk Wbs (roughing), 19:02.

Nine misconducts. No fighting majors. 138 penalty minutes in sum.

One of the things that happened that isn’t listed in the box is after starting goaltender Niklas Svedberg was pulled after allowing the fifth goal to the Penguins, a Tom Kostopoulos power play goal that basically iced it, backup goaltender Malcolm Subban was called in for relief. After a scrum involving all 10 skaters on the ice not wearing pads, Subban skates out to his blue line and challenges Peter Mannino. Mannino would have none of it, basically coming halfway out and directing Subban back to his crease and laughing the entire situation off.

I guess you can say that the Bruins handled being blown out in a playoff game a lot worse than the Penguins did last night, because none of this stuff happened then. You could also say that the Bruins were tired of being pushed around and manhandled by the Penguins during play, that they decided to go after the Penguins after play.

I’m burying the lead here, and that is that Wilkes-Barre played a damn good hockey game.

After a scoreless first period, Conor Sheary got the scoring started cashing a rebound left by Svedberg for his first professional goal to put the Penguins ahead 1-0. Providence scored on a power play when Justin Florek roofed a shot over a sprawling Mannino that tied the game at one. Prior to, the P-Bruins were held without a shot for about the first ten minutes of the second period.

Then the floodgates opened, led by Anton Zlobin, back from injury.

Zlobin picks two corners from essentially the same spot on the left circle and it’s 3-1. His second goal came on a power play.

Simon Despres floats a shot in from the blue line that Chuck Kobasew got a piece of and the rout was on. 4-1 Wilkes-Barre. Three goals in the span of 4:02 for the Pens.

In the third, the Penguins put away the Bruins with a third power play goal from Tom Kostopoulos that chased Nik Svedberg. In between all of the shenanigans, Brian Dumoulin skates wire to wire and wrists home a seemingly innocent shot that goes under the glove of relief goaltender Malcolm Subban for a 6-1 Penguin lead.

I don’t know if any suspensions will come of all of the hijinks that ensued. Jared Knight for Providence left the bench to join in on a scrum and Bobby Robins, after being placed in the penalty box, leaves it to re-join the same scrum Knight got involved with.

Lineup wise, Anton Zlobin replaced Carter Rowney. Lines were jumbled, but that was the only move. Andrew Ebbett missed his second straight game.

Three Stars: 3) Simon Despres (two assists, even) 2) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, assist, even) and 1) Anton Zlobin (two goals, assist, +1)

Game 3 is Wednesday in Providence.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference: St. John’s takes a 2-1 series lead with a 5-3 win over Norfolk. Ol’ buddy Brad Thiessen stopped 26 of 30. Game 4 is Monday.

Wheeling plays Game 6 Monday against Greenville. They need a win to force a decisive Game 7.

SendToNews Highlights: Let’s do YouTube instead…

Sunday will be used to update and create charts. I’ll update the ones for Providence and Wilkes-Barre and do a head-to-head one as well. So it will actually be a grand total of eight charts. It’ll be a chart explosion! Check that out in some form Sunday evening.

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there, including my mom, who sometimes reads this blog. Love you, Mom!

Let’s Go Pens!

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  4                                     0

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I walked out of my house this morning and didn’t realize that I had walked out of the house without a hat for tonight’s game. I forgot it. So tonight, I watched tonight’s 4-0 Penguins defeat at the hands of the Providence Bruins without one.

Suffice to day, when I walk out of the house tomorrow to come to Game 2, I will have a hat with me, on my head.

The Providence Bruins took it to the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins early in the first period.

The Penguins had the jump to open the period. Superstar rookie sensation Alexander Khokhlachev scores on a busted play by the Penguins to put the Bruins on the board just 1:33 in. Just a weird sequence where the Bruins pounced on a Pens player on the wall and dish to Khokhlachev, who scored.

Then the Penguins took a penalty and here is where the game spiraled out of control for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

Craig Cunningham knee drop one-timer on the far post on a nice tic-tac-toe pass play. 2-0 Providence at 7:03 on the power play.

Pens quickly respond off the face-off with a line of Jayson Megna Adam Payerl and Harry Zolnierczyk and almost make it 2-1. They don’t. Back the other way, a man unmarked in front of starting goaltender Peter Mannino and it was 3-0 Providence. That unmarked man was Andrew Cherniwchan. Goal comes :45 after the Cunningham power play goal, at 7:48.

Before the Pens knew what hit them, Alexander Khokhlachev finishes off a 2-on-1 and it’s 4-0 Providence at 8:03.

Yep, if you followed that correctly, that was three Providence goals in the span of sixty seconds.

It’s the second playoff game in a row that the P-Bruins have scored four first period goals and the third game in a row that three goals are scored in the first period. Credit.

Penguins buttoned down from there. They started to hit and out skate the Providence Bruins.

But, the forgotten man in all of this was none other than Niklas Svedberg, who was outstanding tonight for the Bruins in goal. He smothered up all pucks sent his way tonight and was seeing the puck large. Several Wilkes-Barre one time attempts were stopped by Svedberg.

Penguins had a late 5-on-3 but didn’t score in the second period. The Penguins did all they could to get back into the game in this period but couldn’t get anything past Svedberg.

In the third period, the Providence Bruins bucked down and locked down the Penguins. They didn’t allow a single Wilkes-Barre shot for the first sixteen minutes. If you are a team that needs five goals in twenty minutes, not registering a shot on goal in the periods first sixteen minutes isn’t going to help your cause.

The Penguins were at one point down to four defenseman. Reid McNeill broke a skate and Brendan Mikkelson took a shot up high that drew blood but both returned.

Three Stars: 3) Matt Lindblad (two assists, +2) 2) Alexander Khokhlachev (two goals, assist, +2) and 1) Niklas Svedberg 20 save shutout.

This game reminded me a lot of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Syracuse Crunch last year, a game that the Penguins won. In fact, the ONLY game that the Penguins won. The Pens had just completed a historic comeback against this same Providence Bruins club after being down 0-3. Nothing was going to stop them in Game 1. The Providence Bruins are in the same boat. They needed a pair of 6-3 victories against the Springfield Falcons to survive and advance after being down 3-1 in the best of five.

I don’t know. The Pens played one bad minute that cost them big and couldn’t get any pucks past Svedberg or muster anything resembling a great chance.

Lineup Notes: Anton Zlobin took warmups but was scratched. Conor Sheary played again. Andrew Ebbett did not, out with what the Pens are calling an “upper body” injury. Nick Drazenovic went in Ebbett’s place. Jayson Megna played, didn’t really notice him. Blueline was intact.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference: Game 3 of St. John’s and Norfolk gets going again tomorrow at Scope. The series is tied 1-1.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers are on the brink of elimination after being defeated by the Greenville Road Warriors tonight by a score of 4-1. Greenville goes up 3-2 in the best of seven series. Game 6 is Monday in Wheeling.

SendToNews Highlights: I don’t think that Coal Street is making a YouTube highlight package for this one and rightfully so. SendToNews highlights are here.

Game 2 is tomorrow. Gameday for this will be up at 3:00 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!!

          vs.      

  1                                       5

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The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinal for a fourth year in a row and end the Binghamton Senators season by a score of 5-1 on the very same day that they did last year, May 2.

Tonight’s game had two things which stood out.

1) The stellar play of goaltender Peter Mannino. Mannino kept the Penguins in the game early and the B-Sens out of serious consideration for a comeback late.
2) The Binghamton Senators season imploded on discipline. The B-Sens took nine penalties which the Penguins scored on two of. There were two occasions where the Penguins were called for a penalty but the after the whistle stuff caused the B-Sens to lose their cool and the referees saw it, and the Penguins came away with the power play instead.

The B-Sens came out flying to start, outshooting Wilkes-Barre 8-2 to open. Mannino stood tall. One of the many saves that he made which stood out was a stop on Jean-Gabriel Pageau cutting to the net that kept the B-Sens off the board. Thrill a minute hockey.

Then a sequence that turned the tide in favor of the Penguins so much so that the Binghamton Senators were not able to recover. Chris Wideman takes a delay of game penalty. On the ensuing face-off, Chuck Kobasew appears to score, but the puck hits the crossbar and bounces out. Or does it? Play continues. Later, replay clearly shows the puck go inside the net and hit off the top of the back support and bounce out. Goal.

Penguins all of a sudden find themselves on a 5×3. But, Binghamton kills off the first penalty and then Mannino with a belly save on Patrick Mullen when the B-Sens were in on a shorthanded three-on-one.

There is where I think the game was won for the Penguins and lost for the B-Sens. It could have easily been 4-0 Senators after one but Mannino’s spectacular play in net kept it 1-0 Pens.

Penguins open the second period with 1:23 of carryover power play. All of a sudden, another 5×3 for the Pens when David Dziurzynski gets whistled for a high stick. Brian Dumoulin steps into one from the blue line late and makes it 2-0 Pens. Later, Dominik Uher scores even strength to put the Pens ahead 3-0.

Binghamton used its timeout and started a pushback. But tempers flared. Corey Cowick is whistled for slashing, Barry Goers is called for hooking and Darren Kramer for roughing. The initial call I think was the Goes hook. Then, after the whistle, Kramer and Cowick get called for their penalties and the Penguins are the ones on the power play.

Pens do not score. On four on four, the B-Sens nearly do. They were so dangerous on four on four tonight.

Chuck Kobasew dives at a puck and knocks it to Andrew Ebbett who skates in unabated to make it 4-0 Penguins. At this point, the rout was on.

Binghamton again doesn’t do themselves any favors. Zach Sill is called for charging. Stephane Da Costa, after the whistle, gets called for slashing then unsportsmanlike to put the Penguins on the power play.

The B-Sens score early in the third period when Certified Penguin Killer™ Shane Prince cashed on a power play to make things interesting and 4-1 Penguins. After a bad shift, John Hynes uses his time out to settle things down.

Try as they might, the Senators did not score and the Penguins withstood wave after wave of Binghamton pressure and maintained the three goal advantage.

Peter Mannino. Not to be forgotten. Three monstrous saves. Alex Grant through a screen. Try again. Scramble in front. It does not go in. Jean-Gabriel Pageau attempts to slip it five hole. You get nothing and like it.

Head Coach Luke Richardson pulls starting goaltender Andrew Hammond with 4:30 left. Harry Zolnierczyk, playing alpha and omega, scores the last goal of the series into an empty net. Zolnierczyk scored the first goal of the series (for the Penguins) last week up in Binghamton.

Bryan Rust was slashed on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot with 17.9 seconds left. He made too many moves and was stopped by Hammond.

Three Stars: 3) Brian Dumoulin (goal, assist, +1) 2) Peter Mannino (26 saves on 27 shots) and 1) Andrew Ebbett (goal, two assists, +1)

Lineup Changes: Essentially the aforementioned Bryan Rust for Anton Zlobin, who was injured in Game 3. Spencer Machacek was the veteran scratch.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference: St. John’s closed out Albany tonight 4-1….Norfolk does the same to the top seeded Manchester Monarchs 3-2.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers start their second round series with the Greenville Road Warriors tomorrow at home. How about this tweet from them though…

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SendToNews Highlights: How about YouTube, instead?

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The Penguins opponent is still to be determined. The Springfield Falcons host the Providence Bruins Saturday night in a decisive Game 5. If Springfield wins, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins will play the St. John’s IceCaps. If the Providence Bruins win, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins will play the Providence Bruins and will have home ice advantage.

I will have an update Saturday night on the blog with the opponent and the schedule once Springfield makes that matrix available.

Let’s Go Pens!

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  2                                       3

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You could see it from the first five minutes.

You could feel it all game.

Finally, at 7:32 in overtime, you could rejoice that it was over.

No, I am not talking about the 3-2 overtime win the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins handed the Binghamton Senators Wednesday evening in Wilkes-Barre Township, I am talking about the play of rookie Conor Sheary.

Head Coach John Hynes is a genius. Sheary, playing in his first AHL playoff game, had a hell of a game and played this playoff game like he was a seasoned veteran of five seasons. He let go of a point shot that Chuck Kobasew got a piece of to send the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins home with the win and a 2-1 series lead.

Wilkes-Barre can close out the East Division Champion Binghamton Senators Friday night at home with a win.

By all rights, the Penguins controlled a good majority of this game tonight and rightfully won.

In the first period, the Pens were flying. A hard board on Anton Zlobin by Mark Borowiecki and a slash by Freddy Claesson and the Pens were on a 5-on-3 advantage. Nick Drazenovic finished off a Chuck Kobasew pass to put the Pens up 1-0.

Before most fans got back in their seats, Simon Despres gets tangled at his own blue line and loses out on a puck. The B-Sens led by Corey Cowick come in shorthanded two on one. The Binghamton Senators led the AHL with 16 shorthanded goals this season. You know how this went. They would score that quickly to even the score at a goal a piece.

Anton Zlobin was not seen after being boarded by Borowiecki.

Teams would trade power plays in the second period to no avail. Jim O’Brien, back for the B-Sens from injury and skating in his first game action since March, had a few opportunities to put his team ahead. A notable one was a falling down backhander that went wide on an open Penguins net.

Carter Rowney and Adam Payerl work some touch passing entering the zone and Payerl zips one past starting goaltender Andrew Hammond for a 2-1 Pens lead.

In the third, O’Brien tied it for the visitors when Alex Grant tried to dump a puck past a Pens defender. The puck caromed off of his skates and right to the cutting O’Brien who essentially had Penguins starting goaltender Peter Mannino sprawling to get over in time. Before that, several great opportunities for the Pens to push ahead of Binghamton but to no success.

Overtime. Again.

Pens and Sens trade two huge stops by their respective goaltenders. The Penguins though, who largely controlled this game, just weren’t going to be denied. Sheary shot it and Chuck Kobasew deflected it. It capped a hell of a game by the rookie Sheary.

Lineup Notes: Nick Drazenovic for Spencer Machacek on the veteran side and Sheary for Mike Carman. After the game Carman had Saturday, I was second guessing. Glad I don’t coach the team.

Three Stars: 3) Nick Drazenovic (goal, +1) 2) Adam Payerl (goal, +1) 1) Chuck Kobasew (goal, assist, even)

Around the Eastern Conference: 1-0 was the popular score. Norfolk won their game over Manchester in overtime by that score and have the Monarchs on the brink. G John Gibson with a stellar 35 save shutout….St. John’s wins 1-0 in regulation and can close out the Albany Devils Friday as well.

SendToNews Highlights: Choosing YouTube over the SendToNews link off because YouTube plays nice with my blog….

[youtube http://youtu.be/lPh3dFe-Y1w]

Oh, if you don’t know where I came up with the headline, Conor Sheary’s nickname is “Thin Mints” — one of these days I will have to ask about the etymology.

Game 4 is Friday. If I have enough newsy type stuff I may run a blog Thursday afternoon / evening. Stay tuned.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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3                                               4

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You didn’t think it would be easy, did you?

For the Penguins, it nearly was. They were up 3-1 at one point but lost tonight in overtime 4-3. Stephane Da Costa’s goal at 11:07 of the first overtime completed the comeback for the B-Sens and evened the series at a game a piece as this Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series switches to Wilkes-Barre for Game 3 Wednesday and Game 4 Friday.

The Penguins can’t be happy that they let the B-Sens claw their way back into this series after the B-Sens were down 3-1 in the game. Don’t get it twisted, the Senators nearly lost this game. The Penguins for large stretches dominated the game with puck possession and aggressive forechecking and sticks in lanes.

Peter Mannino vs. Andrew Hammond

Lineup Changes: Mike Carman and Spencer Machacek for Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and Nick Drazenovic for the Penguins and Corey Cowick and Darren Kramer for Matt Puempel and Ryan Dzingel. Puempel got hit hard into the boards by Zach Sill in Game 1, but should be ready for Game 3 Wednesday.

First Period: Brian Dumoulin shoots a puck at the net that Chuck Kobasew gets a piece of for an early 1-0 Penguin lead. Later, Adam Payerl takes a frustration tripping penalty and the B-Sens head to the power play.

Chris Wideman tied the game on the power play just like that. Hey, wait. Payerl takes an early penalty and the B-Sens score on a power play. Where did I see that before? Oh, that’s right. Last night.

Mike Carman from behind the net finds Tom Kostopoulos on the doorstep and the Penguins captain doesn’t miss to put the Penguins ahead 2-1.

Wilkes-Barre largely dominated the period and the scoreboard showed it.

Second Period: Mike Carman, who had himself a hell of a game, scores when the puck gets deflected to him off of a referees skate to put the Pens ahead 3-1. It caught everyone by surprise, as Hammond and company had their heads turned in another direction when the goal was scored.

Here comes Binghamton.

Zach Sill slashing at 15:13. At 16:34, Da Costa gets his first of the night when Mark Stone fires the puck off of the post, which caroms to Da Costa far side who slams it home to make it 3-2.

Third Period: Penguins take a lead heading into the third period. Good things, right? They only lost one game this year leading after two periods. I can’t remember who though….

Bad turnover by the Penguins to Mark Stone who scores to tie the game at three a piece.

Back it up for a second. Mistakes. A Sill penalty. Power play to Binghamton and a goal. A turnover at the start of the third period. Tie game. You cannot make a mistake against the Binghamton Senators. I just have to keep repeating it because it is being played out right before our eyes.

Overtime: Penguins looked strong to start. A gaffe led to a breakaway for Binghamton but it was broken up at the last second. Hammond made a few spectacular saves for the home team then Da Costa ended it to even the series at a game a piece.

Three Stars: 3) Mike Carman (goal, assist, +2) 2) Mark Stone (goal, three assists, +2) 1) Stephane Da Costa (two goals, +2)

Thought about this on the drive back from Binghamton. The Pens made some key mistakes in Games 1 and Games 2 which cost them. Moreso in Game 2 than Game 1. Adjust on those, with home ice now for Games 3 and 4, and put this Binghamton team away once and for all on your home ice.

Call it wishful thinking or what ever you like. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have a lineup with over 1,000 games of NHL experience in the lineup. The Binghamton Senators have less than 300. This is a walk in the park for the Penguins more than it is for an unexperienced group of Senators. Do the B-Sens have what it takes to win the series? Absolutely they do. Do the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins? You betcha. When it boils down to situations like this, I like experience more than I do youth.

Alright, I am talking like I am down 0-2 in the series now. I would have given you $1,000 if you would have guaranteed me a split this weekend against Binghamton. A split is what we have and I will take it gladly and run to the Mohegan Sun Arena Wednesday for Game 3.

Elsewhere in the East: A lot of other teams got even tonight. The Albany Devils evened their series with a 4-2 win over the St. John’s IceCaps….the Norfolk Admirals scored three unanswered and stunned the Manchester Monarchs 3-2….the Springfield Falcons put the Providence Bruins on the brink of elimination with a 3-2 win.

The Nailers await their next opponent in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

SendToNews Highlights: Scrapping that for the B-Sens Rewind….

[youtube http://youtu.be/yL2ejO8Q6Y4]

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No idea what content will run between now and Wednesday. I’ll try to come up with something.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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3                                               2

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A Penguins fan will tell you that they had the Binghamton Senators all the way tonight.

A Binghamton Senators fan will say the same thing too, probably with a few expletives in there, after the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defeated the B-Sens tonight by a score of 3-2 in overtime, on Anton Zlobin’s goal 8:40 into the first overtime.

So the Penguins beat the Sens 3-2 in a playoff game. Where have I read this before? Oh, right, last year when the Pens did it three straight times last year and swept the B-Sens out of the playoffs.

Tonight though, was a much more even game than what the Penguins are accustomed to in prior meetings to the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena this season. The home rink for the East Division Champion B-Sens has been nothing short of a house of horrors for the Penguins.

Peter Mannino vs. Andrew Hammond. Spencer Machacek was the veteran scratch. Mike Carman was scratched too. Conor Sheary took warmups. Matt Murray backed up Mannino.

First Period: Matt Puempel was sprung on a mini breakaway on a long stretch pass. Mannino made the save but in the ensuing chaos of reacting to what just happened and who had who, Adam Payerl was whistled for tripping and the B-Sens were off to the power play. Cody Ceci pumped one home for a 1-0 B-Sens lead early.

Here is what defined the Binghamton Senators to this point. You make a mistake of letting Puempel get in behind your D, you take a penalty and on the power play it ends up in your net. Actually, two mistakes. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you. Or something like that.

The Ceci power play goal jumpstarted the Penguins after that. Wilkes-Barre controlled about two thirds of this period. Brendan Mikkelson and Stephane Da Costa traded shots which rang loudly off the pipe but stayed out. The first ended with a 1-0 Binghamton lead but felt like the Penguins should be leading if not tied.

Second Period: Alex Grant wanted him some pipe too. He rang one off the post at the beginning of the period. Then Zach Sill popped Puempel into the boards on what may end up being some bad collateral damage for Binghamton. Puempel scored 30 goals for the B-Sens this season. He tried to give to a go in the third period but was not seen in overtime.

Harry Zolnierczyk scored to even the game at one for the Pens on the doorstep of Hammond.

But, just like that, Jean-Gabriel Pageau put the home team back ahead less than 90 seconds later.

Remember mistakes? Anton Zlobin boarded Mark Borowiecki and the B-Sens were headed to the power play. Time to step on the throats of the Pens and put this away, right? No! You’re wrong!

Andrew Ebbett scored shorthanded on a firecracker slapshot that beat Hammond glove side to even things again at two a piece.

Third Period: Pens had 1:51 of 5-on-3 time late in the second and some leftover in the third but were unable to capitalize on it.

Here’s where the “replay” part of my headline comes in.

Carter Rowney appears to have scored to put the Pens up 3-2. But it was ruled no goal on interference on the goaltender. After a conference between the four man officiating crew, the call stood. No goal.

Shot off of a face-off for Binghamton surprises Mannino. Nearly goes in, or does it? Goal light comes on. Officials look at it on replay and the tape doesn’t lie, no goal.

No one scored in this period. So it was off to…

Overtime: Shane Prince, a certified Penguin killer, appears to have scored to give the B-Sens the overtime winner. But referee T.J. Luxmore washes it out and rules it was kicked in. To replay!

Luxmore was joined in the booth by the second man in the arm bands, Keith Kaval. After a conference, it was confirmed as no goal.

The guys that cover the B-Sens for the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin tweeted this post game about the disallowed goal:

[tweet https://twitter.com/PSBSens/status/459882621544435712]

[tweet https://twitter.com/PSBSens/status/459882782651871233]

[tweet https://twitter.com/PSBSens/status/459883475085312000]

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Replay is new to the AHL. Well, actually it is in its second year. It’s an inexact science. I can say that from what I saw, it looked inconclusive really. I didn’t see a kick but then again the puck was deflected off of the man skating forward.

Zlobin ended it. Jonathan describes it best in his blog post game recap:

The play started after a neutral zone faceoff. Binghamton won it, but Zlobin and linemate Chuck Kobasew pursued defenseman Mark Borowiecki as he backpedaled with the puck, forcing a turnover. Zlobin raced toward the left half-wall to recover the loose puck. Kobasew screened off the other Binghamton defender, allowing Zlobin to walk pretty much unmolested to the slot.

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Three Stars: 3) Cody Ceci (goal, -1) 2) Patrick Mullen (two assists, even) 1) Anton Zlobin (overtime game winning goal, +1)

Elsewhere in the East: Providence evened its series with Springfield at a game a piece with a 2-1 overtime win tonight….St. John’s got a late goal to stun Albany 2-1 to go up 1-0 in that series and Manchester shut out Norfolk 2-0 to go up 1-0 in that series.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers are on to the next round after sweeping the South Carolina Stingrays by a score of 4-2 tonight. Denver Manderson had a goal in the win.

SendToNews Highlights: How about YouTube, courtesy of the Binghamton Senators?

[youtube http://youtu.be/Uzd1-AYmTKU]

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Reactions after seeing the video: Awful call on the Rowney no goal. Contact was made with Hammond to his left. He goes down to make a save but the puck never gets through then Rowney slams it in two seconds AFTER contact on his right……the Prince goal in overtime should have counted, having looked at it in front of my computer screen. No kick. At all.

The washout on Rowney was made without replay. I don’t think those plays are reviewable. So both teams dodge bullets. You just shake hands and move on.

Game 2 is tomorrow night at 7:05 in Binghamton. I’ll make the trip and have it all covered. Gameday hits the blog Saturday at three.

Let’s Go Pens!

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0                                                2

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The Penguins dressed an all ATO lineup tonight and lost 2-0 to the Utica Comets. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins will play the Binghamton Senators in Round 1 of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

I mean, that’s all you need to know, right? Pens conceded the East Division Championship to the Binghamton Senators last night, so it was all about who the Pens would play in the first round of the playoffs, right?

I’d consider that a cop out though, so read on for your recap.

The Penguins dressed an all ATO lineup. Goaltender Matt Murray started in goal for the Penguins and Eric Hartzell backed up. Scott Wilson and Jean-Sebastian Dea made their pro debuts up front. Scratches for Wilkes-Barre were Brendan Mikkelson, Harry Zolnierczyk, Nick Drazenovic, Chuck Kobasew, Mike Carman, Bobby Farnham, Andrew Ebbett, Tom Kostopoulos, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, Matia Marcantuoni and Clark Seymour. Scott Harrington appeared in his 76th regular season game for the Penguins, the only player to claim that title this year.

The Penguins, to a man, did not look out of place playing against the eliminated Utica Comets. Joacim Eriksson started for the Comets and the Penguins played them straight up. A first period shot by Peter Andersson beat Matt Murray but Murray had no chance as he was heavily screened. Nice pace between the two teams. Dea really has a nose for the net and Murray plays bigger in net than any goaltender I have seen this season.

Penguins had several chances at the power play in this game but were unsuccessful. The power play was 0-for-7 for the night. If you are looking for a reason why the Penguins didn’t win the game tonight, look no further than that.

Pascal Pelletier scored a power play goal, amidst all the penalty killing that Utica had to do, to extend the lead for the Comets to 2-0. It was a blind pass by Alex Grenier that set up that goal by Pelletier. Murray had no chance.

Penguins fail to convert on two power plays late, and there is your ball game.

Three Stars: 3) Peter Andersson (goal, +1) 2) Pascal Pelletier (goal, even) 1) Joacim Eriksson (27 save shutout)

I have done the following for 75 post game write-ups so for completeness sake…

Around the Division: Binghamton beats Norfolk 4-2….Syracuse wins in Hamilton 3-1….Hershey bests Adirondack 2-1.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins close out the 2012-13 campaign with a 42-26-35 record, good for 92 points, second in the East Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference.

Conference: 1) MCH (105) 2) SPR (100) 3) BNG (96) 4) STJ (99) 5) ALB (93) 6) WBS (92) 7) PRO (91) 8) NOR (90)

Your Round 1 Calder Cup Eastern Conference Quarterfinal schedule is as follows:

Game 1: @ Binghamton 4/25
Game 2: @ Binghamton 4/26
Game 3: vs. Binghamton 4/30
Game 4: vs. Binghamton 5/2*
Game 5: @ Binghamton 5/5*

* – if necessary

Here’s the entire Round 1 schedule for the other 14 teams.

Wheeling Update: Ton Kuhnhackl with the overtime game winning goal as the Nailers win 3-2, take 2-0 series lead against the South Carolina Stingrays as the series shifts back to Wheeling.

SendToNews Highlights: Not up yet. I’ll look again and link if available.

Blog schedule here at Chirps from Center Ice look like this:

Sunday: Final AHL Power Rankings
Monday: Fourth Quarter Grades
Tuesday: Western Conference Playoff Preview
Wednesday: Eastern Conference Playoff Preview
Thursday: Penguins / B-Sens Series Preview
Friday: Gameday Setup, tweeting and blogging of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Stay tuned. It’s about to get real.

#digdeep

Let’s Go Pens!!