Chirps from Center Ice

No funny headlines for preseason games. No graphics either. It’s preseason for bloggers, too.

Also, no radio or AHL Live, since tonight’s Penguins / Amerks preseason game was played at an IcePlex and not the Blue Cross Arena, the home of the Amerks. So I relied solely off of the tweets of one Mike O’Brien.

So instead of hitting each other in practice for the past few days, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins traveled to Western New York and hit the Rochester Americans in the first preseason game for both clubs.

Eric Hartzell vs. Nathan Lieuwen

Brian Gibbons wore the C for the Pens tonight and Paul Thompson wore the lone A.

Pens dressed the following players:

Forwards: Mike Carman, Kyle Fletcher, Chaz Johnson, Jack MacLellan, Denver Manderson, Christiaan Minella, Carter Rowney, C.J. Severyn, Cody Sylvester, Paul Thompson and Dominik Uher.

Defensemen: Nick D’Agostino, Barry Goers, Reid McNeill, Mike Ratchuk, Clark Seymour and Alex Velischek.

Andy Chiodo backed up Hartzell. Local product Patrick McGrath took warmups and was scratched. He and a guy like Chaz Johnson are cut from the same cloth, so if they are up for the same job, let the local kid in McGrath get game action at home in Wilkes-Barre this weekend. Makes sense.

Clark Donatelli, head coach of the Wheeling Nailers, was behind the bench with John Hynes & Co.

Starters for the Pens were Sylvester–Gibbons–Thompson // D’Agostino–Seymour.

Didn’t take long for the first fight. Christiaan Minella fought Johnny McGuire. Mike O’Brien said that both landed some right hooks before tumbling to the ice.

Phil Varone banged home a power play goal to put the Amerks on the board first.

Denver Manderson with a quick answer goal :25 later on a two on one rush set up by Chaz Johnson chipping the puck out of the zone to set up the odd man.

Rochester would quickly score on another power play. This time Chad Ruhwedel on a point shot. Quickly, the highly touted WBS penalty kill was 0-for-2. The Pens would go on the penalty kill again but would kill that one.

Cody Sylvester wasn’t doing himself any favors by getting called for another penalty, his third, the Penguins fourth of the period. Wilkes-Barre was able to kill that one off though.

After one, it was 2-1 Rochester with shots 15-2 for the Amerks. It’s hard to generate shots on goal when you are constantly killing penalties in a period. But hey, it’s the first period of the first preseason game of the year. I shouldn’t overanalyze.

From what I could tell from O’Brien’s tweets, the Pens were much more aggressive and disciplined to start the second. Dominik Uher had a good chance by a better same by netminder Lieuwen. Pens would get a power play out of it.

At the halfway point of the period, Andy Chiodo took over for Hartzell and Connor Knapp took over for Nathan Lieuwen in goal.

Back to the Pens power play, Paul Thompson would score to even the game at two a piece. Thompson wrists a roof job from the bottom of the faceoff circle.

Much more disciplined second period by the Pens. They must have shook off the first period jitters because the Pens outshot the Amerks 10-6 in the period and went 1-for-1 on their only power play of the game to this point.

Chaz Johnson and Drew Bagnall fought but didn’t throw any punches, so instead, both got roughing minors.

Pens got a power play with about seven minutes left in the third but weren’t able to capitalize.

Goalies Chiodo and Knapp traded glove saves….please keep reading.

Nothing was decided in the third so it was on to overtime.

Obie said that Chiodo had a flashy glove save on a redirect in overtime.

Eric Locke finished the Pens in overtime with a backhander in close on Chiodo and won it for the Amerks. Fellow blogger Amerks Sin Bin had the setup on the GWG:

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Three stars were: 3) Manderson (goal) 2) Ruhwedal (goal, assist) and 1) Locke (game winning goal.

Final shots on goal were 32-21 Amerks Pens were 1-for-2 on the power play and 4-for-6 on the PK.

I’d expect a few more cuts from Pittsburgh tomorrow or Friday, so we will see what shakes out of a lineup this weekend for the Pens starting Friday at home vs. these same Amerks.

If there is newsy news to share tomorrow, I’ll have a blog on it. If not, next entry will be the post game recap Friday night.

Let’s Go Pens!

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The well has run dry.

The tank is on empty.

The sun has gone down.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins bow out of the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs 7-0 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Philippe Paradis had a hat trick, and that was all she wrote on this one.

Head Coach John Hynes put Jeff Zatkoff in net trying to change up the luck for the Penguins. Derrick Pouliot made his debut on the blue line for the Pens, taking the place of Peter Merth. Derek Nesbitt and Bobby Farnham were in for Christiaan Minella and Chris Collins.

I don’t really know what to recap here. The game was close for a good portion of the first period. But then a failed clear by the Penguins, something that has dogged them all season long, cost them again. Vlad Namestnikov bats in a shot to make it 1-0 Crunch.

Then Dan Sexton beats out a Penguin for an icing call. Off the face off, Radko Gudas scores to make it 2-0 Crunch. None of what you read in this paragraph happens if the icing is touched up.

It may have not mattered, because we Philippe Paradis had yet to have his fun.

Paradis wheels around the net in the second period and stuffs one home to make it 3-0 Crunch. The Pens giveaway a puck trying to clear and its 4-0 Syracuse.

Later, a puck hits Warren Peters as the Pens try to exit and Ondrej Palat scores to make it 5-0 Crunch.

At this point, after 40 minutes. The tank was spent. The Pens were running on fumes.

That Paradis guy that I mentioned earlier? Hasn’t had his fun yet.

Brian Dumoulin blows a tire. Paradis flies in and score to make it 6-0 Crunch. He caps off his hat trick to make it 7-0.

Syracuse coasts the rest of the way. The Penguins don’t score. The only player I gave an “F” to in my quarterly grades would end up scoring the final WBS Penguins goal of the season. If you don’t know, now you know.

So that’s it.

Tom Grace had a quote postgame which is appropriate:

“The longer it takes, the sweeter it will taste”

It took the City of Syracuse nineteen seasons to play a meaningful hockey game in June.

Wilkes-Barre expects to play in June season after season.

Moral is, the time is coming.

It ain’t today. It ain’t tomorrow. Hell, it may not be for another five years.

But it’s coming. That I am sure of.

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Hope that you will keep checking out the blog this summer for the latest on what is to come for 2013-14. I will try to keep things fresh here on the blog with content and will have the 2013 Offseason Moves tab up soon.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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You know that one weakness that we all have that, when exposed to what it is that we want to avoid, we ultimately succumb to it?

For example, a smoker that wants to quit for health reasons. They’ve smoked for years and the stench of the countless packs of cigarettes are embedded deep in their upholstery at home that every time they sit down, they smell the smell of the cigarettes and crave just one more drag?

Ultimately, they do, and ultimately they die.

That’s what’s happening to the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. Minus the cigarette inference.

What’s been the biggest problem all year for this team? Failed defensive clears, sketchiness in their own zone defensively, a tireless or lucky forecheck by a team and then, BOOM! puck is in the back of the net and you are trailing by a goal.

It happened tonight. Again, and again, and again, and again.

The Syracuse Crunch skate out of Wilkes-Barre with a 4-2 win and a commanding 3-1 series lead. They can win the Eastern Conference tomorrow in Game 5.

The setup was nice. Hynes & Co., shook up the lines. D Scott Harrington was in. Alex Grant was out. Jasyon Megna was back. Adam Payerl skated on the top line. Chad Kolarik played on the fourth line. Derek Nesbitt was a scratch.

Thiessen vs. Desjardins was the only semblance of normalcy.

The Penguins would score on the power play just past halfway in the first. Scott Harrington scores on his first shot in his first pro game.

Later, Brendan Mikkelson scored from the blue line when Thiessen was screened after, you guessed it, another failed WBS clear.

Relentless Syracuse forecheck. Penguins can’t clear. Adam Payerl forced into a hooking penalty. It was either this or an ice or a clear out into the neutral zone, a Syracuse defenseman with a take away and right back in the Syracuse attack zone.

Out of no where, literally, Adam Payerl works a puck up and out to Warren Peters. A Crunch defenseman is back and hems him along the wall. The puck squeaks to a suddenly wide open Jayson Megna. Megna skates in, nearly turns it over, but the puck goes in and it’s a 2-1 Penguins lead in the second period.

But wait. Answer goal by Syracuse. Brett Connolly. Tie game again.

I tweeted this before the start of the third:

Gotta believe this is the most important period of the season for Wilkes-Barre. Under two minutes away.

— Jason Iacona (@nafsnep) June 1, 2013

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The very next tweet after that, which would be 1:50 in to the period:

Tyler Johnsin scores. 3-2 Crunch.

— Jason Iacona (@nafsnep) June 1, 2013

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Misspelled Johnson there, it happens.

Anyway, the defense was left chasing. The Crunch wheeled around the net and well, this was the play:

photo credit: Scott Thomas @sthomasphotos (www.sthomasphotos.com)

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It was that bad.

The rest of the period was extremely frustrating to watch. Syracuse came with rush after rush after rush up ice. Pens chased all period. They only managed one shot on goal immediately after the Johnson goal. They finally had some semblance of jump after the ten minute mark but Desjardins and the Crunch kept it a one goal lead in their favor.

Then the Penguins were gifted a power play.

They manage no shot on net, pull Thiessen during it for a six on four, Crunch kill it and pot the kill shot empty netter to make it 4-2.

Bright side: The Pens are undefeated while on the brink of elimination.

Dark side:

Tampa Bay Lightning AHL affiliates (Norfolk last year, Syracuse this year) are now 20-1 in their last 21 playoff games. The 1 was WBS in G1.

— DJ Abisalih (@Nailers_PXP) June 1, 2013

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Game Five is tomorrow in Syracuse. Do the Pens have what it takes to force a Game 6? Game 7???

Buy the ticket, take the ride.

To the end………

Let’s Go Pens!!!!

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It wasn’t for lack of effort tonight. It was there.

It wasn’t for lack of shots tonight. They were 22 a side.

Power play? Nope. Neither team capitalized.

Goaltending? I defy you to hang this loss on Brad Thiessen.

I have watched enough minor league hockey to say with confidence that games come down to plays. In the second period of the game tonight, Pens D Alex Grant coughs up a puck on his own blue line. Syracuse gets it, goes the other way, cycles, and Vladislav Namestnikov scores to put the Crunch ahead 1-0.

You can’t let the Crunch score the first goal. They are insanely hard to beat when you do, having the best record in the regular season when scoring first.

That was the only blemish on an overall even Game 3 in Wilkes-Barre tonight. Starting goaltender Brad Thiessen stopped 21 of 22 shots. Crunch goaltender Cedrick Desjardins stopped all 22 shots put in his way. J.T. Brown for Syracuse scored a meaningless empty net goal with under ten seconds to play.

Penguins put ten shots on Desjardins in the first period then just twelve the rest of the way. They had a period in the first half of the game of extended five on three power play time but were not able to capitalize. The game went back and forth and ebbed and flowed as a playoff hockey game would. Syracuse would get their chances, the Penguins would get their chances. It seemed though, that Syracuse had more of the chances and better looks and the Penguins had more hastened rushes up ice and hurried shots at Desjardins, who made the saves he needed to preserve the shutout.

One thing that had me scratching my head late in the game was the constant  rolling of the third and fourth lines for the Penguins. Seemed every time I looked up Dom Uher or Warren Peters were out to take a shift and no where to be found were the top line guys like Trevor Smith, Derek Nesbitt or Chad Kolarik.

Olli Maatta made his pro debut tonight on defense, taking the spot for Reid McNeill. The 18 year old didn’t look out of place and played about as well as an 18 year old making his professional debut in the third game of the Eastern Conference Finals in the American Hockey League playoffs could play. He had a shot from the slot late in the third that Desjardins went into the splits on and make a glove save on.

Dylan Reese, Bobby Farnham, Cody Wild and Jayson Megna did not play for the Penguins tonight.

Game 4 will be Friday in Wilkes-Barre. A must win for the Penguins if they want to advance to the Calder Cup Finals. A comeback down 0-3 against the top seeded Providence Bruins was nice, but cannot be expected again against the core of what won the League Championship in Norfolk last season.

I’ll leave you with this tweet from the AHL’s PR department:

In @caldercup Playoff best-of-sevens that are tied 1-1, the Game 3 winner goes on to win the series 70.9 percent of the time (129 of 182)

— AHL Communications (@AHLPR) May 30, 2013

Like I said before, if it were easy, we’d all have Calder Cups.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Say what you want, the Pens were tired.

Syracuse has played only its second game in the past nine days. The Penguins have played four games in the last seven games with two of those seven being elimination games.

If I tell you, Sunday night at 11 p.m. that the series would be tied heading back to Wilkes-Barre, do you hug me or punch me?

Actually, don’t answer that.

The Penguins lose Game 2 tonight 3-2 and continue their futility in the second game on the road, now 3-13 in Game 2s on opponents ice.

Game 3 is Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre.

Brad Thiessen vs. Cedrick Desjardins — no lineup changes either way for either team.

First Period: Blitzkrieg period by the Crunch, who outshot the Penguins 15-1 and went up 1-0 on the scoreboard on a Dan Sexton power play goal.

Second Period: More pressure by the Crunch. Matt Taormina scores a goal in a pile to make it 2-0 Crunch. I think shots were 22-2 Crunch at this point. Then, Philip Samuelsson was hooked and the Pens were on the power play. Joey Mormina wastes no time. 2-1 Crunch. Riley Holzapfel nearly tied the game but fanned on an open net. 

For some reason, the Syracuse Crunch became very frustrated with the Penguins, as they would take silly penalty after silly penalty. The Pens would get a power play again.

Hold your horses. The Crunch have the most shorthanded goals this postseason. Dimitry Korobov lights the lamp to make it 3-1 Crunch. Truly a backbreaking gaol for the Penguins and likely the turning point in the game. 

More frustration though by the Crunch, as Tyler Johnson butt ends Joey Mormina and gets an automatic 4:00 double minor. However, at the end of the second, Brian Gibbons would take a penalty.

Third Period: Tyler Johnson and Chad Kolarik go knee on knee. Kolarik returns. Johnson does not. Possible game changer in the series, especially if Johnson’s injury is serious as he is an important part of what the Crunch are about.

Riley Holzapfel scores a goal late. That would be all the offense the Penguins would muster. 

Three Stars: 3) Dan Sexton (goal, even) 2) Dmitry Korobov (goal, even) and 1) Ondrej Palat (assist, +2)

Syracuse looked frustrated despite dominating the Penguins. Desjardins has been pedestrian thus far. The Pens looked worn down. Again, I am running to Wednesday with a series split. What is the status with Tyler Johnson’s knee? Expect a dogfight Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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If I am a Crunch fan, this is a bad loss.

I’m not a Crunch fan, I am a Penguin fan and this win was a necessity.

You are not winning this series if you are Wilkes-Barre down 0-2.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins hand the Syracuse Crunch their first loss of the post season, and first loss for a Tampa Bay affiliate in playoffs since May 7, 2012 with a 4-2 win and now have home ice advantage in the series.

Two goals by Alex Grant, a goal from Trevor Smith and an unlikely goal for Christiaan Minella proved to be too much for the Crunch, who beat goaltender Brad Thiessen twice only on goals when he was screened.

The aforementioned Brad Thiessen vs. Cedrick Desjardins.

Lineup Notes: Christiaan Minella was in for Jayson Megna who, per radio, will be unlikely to play Game 2 and is questionable at best to play in the series. Bobby Farnham is off of the injured list but is is probably not going to play tomorrow. Dylan Reese did not play.

First Period: Penguins could not clear the D zone. Really dangerous moments for the Penguins in this regard. Suddenly, Alex Grant scores a goal to put the Pens up 1-0. This was the first shot on goal for the Penguins and the first time the Crunch trailed in any game in the playoffs since Game 3 of Round One in the Portland series. More dangerous D zone non-clears by the Pens. The fourth line for the Pens was huge this period and for the game overall. Then, Brendan Mikkelson scored through a screen to even the score at one.

The next shift, Radko Gudas boards a Penguin. Wilkes-Barre would set up, go tic tac toe, and Trevor Smith would push the Pens back to the lead 2-1. An answer goal to answer all answer goals.

Second Period: Joey Mormina takes a delay of game penalty. MVP Tyler Johnson picks a spot and it’s a tie game again. Warren Peters, I guess mad at the initial call on Mormina or mad that the Crunch scored, took a slashing call and the Crunch were back on the power play as soon as they dropped the puck to resume play after the Johnson goal. Pens kill it.

Remember that fourth line I was talking about earlier? They came up huge again. Dominik Uher chases a puck down into the Pens zone on a Crunch player. Christiaan Minella slaps down a clearing bid, finds himself alone with Desjardins and scores to make it 3-2 Pens. Backbreaking goal to give up for Syracuse. They’ve hemmed the Pens in their zone all night, battle back to even the score at two and let the Wilkes-Barre fourth line outwork them and score a goal.

Pens felt it, too. They were honing in on another goal. After some power play exchanges, Alex Grant steps into his second goal of the night to put the Pens up 4-2 heading into the…

Third Period: Pens played a solid defensive period. Knowing they were up two goals on an offensively dangerous Syracuse Crunch team, Wilkes-Barre took no chances defensively and rode that to a 1-0 lead in the series.

Three Stars: 3) Brendan Mikkelson (goal, +1) 2) Trevor Smith (goal, assist, +1) and 1) Alex Grant (two goals, +1)

Game 2 is right back here Sunday night in Syracuse.

Gameday for that proceeding will be up Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

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It is rare that I ever reference my real job here on the blog or anywhere in social media.

I’ll remember the following exchange with one of my supervisors for the rest of my life.

After losing last Wednesday, 2-1 in overtime and facing a potential sweep by the regular season champion Providence Bruins on Friday, he pokes his head into my office. Here’s how it went:

Him: “So how did the (Wilkes-Barre / Scranton)** Penguins do last night?”
Me: “Lost 2-1 in overtime, are down 0-3 in the series”
Him: “Don’t worry, it’ll just make coming back from down three games all the more sweeter.”

At first I laughed off his prophecy.

There’s a reason he has a corner office and I, a simple row one.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have made history tonight.

Never before in AHL history, with a team down 0-3 in a series, has a club rattled off four straight wins with the fourth and final one coming on the road.

It happened tonight.

The Penguins win this game 5-0 and are off to play the Syracuse Crunch for the right to represent the Eastern Conference in the Calder Cup Final.

While a tremendously historic feat, one that may not be accomplished for another 70+ years of AHL history, I am even keel as I sit and write this postgame blog recap.

Calder Cup or get out of my face. If the Penguins get dismissed by the Crunch next round or in the Cup Finals, the fact that the Penguins did what they did tonight will be nothing but a footnote to whoever it is that wins the Calder Cup this year.

Tom Grace had a quote on Brad Thiessen I shared on Twitter. It went like this:

Tom Grace on the play of Brad Thiessen: “He is not in the head of the Bruins, he is performing brain surgery.”

— Jason Iacona (@nafsnep) May 23, 2013

Thiessen’s numbers? .986 save percentage, 0.70 goals against. Two shutouts, 177 saves on 181 shots.

After falling behind three games to none, Wilkes-Barre outscored the Bruins 14-2 the rest of the way.

Something magical is brewing, pardon the obvious pun.

The Penguins did their damage in the second period of this game.

With the score tied 0-0 at the end of twenty minutes and the Penguins being outshot 11-5 by the Bruins, the Penguins opened the second period and quickly found themselves on a power play.

Chad Kolarik takes three shots at goaltender Niklas Svedberg. His initial offering is blocked, he side steps a defender, shoots, collects his own rebound and puts it past a fallen Svedberg for a 1-0 lead.

Later, the Penguins would score on three consecutive shots. The first being a Joey Mormina point shot through a crowd that Warren Peters gets a stick on for a 2-0 lead. Then Adam Payerl snaps a drop pass home for a 3-0 Penguins lead. Prior to this, a Chris Collins centering bid by Brian Gibbons almost made it 3-0 but the Penguins were on the come regardless. Then Dominik Uher, in for Dylan Reese and making his series debut, chips a puck out of the defensive zone and up ice. He dumps it deep, centers to Payerl who drops to Zach Sill who makes it 4-0 Penguins.

At this point the rout was on.

Providence would come out in the third with Michael Hutchinson in goal but it would not matter. The Pens would drop back into full on prevent defense. To the Bruins credit, they threw everything they had at Thiessen, but could not get one past him. Trevor Smith scores late on a drop pass by Chad Kolarik to make it 5-0 to ice it.

Mentioned on radio that Head Coach John Hynes broke down every single shift (emphasis added) from Game 6. Adjustments were made and there is the result.

Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals open Saturday in Syracuse.

Content wise, the preview for that series will be up Friday at noon.

The schedule for the Eastern Conference Finals looks like this:

Eastern Conference Finals – Series “M” (best-of-7)
3-Syracuse Crunch vs. 5-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Game 1 – Sat., May 25 – W-B/Scranton at Syracuse, 7:00
Game 2 – Sun., May 26 – W-B/Scranton at Syracuse, 7:00
Game 3 – Wed., May 29 – Syracuse at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Game 4 – Fri., May 31 – Syracuse at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 5 – Sat., June 1 – W-B/Scranton at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 6 – Mon., June 3 – Syracuse at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 7 – Wed., June 5 – W-B/Scranton at Syracuse, 7:00

*if necessary… All times Eastern

I wanted Norfolk last year. That did not happen obviously with the defeat in Game 7 last year to the St. John’s IceCaps, who were swept by the Admirals and went on to win the Calder Cup. That Admirals team reincarnated into this years Syracuse Crunch team who won the East Division and have not lost in the postseason yet this year. I finally have what I wished for last year standing right in front of me, eye to eye.

We have a few days to break it all down. Celebrate the history tonight. We have more games to win.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

** – he used that word I detest.