Chirps from Center Ice

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Eric Hartzell is a name that Penguins fans will learn to know and learn to love in the future. The rookie goaltender making his first AHL start proved it tonight.

Bolstered by yet another strong third period, one that saw the Penguins score five goals and a 29 save performance by Hartzell.

The Penguins played an impotent 40 minutes of hockey and then come out gangbusters in the the third and absolutely steamrolled the St. John’s IceCaps and won 5-2 tonight in stunning fashion.

Eddie Pasquale vs. the aforementioned Eric Hartzell.

Zach Sill, Bobby Farnham and Nick D’Agostino were all back for the Penguins tonight so Denver Manderson, Cody Sylvester and Dustin Stevenson were scratched.

First Period: Not really much to write home about for the two teams. The most memorable thing that happened this period was something that didn’t happen for more than fifteen minutes. That was a shot by the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. The first came with 4:35 left in the period. Hartzell kept the Pens in it. He had a goal waved off on him when it was ruled that it was deflected in by a kick from a St. John’s skate and not the stick.

Second Period: More Hartzell bailing out the Pens, this time on a 4:00 power play for the IceCaps, who took it to the Penguins early and often in the first two periods. Finally, Eric O’Dell would score his first of two on a rebound from a blast from the point that put the IceCaps ahead 1-0.

With the way the game had gone to this point, it looked like that was all the IceCaps needed to put away the Penguins.

Hold on though, we still have another period to play.

Third Period: Tom Kostopoulos got it started on the power play on a hack and whack job that tied the game. :29 later, Bobby Farnham does a falling down roof job that puts the Penguins ahead 2-1. Then J.C. Lipon gets a 5:00 major match penalty for a check to the head to Tom Kuhnhackl, who would be fine, but the Penguins were not able to convert.

The Pens left way too much time on the board though, as with just under 7 minutes to play the IceCaps would go to the power play and cash to tie the game at two. Eric O’Dell again.

But hold on. More time on the clock, game wasn’t over.

You like :29 apart for two goals? How about :17 apart for two goals! One by Andrew Ebbett on the power play and another on a shot off the wall from Zach Sill over the pad of Pasquale and in. After the game that Pasquale had played from Friday and into two periods Saturday, a terrible goal to give up by him.

Jayson Megna would cash in on an empty netter when Bobby Farnham does all the work but does everything but score and that was your ballgame.

Three Stars: 3) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, assist, even) 2) Bobby Farnham (goal, assist, +3) and 1) Eric Hartzell (29 saves on 31 shots)

The thing about Hartzell that I liked was that every time the Pens scored, he would skate up to the tunnel and glove tap the guys on the ice that scored. Here, like this…

Credit: Siena Slusser

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Around the Division: Hershey stops the Binghamton Senators seven game winning streak dropping them 5-2 in Hershey. The two teams rematch tomorrow. Syracuse is shutout 3-0 by the Hamilton Bulldogs up in Syracuse for their fourth loss in a row (0-3-0-1) and the Norfolk Admirals lose a lead late and lose in a shootout to the Portland Pirates 4-3 at Scope.

Standings: Penguins 26 — Binghamton 24 — Norfolk 22 — Syracuse 20 — Hershey 16

Conference: 1) MCH (29) 2) WBS (26) 3) SPR (25) 4) BNG (24) 5) ALB (23) 6) NOR (22) 7) SYR (20) 8) PRO (19)

Wheeling Update: Wheeling downs Fort Wayne in overtime, 5-4. Mike Ratchuk had two goals and two assists for the Nailers including the game winner. Anton Zlobin had a goal and an assist as well.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here. Worth checking out.

Edit: You can link to the SendToNews Package, or you can just watch below:

Pens off until a Thanksgiving Eve game in Glens Falls against the Phantoms. Blog wise, short of anything breaking Sunday will have the Week 8 AHL Power Rankings here Monday. Also, we are a game away from the quarter pole so that means First Quarter Grades are due. Look for those on Thanksgiving after the Adirondack game.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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St. John’s IceCaps goaltender Eddie Pasquale has been a thorn in the side of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins for some time now.

Dating back to 2012, in the Eastern Conference Semifinals agains these same IceCaps, Pasquale’s heroics in that series propelled the St. John’s IceCaps to a Eastern Conference Finals berth.

Tonight, it was the same magic.

Pasquale stops 31 of 32 and his St. John’s IceCaps squeak by the Penguins tonight 2-1. Rematch tomorrow.

Jeff Deslauriers vs. the aforementioned Eddie Pasquale

Lineup was pretty much the same from Wednesday. Bobby Farnham was eligible to return but did not. Zach Sill was sent down by Pittsburgh at around 5 and was snot in time for the game.

First Period: Pens came out and flew all around the ice and threw shots on net that Pasquale saved. Finally, Jayson Megna set up Harry Zolnierczyk on a pass that Zolnierczyk buried past Pasquale for the Pens only goal of the game. Later, after a successful penalty kill, Travis Ehrhardt zipped one past Deslauriers for a tie game.

Second Period: This period was where Pasquale shone brightly. The score could have been and should have been 5-1 Penguins if not for stellar, and I mean stellar saves by the IceCaps net minder. Especially shorthanded. It appeared that there was some kind of forcefield around the net that Pasquale guarded. I remember a sequence in particular where he stoned Jayson Megna and Harry Zolnierczyk on sure goals on the same shift.

Later, Patrice Cormier gets around Brian Dumoulin and puts one past Deslauriers to put the IceCaps out front for good.

Third Period: Tom Kostopoulous thinks he scores. I do too. Only problem is, he didn’t. Puck hits the top of the crossbar, straight down and not in. Referee Trent Knorr reviewed it on replay and confirmed what I just described.

More Pasquale saves. It was his night. Nothing was getting by him. Even with some power play time late and even a 5-on-3, the Pens were not able to get one by Pasquale.

Three Stars: 3) Travis Ehrhardt (goal, +1) 2) Patrice Cormier (goal, +1) and 1) Eddie Pasquale (31 saves on 32 shots)

Around the Division: Binghamton obliterates Adirondack 6-2 in my game to watch tonight. Norfolk fights back and wins in overtime 3-2 over the Portland Pirates down in Virginia and the Syracuse Crunch lose in Montreal to Hamilton 4-1. Hershey was off.

Standings: Binghamton 24 — Penguins 24 — Norfolk 21 — Syracuse 20 — Hershey 14

Conference: 1) MCH (27) 2) BNG (24) 3) SPR 23 4) WBS (24) 5) ALB (21) 6) NOR (21) 7) SYR (20) 8) PRO (19)

Wheeling Update: Nothing to say here, the Nailers were off.

SendToNews Highlights: For you Eddie Pasquale fans, I offer the following…

These two teams rematch tomorrow. Gameday for this will be up at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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Cody Sylvester has followed the track of Jayson Megna and Brian Gibbons in Pittsburgh.

That is, he scored in his “league up” debut. His goal turned out to be the game winner and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins hold off the Rochester Americans 3-1 and are in sole possession of first place in the East Division and have quietly won three in a row.

Jeff Deslauriers vs. Matt Hackett

Nick Drazenovic (injury) Peter Merth (injury) Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (injury) Nick D’Agostino (healthy scratch) and Bobby Farnham (suspension) were the Penguins out of the lineup. The aforementioned Cody Sylvester, along with Denver Manderson and Dustin Stevenson made their Penguins debuts.

First Period: Wilkes-Barre came out gangbusters to open the game and just smothered Rochester. There was one sequence where the Amerks attempted to clear out of their zone on three different occasions and were unable to due to the high Penguins pressure they encountered. Finally, after dominating much of the period, Tom Kostopoulos deflected a Scott Harrington point shot from the blue line home with under five seconds remaining.

Second Period: Wilkes-Barre would keep the pressure on the Americans early in the second. Jamie Tardif would turn a puck over and Cody Sylvester would score his first goal of the season for the Pens and first AHL goal with a nice wrist shot. Rochester would answer with a goal of its own with a goal by Kevin Porter on a power play. Then the Penguins started playing loose in their own end and started giving the Americans multiple chances at attempting to even the game but Jeff Deslauriers was up to the task.

Third Period: In a word, a snoozer. Pens dropped back and played defense and were wholly content with taking just three shots on goal while allowing Rochester seven. The most exciting thing to happen was this Jayson Megna empty netter, where he fends off two Rochester defenders.

Three Stars: 3) Cody Sylvester (game winning goal, +1) 2) Kevin Porter (goal, -2) and 1) Jeff Deslauriers (23 saves on 24 shots)

Around the Division: They all watched us.

Standings: Penguins 24 — Binghamton 22 — Syracuse 20 — Norfolk 19 — Hershey 14

Conference: 1) MCH (25) 2) WBS (24) 3) SPR 21 4) BNG 22 5) ALB (21) 6) SYR (20) 7) NOR (19) 8) HFD (18)

Wheeling Update: Nailers fall in a shootout in Reading 3-2. Zack Torquato had a goal and an assist in the game.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here.

But for breaking news Thursday, next blog update comes Friday at 3 p.m. for the St. John’s setup.

Let’s Go Pens!

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When the Hershey Bears went to Charlotte this week, they scored 13 goals, including 8 in one game.

Not tonight.

The Bears go 0-for-7 on the power play, and score just one goal.

For the Penguins, after being down a goal early 1:55 in, they played a much smarter game after that and got goals by Brian Gibbons shorthanded, Nick Drazenovic and Jayson Megna. They go on to win tonight, 3-1.

Jeff Deslauriers vs. David Leggio

Nick D’Agostino took the place of the injured Reid McNeill and Adam Payerl rotated in to the fourth line, replacing Paul Thompson.

First Period: Derek Whitmore took a pass from below the Penguin goal line to put the Bears ahead 1:55 into the game. A sloppy start leads to a quick goal from the Bears. Things settled from there.

Bobby Farnham takes a penalty and the Penguins are shorthanded. Brian Gibbons steals a Dmitry Orlov pass and skates in for the Brian Gibbons Breakaway of the Game™ and scores shorthanded for a tie game. Then a bunch of penalties, including 5-on-3s both ways. Nothing doing tonight for either club on special teams. Finally in the final three minutes, Nick Drazenovic takes a pass from Chris Conner, gets Leggio to go down and scores a goal past the fallen Bears net minder for a 2-1 lead.

Second Period: Goaltenders put on a clinic. More special teams, some bad giveaways. The goalies stopped all of them.

Third Period: Really a wide open period. Good chances both ways. The final shots on goal were 22-21, I honestly think that both teams matched each other shot for shot.

Finally, Jayson Megna throws a knuckled on net at Leggio that somehow eludes him in the final two minutes. Bears pulled Leggio after that for the extra man but they never scored.

Three Stars: 3) Jeff Deslauriers (21 saves on 22 shots) 2) Brian Gibbons (goal, assist, +2) and 1) Nick Drazenovic (game winning goal, +1)

Around the Division: The Binghamton Senators keep rolling, hanging seven on the Rochester Americans and rolling them 7-3. The Syracuse Crunch lose in a shootout at home to the Albany Devils in another goaltender clinic 2-1 and the Norfolk Admirals fall short in Manchester losing tonight 3-2.

Standings: Penguins 22 — Binghamton 22 — Syracuse 20 — Norfolk 19 — Hershey 14

Conference: 1) MCH (25) 2) WBS (22) 3) SPR 21 4) BNG (22) 5) SYR (20) 6) ALB (19) 7) NOR (19) 8) HFD (18)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers won 5-4 over the Elmira Jackals tonight. Five different Nailers with goals.

SendToNews Highlights: YouTube version is right here. I didn’t have time for an embed, sorry.

Pens off until a Wednesday game vs. Rochester. The Week 7 AHL Power Rankings will be up back at their normal time here on the blog at 4 p.m. Monday.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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The Crunch are missing some key pieces which got them to first place in the division.

No one in a Wilkes-Barre / Scranton sweater cared tonight.

Anchored by a strong performance by Simon Despres, the Penguins roll the Crunch 5-3 in Syracuse tonight.

I was “out” and didn’t tweet the game in its entirety. If you were in the blog earlier, you saw that I amassed a list of those who did and I will build this postgamer off of that.

Jeff Deslauriers vs. Riku Helenius.

Two roster moves today. Anton Zlobin to Wheeling and Zach Sill to Pittsburgh.

Adam Payerl was the lone “healthy” scratch.

First Period: Simon Despres gets the party going for the Penguins with a low shot that beat Helenius to give the Pens a 1-0 lead.

Then, a strange sequence. The Pens would take a penalty and Brian Gibbons on the next face off would draw the Crunch into a penalty. This happened twice in the period. Wilkes-Barre would get a goal on the first part of 4×4 when Jayson Megna, fresh from the NHL, would score to put the Pens ahead 2-0. Then, on the late back half of a Pens power play, Despres would throw it at the net ant it would deflect off of Gibbons for a 3-0 lead.

Second Period: Pens get some pushback from the Crunch when Vlad Namestnikov scored to put the Crunch in the board at 3–1. Then, Tom Kostopoulos would score to re-establish the three goal lead for the a Penguins. Late, with :18 left, Evan Rankin would score to cut the deficit in half for the Crunch. 4-2.

Third Period: Brian Gibbons scores top shelf to put the Pens back up three. Then Danick Gauthier scores to put the Crunch behind two. Felt like at this point time was not ticking down as much as the Pens would like. The a Pens also got caught standing, watching the Crunch battle and score their third goal.

Teams would trade power plays late. No dice. Crunch would pull Helenius but couldn’t capitalize.

With the win, the Penguins are back in front of the East Division.

Three Stars: 3) Vlad Namestnikov (goal, assist, +1) 2) Brian Gibbons (goal, two assists, even) and 1) Simon Despres (goal, assist, +2)

Around the Division: Binghamton gets by Adirondack 4-2 and Norfolk beats Providence 4-3. Hershey was idle.

Standings: Penguins 20 — Binghamton 20 — Syracuse 19 — Norfolk 19 — Hershey 14

Conference: 1) MCH (23) 2) WBS (20) 3) SPR (19) 4) BNG (20) 5) SYR (19) 6) NOR (19) 7) ALB (17) 8) PRO (16)

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 5-1 over Elmira. Chaz Johnson scored a hat trick.

SendToNews Highlights: Aren’t up yet. If I remember tomorrow morning I’ll throw a link up if ones available.

Hershey tomorrow. Should be a blast. Gameday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!!

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Penguins play a sloppy, undisciplined first period then have to claw their way back for the remainder of the game, tie the game, then lose late when ex-captain Ryan Craig gets two whacks at a rebound and puts it behind starting goaltender Jeff Deslauriers by a final score of 4-3.

One point to show this week for the Penguins after the shootout loss Wednesday to Syracuse and the regulation loss to Albany Friday.

Jeff Deslauriers vs. Jeremy Smith

Three lineup changes for the Penguins. Anton Zlobin (making his pro debut) Paul Thompson and Reid McNeil were in for the Pens and Tom Kuhnhack, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (out with a lower body injury per Mike O’Brien on pre game) and Nick D’Agostino.

First Period: Springfield gets four power plays in the period. What you need to know here is that they have scored on FOUR of those power plays in prior games all SEASON and scored TWO in the first period. Their power play was ranked dead last in the AHL. In todays first period, it didn’t look like it.

Tim Erixon on a shot where Deslauriers was screened and then Spencer Machacek on a tip of a Frederic St. Denis shot put the Falcons ahead 2-0.

Second Period: Simon Despres scores on a two on one rush to put the Pens behind by just one. Penguins slowly were coming to life, peppering Smith with shot after shot, but then Frederic St. Denis scores from the blue line on a shot that seemed to surprise Deslauriers as he may have been partially screened on that shot too.

Penalty filled period and overall game to this point. Since I rag on other real media outlets for complaining of referee’s calls, I won’t emulate the out of town act.

Brian Dumoulin would get one back for the Pens while Wilkes-Barre was on a 5-on-3 to make it 3-2 Springfield.

Third Period: The story of this week is going to be the Penguins inability to score on a 5-on-3 situation. Penguins got three looks at this situation but came up empty every time but for the Dumoulin goal late in the second period.

Simon Despres scored to tie the game as a five-on-three expired for the Penguins, who failed to even register a single shot on goal. Then, Craig scored late on a Darryl Boyce blast that the Springfield Captain gets two whacks on before it finally goes in past Deslauriers.

With the Wilkes-Barre net empty, the Penguins never found the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Simon Despres (two goals, +2) 2) Frederic St. Denis (goal, assist, even) and 1) Ryan Craig (game winning goal, assist, +1)

Around the Division: Binghamton beats Hershey in a shootout 5-4 in the only other divisional action.

Standings: Syracuse 19 — Penguins 18 — Binghamton 18 — Norfolk 17 — Hershey 10

Conference: 1) MCH (21) 2) SYR (19) 3) SPR (17) 4) WBS (18) 5) BNG (18) 6) NOR (17) 7) PRO (16) 8) ADK (16)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers lost to the Reading Royals 2-1.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here.

The Week 6 AHL Power Rankings will be out later Monday. That’s because there are two Veterans Day games. Look for them ideally around 7 p.m. tomorrow.

Let’s Go Pens!

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6                                                5

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There are some games you get up for and others you don’t.

Tonight was one where the Penguins woke up and asked, “Whaaaa happened??”

Anchored by a four point night by Mike Sislo (3-1-4) the Albany Devils skate away from the Penguins 6-5.

Now you may look at the score and think it was a close game. You’d be wrong. The Devils controlled this game from the first second and never really looked back or stayed down. The Penguins didn’t help themselves any by sleepwalking though a good portion of the first half of the game. A sloppy, sloppy game all around from defense to goal.

Colin Riccobon is a sports anchor for the local TV news. He also moonlights on color with Mike O’Brien from time to time. He said at the end of the game that for the first time this season the Pens didn’t have their “all together game.” — That pretty much hit the nail on the proverbial head right there.

Peter Mannino vs. Keith Kincaid.

No lineup changes for the Penguins.

First Period: Dominik Uher in the penalty box and Reid Boucher cashes in the slot for a 1-0 Devils lead. Then, Rostislav Olesz snipes from a strange angle and it’s 2-0. Penguins sleepwalking, arisen a bit by a Harry Zolnierczyk goal to cut it to 2-1. But right after that, Sislo gets his first to put the Devils up by two again. They also exposed Mannino a bit as the Pens defense was hanging him out to dry.

Second Period: Scott Harrington scores on the power play to cut the deficit to one again. Then, the Penguins are given a power play. Wilkes-Barre is coming back, right? Wrong. Nick D’Agostino with a turnover and Mike Sislo makes it 4-2 on a shorthanded goal. Wait, Tom Kostopoulos scores on the power play anyway to make it 4-3 and the Pens trailed by one again!

At this point, the gloves were off. This was a slugfest.

Kelly Zajac scores a goal that Mannino should have had, it was 5-3 Albany.

Zach Sill did this:

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Then the Penguins found themselves with 1:17 of 5-on-3. They didn’t score. Let’s come back to this in a bit, shall we?

Third Period: Penguins score :24 apart, once from Mike Carman and once from Chris Conner and the score was tied. The Devils players were stunned. Don’t believe me?

Stunned, I tell you.

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Anyway, then the chances opened up for both sides. Brian Gibbons had a breakaway but was denied. Andrew Ebbett pounced on the rebound and was denied on the backhand. Then, Sislo completes his hat trick when his blast hits Deslauriers and is caromed in by Brendan Mikkeslon.

Penguins would then get ANOTHER five-on-three for 1:21. Here’s where I thought at the time that Head Coach John Hynes should have used his time out. You didn’t score on the last five-on-three you had earlier in the game and you NEED to score here to even it. He never did and the Pens didn’t score. Game over.

Notes: This is the first regulation loss for Jeff Deslauriers…..Albany was outscored 10-2 in their last three games, they came to play tonight.

Three Stars: 3) Chris Conner (goal, assist, even) 2) Reid Boucher (goal, assist, +1) and 1) Mike Sislo (three goals, assist, +3)

Around the Division: Syracuse beats Norfolk in regulation 2-1 and Binghamton beats Rochester 3-2 in overtime. Hershey was off.

Standings: Penguins 18 — Syracuse 17 — Norfolk 17 — Binghamton 14 — Hershey 7

Conference: 1) MCH (19) 2) WBS (18) 3) HFD (16) 4) SYR (17) 5) NOR (17) 6) SPR (15) 7) BNG (14) 8) ADK (14)

Wheeling Update: Wheeling beats Fort Wayne in Indiana tonight by a score of 6-2. Carter Rowney a hat trick.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here. It’s basically a Mike Sislo highlight reel. Blech.

Pens are off tomorrow then travel to Springfield for a 3 p.m. game in Massachusetts vs. the Falcons. Gameday for that will be up Sunday at 11.

Unless news breaks Saturday, the next update will be Sunday morning.

Let’s Go Pens!