Chirps from Center Ice

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Penguins power play late in the third period was Pierre Leblond, Bobby Farnham and Carter Rowney. Not three guys that are necessarily offensive forces. But with the way this game went, a 4-0 loss to the Rochester Americans, Head Coach John Hynes would figure to give it a whirl and see how it goes.

Surprisingly, they did not score a power play goal.

Shocking, Wilkes-Barre as a whole hasn’t scored one, still, since Portland two weeks ago.

Whenever the team is shutout, there isn’t really a whole heck of a lot to recap. But, giving it the ol’ college try, I offer the following….

— Eric Hartzell vs. Nathan Lieuwen in net. Lieuwen came into this game with a 2.47 GAA and a nice .923 SV% which has got to be up there in the AHL as a top five or at the very least top ten save percentage.

— Hartzell’s night lasted 7:46, after giving up a goal to Luke Adam at 1:21 and one to Freddy Roy at 7:46. The goals weren’t necessarily all Hartzell’s fault. Rochester came out guns blazing to start and Adam cashed on a rebound for the 1-0 lead. Then Joel Armia shakes off two Pens players at the blue line and passes to a cutting Roy for a 2-0 lead. It was really a nice move by Armia that set up that goal that chased Hartzell.

— Penguins settle after that, but Rochester never really stopped with the pressure. In between a tussle with Bobby Farnham and Freddy Roy and some power play chances for both teams, Luke Adam puts a long shot off the net that Jeff Deslauriers saves with the pad, but also puts out an enormous rebound to Johan Larsson who scored to put the game away for the Amerks.

— I can’t really remember a good chance for Wilkes-Barre tonight. Denver Manderson and Carter Rowney had some looks in the second killing a penalty but that was about it.

— Penguins couldn’t do a thing in the third to mount any kind of a comeback. Armia shoots in a put away goal off a nice feed from Adam late to seal it. Ballgame.

— Seven wins in a row for the Rochester Americans.

Three Stars: 3) Freddy Roy (goal, assist, +2) 2) Luke Adam (goal, assist, +2) and 1) Nathan Lieuwen (26 save shutout)

Around the Division: Binghamton pastes Portland 7-1….Norfolk beats Syracuse 3-2 in a shootout….Hershey loses 4-1 to Adirondack in Philly 4-1.

Standings: Binghamton 61 — Norfolk 56 — Penguins 56 — Hershey 52 — Syracuse 41

Conference: 1) MCH (65) 2) SPR (61) 3) BNG (61) 4) NOR (56) 5) WBS (56) 6) STJ (55) 7) ALB (55) 8) HER (52)

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose a tough one to Kalamazoo 3-1. Peter Mannino stopped 28 of 30.

SendToNews Highlights: Not much to look at from a Penguins perspective. They are here if you are brave enough to look.

My Week 18 AHL Power Rankings will be up Monday. Something to watch Sunday though (besides the obvious) is Norfolk and Hershey from Hershey at 2 p.m. Whenever there is a game like this drawing so much interest from a market outside of both, you hope for a regulation win. Since Norfolk has a game in hand on the Penguins, this may be the only time you see this, but let’s go Bears!

No.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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Once upon a time, the Norfolk Admirals never won in Wilkes-Barre. They had lost several games in a row and every time they came to Wilkes-Barre, you could chalk up the “W” before you even left your house to go to the game.

Nowadays, entirely different story. The Admirals call the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza their second home. They have won 12 straight games in Wilkes-Barre after a 2-1 win again tonight.

John Gibson was so-so in goal. I say that because if the Penguins had anything resembling a power play, he’d need to be spectacular. The saves he made were on point, and he was lasered in all night. Gibson’s only blemish came from a Reid McNeill shot from the point that came when he didn’t have his stick. The Penguins simply weren’t able to solve Gibson at all.

The Penguins power play is now 0-for-24, dating back to January 18 in Portland. Many thanks to crack researcher Ian Heely for that tidbit.

Eric Hartzell vs. the aforementioned John Gibson

First Period: Anton Zlobin his high sticked and draws blood. Pens to a 4:00 power play. Offensive zone face-off to Brian Dumoulin who must have had his laces tied together by a Norfolk player as he falls down trying to corral a puck. Max Sauve skates in unabated and scores to put the Admirals on the board first.

Next, Devante Smith-Pelly leads a charge up ice. He centers to Charlie Sarault who I don’t think ever shot the puck, but rather just acted as a pylon as the puck caromed off of him and Hartzell has a hard time controlling it and it goes in for a 2-0 Norfolk lead.

So what happens when you have a physical team out physical a physical team with a line that is deadly, big bodied defensemen and a brick wall on skates in goal? You have the Norfolk Admirals. The Admirals know how to play and beat the Penguins better than anyone else in the division or on the schedule right now.

Second Period: Brian Dumoulin goes hard into the boards and stayed down. Helped off the ice by the trainer and Tom Kostopoulos not putting any weight on his left leg. He did not return. I don’t expect for there to be any updates on his condition in the immediate future. If there are, Jonathan Bombulie’s the guy to follow.

Anyway, the Pens get one back on the McNeill shot on a stickless Gibson. The ice was slowly tipping the way of the Penguins but John Gibson stood tall in net and the Penguins couldn’t establish any kind of pressure on the power play so the scored stayed where it was. The Admirals, for about the first fifteen minutes, only had one shot on goal.

Pens killed off a 1:58 of 5-on-3 late, rather easily.

Third Period: Teams trade power plays. Things looked a bit better for the Penguins but they couldn’t find the equalizer. The sense of urgency didn’t really look like it was on their faces late, because it seemed like they thought they had double the time remaining when looking at the clock. Oh, and that 5,000 piece puzzle of John Gibson in goal standing in front of them was hard to solve.

Three Stars: 3) Reid McNeill (goal, +1) 2) Max Sauve (goal, even) 1) John Gibson (25 saves on 26 shots)

Around the Division: Binghamton goes into Manchester and is pasted 5-1 by the Monarchs. Hershey wins their sixth straight in Glens Falls 5-3 over the Phantoms. Both clubs now racing to Philly for a 1 p.m. game in the Flyers living room. Syracuse loses 3-1 to Utica and after the game both Syracuse goaltenders were called up to Tampa Bay. Meanwhile G Riku Helenius was suspended by the team. The American Hockey blog has the story covered here.

Standings: Bingahamton 59 — Penguins 56 — Norfolk 54 — Hershey 52 — Syracuse 40

Conference: 1) MCH (65) 2) SPR (61) 3) BNG (59) 4) WBS (56) 5) ALB (54) 6) NOR (54) 7) STJ (53) 8) HER (52)

SendToNews Highlights: Are here. We should all be as good at our jobs as John Gibson is at his.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers win in a shootout 3-2 to the Kalamazoo Wings at home in a shootout. Peter Mannino was in goal and stopped 35 of 37.

Pens back at it again at home Saturday night vs. the Rochester Americans. Gameday setup hits the blog at 3, for the game at 7 on Dennis Bonvie Hall of Fame Statue Night.

Let’s Go Pens!!

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Eric Hartzell is emerging as the number one goaltender for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. It’s a fact really, with Tomas Vokoun out long term and Jeff Zatkoff up as Marc-Andre Fleury’s backup that Hartzell is the goalie of the future for the Pittsburgh organization. It was something that was bestowed upon him when Pittsburgh signed him out of college last season.

In the present, he’s earning it and making the most of the opportunities given.

His third shutout of the season, tied for second in the AHL, and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins roll the listless Syracuse Crunch by a score of 4-0.

The aforementioned Hartzell vs. Kristers Gudlevskis

Announced yesterday that Zach Sill had surgery to his wrist. Pittsburgh tweeted that he will be out 8-12 weeks. That puts his return at late April, beginning of May.

First Period: Pens did not take long to jump out to a 1-0 lead when Mike Carman puts a shot on net that Gudlevskis cannot smother. Paul Thompson is there to put the fluttering puck home for an early 1-0 lead. Later, Philip Samuelsson point shot gets tipped home by Tom Kostopoulos and the Pens were up 2-0. Pens were all over Syracuse in the first period, something that usually spells well for Wilkes-Barre, leading into the….

Second Period: Syracuse started to push back but Hartzell would have none of it, focusing in on a few Syracuse odd man rushes up ice and smothering any chance for a rebound attempt. Really this period was more of the Crunch trying to get on the board and the Penguins and Hartzell not letting them and trying themselves but not having any luck to extend their lead.

Third Period: Harry Zolnierczyk with what could be goal of the year candidate:

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That was in slo-mo taken from my iPhone on the big screen at the arena, but Zolnierczyk makes a power move at the net, splits D Artem Sergeev and D Joey Mormina, and roofs the puck falling down. A spectacular goal and effort by Zolnierczyk.

The rest of the period had some chippyness. Tom Kostopoulos sets up Denver Manderson for his first of his AHL career late to ice it.

The Pens are now 15-0 leading after two periods.

Three Stars: 3) Denver Manderson (goal, +3) 2) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, assist, +2) and 1) Eric Hartzell (20 save shutout)

Around the Division: Binghamton was the only other East Division team on the ice tonight. They were in Worcester and won 6-3 over the Sharks. It was the Mike Hoffman Show tonight in Massachusetts: 4-1-5, +2 was his line.

Standings: Binghamton 59 — Penguins 56 — Norfolk 52 — Hershey 50 — Syracuse 40

Conference: 1) MCH (62) 2) SPR (61) 3) BNG (59) 4) WBS (56) 5) ALB (52) 6) NOR (52) 7) STJ (51) 8) HER (50)

Wheeling Update: The Naiers hosted the Fort Wayne Komets and lost 3-1.

SendToNews Highlights: Here’s a link to the period-by-period highlights of the shootin’ match. Zolnierczyk’s goal came in the third period.

Norfolk is in Friday for what is sure to be a doozy. But for anything that breaks Thursday, I’ll have the Gameday for the Friday matchup with the Ads at 3 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!!

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Jonathan Bombulie was right.

He said on the Penguins Pit Podcast this past Friday that this Sunday afternoon game was an unwinnable game for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins coming in from a 6 hour bus ride from Norfolk last night while the Bears rested comfortably in their beds having hosted Syracuse the night before.

Jonathan is always right. When will I learn?

The Penguins lose 2-0 to the Hershey Bears in a game which, if a power play goal here or there go in, then maybe the result is a little different. The Pens were 0-for-7 on the power play tonight, 0-for-15 for the weekend.

Whenever the Penguins are shutout, I really don’t know what to recap. Here goes…

— Eric Hartzell opposed Philipp Grubauer.

— Zach Sill missed the game due to an upper body injury. He took a Nolan Yonkman skate up high last night in Norfolk and needs further evaluation. EDIT: Jonathan tweeted that Sill is in Pittsburgh to be evaluated tomorrow and is expected to be out long term.

— Zack Torquato and Anton Zlobin were back in for the injured Sill and the scratched Carter Rowney.

— Bears Head Coach Mike Haviland was not behind the bench for Hershey due to a minor medical issue. Let this blog wish him the best for a speedy recovery and may he get well soon.

— Penguins can’t score on an extended 5-on-3 early in the first. First ten minutes was all Wilkes-Barre.

— Dustin Gazley finished off a back door pass to put the Bears up 1-0 on a power play in the first.

— The Tom, Nick and Harry line was quickly reunited by Head Coach John Hynes in the first period.

— Hershey capitalizes on a Wilkes-Barre center ice turnover early in the second and Jeff Taffe scores to put the Bears ahead 2-0.

— Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond fought Hershey captain Dane Byers after Byers popped Brendan Mikkelson with a shot to the head. Both received five minute fighting majors.

— Third Period was a slog. Shots at one point was 2-1 Pens near halfway of the period. Pens think they score on a power play goal to open but the puck hit the crossbar and stayed out.

— Three stars were 3) Jeff Taffe (goal, assist, +1) 2) Dustin Gazley (goal, assist, +1) and 1) Philipp Grubauer (27 save shutout)

Around the Division: Binghamton beats Albany in Albany 6-3. Bridgeport wins a nail biter against Syracuse in Connecticut 6-5. Norfolk was off.

Standings: Binghamton 57 — Penguins 54 — Norfolk 52 — Hershey 50 — Syracuse 40

Conference: 1) MCH (63) 2) SPR (62) 3) BNG (57) 4) WBS (54) 5) ALB (52) 6) NOR (52) 7) STJ (51) 8) HER (50)

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 3-1 at home vs. the Cincinnati Cyclones. Cody Sylvester had a goal and an assist and Peter Mannino stopped 22 of 23.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here. Nothing really to look at from a Wilkes-Barre perspective.

Pens return home for five straight opening this Wednesday vs. Syracuse.

I’ll have the Week 17 AHL Power Rankings here Monday, back at their regular time of 4 p.m. Wilkes-Barre time.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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Well, that was fun.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, coming off of a bad performance last night, stared down ol’ buddy and folk hero Brad Thiessen in net tonight and managed to win 2-1 in a shootout. Tom Kuhnhackl broke a 0-0 deadlock in the eight round and snapped a shot past Thiessen and Eric Hartzell stopped all shooters sent his way and, with a Binghamton loss, the Penguins are right back where the started Friday evening, a point behind the B-Sens for the division lead.

Eric Hartzell vs. Brad Thiessen

Lineup Notes: The top line of “Tom Nick and Harry” was broken up as John Hynes jumbled the lines tonight. Out were Anton Zlobin and Zack Torquato and in was Carter Rowney and Denver Manderson.

First Period: The Penguins threw everything they could at Brad Thiessen and the Norfolk defense but Thiessen was like the Thiessen of old, making spectacular saves and keeping his team in it when they needed him most. Finally, a Scott Harrington blast from the point hits a bunch of bodies before Mike Carman sweeps the puck in to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Reward for Wilkes-Barre, pressing like they did to open and a tough break for Thiessen, who got beat on a fluke goal.

Second Period: More of the same for Wilkes-Barre, puck possession and offensive zone time to open. At one point, the Penguins were outshooting the Admirals 21-8. By contrast, the Admirals only allowed the Penguins 21 shots all game on Friday.

Then Norfolk springs to life. Mike Carman takes a high stick with a minute left to play in the period and who other than Devante Smith-Pelley scores on a rebound to put Norfolk even again with the Penguins at 1-1.

Third Period: Pens find themselves on a penalty kill early but kill it. Wilkes-Barre does not manage a shot on goal for the first eight minutes of the third. All of a sudden, Wilkes-Barre is the one to spring to life but right on call, the Brad Thiessen Magic is there and the Penguins are unable to find the go ahead goal. Penguins get a late power play but are unable to score.

Then a scary moment. Zach Sill trips Nolan Yonkman and in the process, this happens. Eyewitnesses in Norfolk advised me on Twitter that an EMT rushed into the Pens locker room. Sill would not return for the remainder of the game.

Overtime: The Sill tripping penalty spilled over here but Wilkes-Barre was able to kill it. Not before Eric Hartzell robs Emerson Etem with a highlight reel save. It was onto the…

Shootout: Nothing happened in the first seven rounds. Tom Kuhnhackl scored in the top of the eighth on Thiessen and Hartzell stops ex-Penguin Alex Grant to seal it for the Pens.

Three Stars: 3) Devante Smith-Pelly (goal, even) 2) Brad Thiessen (25 saves on 26 shots) and 1) Eric Hartzell (33 saves on 34 shots)

Audio: My blog pal @VAPuckHead sent me the audio of Thiessen’s post game media scrum. Take a listen:

Around the Division: Hershey defeats Syracuse 3-2 in a feisty one in Chocolatetown. The Bears have won four straight, seven at home and are 6-0 in Giant Center in 2014. Wilkes-Barre stops by for a 5:00 visit Sunday afternoon….Binghamton loses 5-2 to Rochester at home.

Standings: Binghamton 55 — Penguins 54 — Norfolk 52 — Hershey 48 — Syracuse 40

Conference: 1) MCH (62) 2) SPR (60) 3) BNG (55) 4) WBS (54) 5) ALB (52) 6) NOR (52) 7) PRO (50) 8) STJ (49)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers lose to the Cincinnati Cyclones in Ohio tonight 4-1. Barry Goers scored the only goal for the Nailers in the loss.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here.

Penguins bus overnight to Hershey for a 5:00 start vs. the Bears. The Gameday setup for this will be up Sunday at 1.

Let’s Go Pens!!

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This game can be summarized in two halves.

In the first half, the Norfolk Admirals capitalize on a power play and a weird circumstance and find themselves up 2-0 after the first period.

Then, something that will be talked about for a while, Jeff Deslauriers and John Gibson got into a fight at center ice about six minutes into the first period.

It started when Deslauriers misplays a puck that is rimmed in along the wall. Agitator Zack Stortini takes a few whacks at the puck after a whistle which draws the ire of the Wilkes-Barre net minder. Deslauriers then shoves Stortini, striking him with his blocker. Understandably a scrum ensues but nothing comes of it.

Then, skating back to the benches in the time out, John Gibson takes a whack at Deslauriers as the two were criss crossing one another.

Then, this happened. Then this.

Out of it, Deslauriers was tossed and Gibson was allowed to stay in.

The Penguins recover with a goal from Zach Sill in his first game back with the Penguins off of his recall to Pittsburgh, but that was all they could muster as John Gibson and the Norfolk Admirals win this one by a score of 4-1.

Take away the ooh’s and ahh’s of a goalie fight and here is really what happened:

1) The Penguins found themselves down after the first period to a team and a goaltender that have owned them this season. Gibson, in two prior appearances for Norfolk, is 2-0 and has only allowed one goal per game.

2) Jeff Deslauriers is slumping if you ask me, having been pulled last Friday in Providence and not being heard from or seen again all last weekend. He got beat by an Alex Grant bomb from the blue like that Devante Smith-Pelly gets a stick on for a 1-0 Norfolk lead then later gives up a rebound to John Kurtz that is redirected in via Kurtz’s skate with no distinct kicking motion.

3) Wilkes-Barre comes out with vim and vigor to start the second, really knocking on the door and ready to breakthrough when Stortini, he of is 184 PIMs, is a bit aggressive. This sends Deslauriers off the deep end and after Stortini. They are separated. Gibson throws a “what the hell man” whack at Deslauriers and then Deslauriers jumps him and is tossed. At the time, a good thing for Wilkes-Barre as they were tilting the ice in their favor.

But we forget about the Achilles heel on this team. It’s the power play, ranked 27th in the AHL and what cost the Pens the game tonight, in my opinion.

4) In the first 6:18 of the third period, the Penguins had THREE straight power plays given to them by referee Steve Patafie. I mean, literally, one after the other after the other. They could not score or muster a single good scoring chance to tie the game. I don’t care what team you are, on any level of pro hockey or otherwise, but you are not going to win many games when you are trailing by a goal in the third period and are unable to score a power play goal when you basically get three of them in a row.

It showed too, because John Hynes put Bobby Farnham out there for one.

5) Norfolk scores on their only power play of the period. Smith-Pelly slams home a goal off of nice tic-tac-toe passing to seal it for the Admirals. Dave Steckel scores a meaningless empty netter to make the score 4-1 late.

The two teams rematch tomorrow at Scope Arena at 7:15. If you are John Hynes you roll with Eric Hartzell in net. If I am Norfolk coach Trent Yawney, am I placing ex-Penguins goaltender Brad Thiessen out there in what could be the biggest game of the season for both teams, with the Admirals now trailing the Penguins by a single point in the division for second?

Time, always tells.

Personnel wise, two lineup changes for the Pens from Sunday. Obviously, Zach Sill was back in the lineup. So too, was Tom Kuhnhackl. Out was Denver Manderson and Carter Rowney. Harrison Ruopp took warmups but was scratched.

Divisionally, Binghamton won their game at home 5-2 against Albany. Hershey won theirs 4-1 in Syracuse. Binghamton leads the East with 55 points, Wilkes-Barre has 52, Norfolk 51, Hershey 46 and Syracuse 40.

With the Devils loss to Binghamton, the Penguins remain fourth in the Conference with 52 points.

Wheeling beat Toledo 4-1. Cody Sylvester had two goals.

Here is the SendToNews highlight package.

Rematch tomorrow at 7:15 from Scope. Gird your loins….

Let’s Go Pens!

* – Bert Sugar was a legendary boxing writer who died in 2012.

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After losing 5-1 Friday night to the Providence Bruins, the Penguins were not happy. You are never happy when you lose.

It showed in Portland last night, as the Pens cruised to a 4-2 win over the Pirates.

Sunday afternoon, it showed again, only this time with a bit more fervor.

The Penguins blitzkrieg the Providence Bruins in the first period, scoring three goals, then use defense and more goals in the third period to steamroll the home team and repay Friday’s 5-1 beat down by Providence with a 5-1 pounding of their own.

Eric Hartzell vs. Jeff Jakaitis

No lineup changes from last night for John Hynes.

First Period: In sum, the best first period played by these current Penguins in some time. The Penguins came out and stifled the Bruins in all aspects to begin. Anton Zlobin opened the scoring on a dart to put the Pens on the board 1-0. Pens get two power plays but don’t score then what appeared to be Dominik Uher scoring on the doorstep of Jakaitis turned out to be Zack Torquato making it 2-0 Penguins. Then the Penguins ended up on the wrong end of a 4:00 power play, but were able to keep the Bruins away from all the scoring areas and managed to kill it. Oh, and for good measure, a Simon Despres pass meant for Denver Manderson deflected in off of a P-Bruins skate and into the net for a 3-0 Penguins lead.

Second Period: Providence looked out of synch to start the period, which could have been carryover from the first but they did get it together and started getting after it. Not much offense this period for Wilkes-Barre, but with a 3-0 lead why pile on? Pens had some good defensive plays and whatever got through to Hartzell he saw with laser-like focus.

Third Period: Providence came out and jumped on the Pens. Both teams were in the final period of a three in three and the Bruins looked fresher. Then, the Penguins took two penalties and were all of a sudden down 5-on-3 for a full 2:00. Ex-Penguin Joe Morrow slammed one home at the top of the far circle to put the Bruins on the board and the score was 3-1. Then, the Penguins had to kill another penalty. The thought here is that if the Bruins get a second, they will probably get a third.

It didn’t happen. Instead, the Pens would kill the penalty, and Tom Kostopoulos would strip Jeff Jakaitis behind the net and dish to Nick Drazenovic in the slot who scored on an open net and it was 4-1 Wilkes-Barre. Later, Kostopoulos would score on a breakaway to make it 5-1 and essentially put the game away for the Penguins.

Three Stars: 3) Joe Morrow (goal, -1) 2) Eric Hartzell (33 saves on 34 shots) and 1) Harry Zolnierczyk (two assists, +3)

Five different Penguins scored goals. Five different Penguins had multiple point nights. Spread the love!

Around the Division: Hershey finds themselves down 3-1 at one point early in the third to come back to tie it and win 4-3 in the shootout vs. the Albany Devils. The Norfolk Admirals and ol’ buddy Brad Thiessen lose in a shootout to the Charlotte Checkers 4-3 also. Thiessen faced 52 shots and stopped 49 of them, which is tied for the most saves in the AHL this season.

Standings: Pens get back to a point behind the B-Sens with the same amount of games played. Binghamton 53 — Penguins 52 — Norfolk 48 — Hershey 44 — Syracuse 40

Conference: 1) SPR (58) 2) MCH (58) 3) BNG (53) 4) WBS (52) 5) ALB (52) 6) NOR (48) 7) PRO (48) 8) HER (44)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off today.

SendToNews: Checked on the edit, Providence didn’t have them. Use your imagination or just watch the Vines I made.

The Week 16 Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings will run tomorrow at noon, instead of their regular 4 p.m. That’s because there are a bunch of afternoon games because of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Please adjust your blog viewing schedules.

Let’s Go Pens!!!