Win 116 is in the books after beating not only the best team in the East Division but the best team in all the AHL as the Penguins beat the Crunch 3-2 in a thrilling game.
John Hynes is the winningest head coach in Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins history.
Jeff Zatkoff vs. Dustin Tokarski. Brian Dumoulin, Jayson Megna, Beau bennett, Tom Kuhnhackl, Steve MacIntyre, Keven Veilleux and Simon Despres were your scratches. Alex Grant moonlighted at forward tonight.
First Period: One of the things that were handcuffing the Pens in the losing streak was 0-27 on the power play. Well, Paul Thompson finally broke through to give the Pens a 1-0 lead. Alex Killorn then tied the game but :14 later off a faceoff Joey Mormina shot a puck which must have surprised Tokarski and it beat him, giving the Penguins a 2-1 lead. Jeff Zatkoff was really sharp and on form this period and really all game, making save after saves.
Second Period: Penguins power play was really scrambly after the Thompson goal. Syracuse easily killed every chance afterward and nearly scored shorthanded on a few. Even strength, Eric Tangradi shot a puck that Trevor Smith scored on a rebound giving the Pens a 3-1 lead. Later, Tyler Johnson copies the rebound goal and makes it 3-2.
Third Period: No scoring, but the period and game overall really felt like a heavyweight fight. Crunch don’t register a shot on goal until about 7:44 left in the third period. Pens really clamped down and didn’t allow the Crunch to get to Zatkoff, and when they did, Zatkoff was up to the task. Crunch pulled Tokarski late, got a power play, but the Pens held on and won.
Three Stars: 3) Alex Killorn (goal, even) 2) Radko Gudas (two assists, +2) and 1) Trevor Smith (game winning goal, +2)
Merry Christmas, everyone. Next blog update may not be until the Gameday setup against Hershey on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) – You can always follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or now on Instagram and have a see at the terrible pictures I take and put up there. I am late to all this popular stuff.
As a child, I always was intrigued by the sight of a building being imploded. I don’t know, I was a weird child. I guess thats why I am still single. Anyway, tell me that this isn’t cool:
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The sight I saw tonight, however, was far less cool from a Penguins fan perspective.
The Pens, up 3-0 to start the third period, lose 4-3 and now have lost six straight games.
I can’t explain it. In fact, I shook my head all the way home from Binghamton on I-81. Unbelievable. The atmosphere at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena was inert at best. The fans weren’t into it. It didn’t look like the B-Sens were either. They had 14 shots on goal through 40 minutes.
Then, as I sat down for the third period, I had an uneasy feeling. Sure enough, Jakob Silfverburg scores to put the B-Sens on the board. I didn’t like the goal. Jeff Zatkoff, who returned from injury and looked stellar all game, got 80% of the puck and lost out to the other 20%. :59 later, in between the B-Sens buzzing and on a power play from a Brian Strait cross-check, Shane Prince scored a goal to make it 3-2. Pens finally put their foot down and allow the Senators just one shot on goal for about seven minutes. Then, Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored his first of the season off a tip from a Patrick Wiercioch shot from the point on a shot which could best be described as a flub shot. Then, Cole Schneider feeds Shane Prince in the slot for a 4-3 Binghamton lead.
Unbelievable.
Pens got goals from unlikely players tonight. Warren Peters slipped a rebound under Robin Lehner for the first goal, Bobby Farnham scored on a sick wrist shot for the second goal and Philip Samuelsson scored the third goal in the second period.
Beau Bennett and Philippe Dupuis did not play. The Penguins went with 10 forwards and eight defensemen.
Three Stars: 3) Warren Peters (goal, +1) 2) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (goal, +1) and 1) Shane Prince (two goals, +1)
Around the Division: Hershey shuts out Norfolk at home in front of a large crowd 4-0. Syracuse was off.
Conference: 1) SYR (37) 2) SPR (35) 3) POR (34) 4) BNG (32) 5) PRO (30) 6) HER (30) 7) WOR (29) 8) BRI (29) 9) WBS (28)
Wheeling Update: Nailers played a morning game vs. the Greenville Road Warriors and won 4-1. Carl Sneep had a goal for the Nailers, who have won four games in a row and look to be righting the ship.
SendToNews Highlights: Are slowly being curated by Kate Krenzer and the B-Sens staff, but are here if you want to put video to the description above.
Where do we go from here? Good question. I have no idea. Having Zatkoff back helped, but it looked like he fought the puck in the third period. The 10 forwards / 8 defensemen project looked great, until the third period. I don’t know. I really don’t. Really a bad time to be losing, when every game right now is against a divisional opponent. This is not a time to fumble valuable points in the standings.
Brad Thiessen vs. Dustin Tokarski – Joey Mormina and Alex Grant rotated out for Dylan Reese and Brian Strait on the defensive side.
First Period: Zach Sill was back in the lineup too. He fought twice in the period, KO’ing Mike Angelidis six second in and then later vs. JP Cote. Elsewhere in the period the Pens looked great five on five and then on the power plays they looked herky jerky. Penguins had to kill a huge five on three penalty. Later, Brett Connolly scored a goal which looked like Thiessen was interfered on. Referees reviewed it but let the goal stand.
Second Period: Penguins could not get a single thing going this period. Thiessen was keeping the Penguins in the game, only down 1-0, but Alex Killorn would score a goal on a tip-in to make it 2-0 Crunch. Then, another goal review on a Crunch alleged goal, this time the refs would rule no goal. Pens would have to kill three consecutive penalties. They generated nothing in the period. Six shots on goal all period.
Third Period: Tyler Johnson picks off a WBS exit zone pass and feeds Pierre-Cedric Labrie for a 3-0 Crunch lead. More inert Penguin offensive chances. Tyler Johnson rebound goal to put it away, 4-0. That was all she wrote.
Three Stars: 3) Tyler Johnson (goal, assist , +1) 2) Alex Killorn (goal, assist, +1) and 1) Dustin Tokarski (29 save shutout)
SendToNews Highlights: Not all the teams put these up. I have no idea if Syracuse does, honestly.
Heard that the Penguins have a Christmas party tomorrow. Hope they ask Santa to get some wins this month, that would be nice.
Pens play Wednesday in Binghamton. I will be there. I love making the trip to the Southern Tier. Hopefully I am a bit of good luck and someone other than Trevor Smith scores a goal. Blogwise, I don’t know what I will have, but keep up to date with me on Twitter and occasionally on Facebook for all the latest.
Comments Off on Party Crashers – Pens LOSE 3-1
Posted by nafsnep on December 14, 2012
Was late to the game attending to a family matter and missed the first half of the game in person. Coming across town I heard the second period on. The Pens lose this game 3-1 on the anniversary of my 29th birthday. Catching up on those who were at the game the entire time saw, Pens played a pretty inert first and second period. A very un-Penguin like performance.
Brad Thiessen vs. Ben Bishop. Zach Sill took warmups but was scratched again.
First Period: Alex Grant fights David Dziurzynski. Jonathan Bombulie had a tweet that I openly laughed at:
The Dziurzynski family is to Alex Grant what the O'Doyle family is to Billy Madison.
Hugh Jessiman got a stick on an Andre Benoit shot to make it a 1-0 B-Sens lead on the power play. As for the rest, well, it didn’t seem like there really was much else other than the Grant fight and the Jessiman goal from what I scanned from others twitter feeds.
I can't remember a decent WBS scoring chance in that period. Thiessen was pretty good, so it's only 1-0. Goal he allowed was a tip on a PP.
Second Period: I got in right at the 14:00 mark. The first six minutes were uneventful. From what I heard on radio from the start of the second on the ride across town and from what I gathered catching up on twitter at red lights, the B-Sens were really peppering Thiessen. He held his ground. Offense has really been scarce for the Penguins against the Senators. Trevor Smith has scored the only goal for the Pens against the B-Sens all season.
Jakob Silverberg scores a power play goal on a bang in goal after Thiessen already made a few saves and was down and out. Shots through two periods were and extremely un-Penguin like 25 for the B-Sens and 16 for Wilkes-Barre.
Third Period: With the caliber of goaltender that Ben Bishop is and the way the night had been going for the Pens and really the season series against Binghamton, the Pens faced a steeper uphill battle down 2-0 in the third than usual. They responded by Trevor Smith scoring a goal at 8:10. The Pens played with urgency and a more crisp period, which was more like the team. Every time Binghamton got the puck into their offensive zone, the Pens would take it off them and rush back and into their own offensive zone. Rinse and repeat. They also did not allow the B-Sens a shot on goal until 3:55 left in the third. But, after a faceoff after Thiessen made a save on the first shot, Patrick Wiercioch scored a laser from the blueline to put the game essentially out of reach for the Pens. The remainder of the period, with momentum lost, ended.
Three Stars: 3) Andre Benoit (two assists) 2) Jakob Silfverberg (goal, assist, +1) and 1) Patrick Wiercioch (goal, assist, -1)
Around the Division: Syracuse blanks Adirondack 3-0. Norfolk loses on a controversial call at home vs. Bridgeport in overtime 4-3. Hershey was off.
Pens travel to Syracuse tomorrow for a 7:30 p.m. start. I openly wonder who will get the start for them, be it Zapolski, Thiessen or Zatkoff. Tune in, I guess. I will be. Gameday here tomorrow four hours before puck drop, at 3:30 p.m.
Comments Off on What the Devil Smells in Here? – Pens LOSE 6-3
Posted by nafsnep on December 12, 2012
Pens were due for this one.
They lose tonight 6-3 to the Albany Devils in a game best described as a clunker. Simple as that.
Joe Morrow and Eric Tangradi were a -4 tonight. Somehow, Paul Thompson was a +3.
I’m not going to pile on. Losses like these happen. Move on to the next one.
Brad Thiessen vs. Keith Kinkaid. Joey Mormina, Brian Strait, Zach Sill and Steve MacIntyre were the healthy scratches.
First Period: Riley Holzapfel scores off a quick developing play from a pass from Beau Bennett for a quick 1-0 lead. Then, lead by a Steve Zalewski odd man rush, Bobby Butler centers Joe Whitney who scores. Brian Dumoulin and Joe Morrow victimized defensively. Would end up being a theme tonight.
Second Period: If you were doing errands around the house or lost sense of time, the Pens were down 3-1. Harri Pesonen and Bobby Bulter score on busted WBS breakout passes. At this point three goals on seven Devils shots. But, Brian Dumoulin answered right back. Coming in four on two, Riley Holzapfel digs a puck off the wall and passes to Dumoulin who has all day to wire it past Kinkaid. Later, while on a power play, Joe Morrow tries to center a pass back to Trevor Smith at the point. The pass has a bit too much steam on it and hops Smith’s stick. Bobby Butler pounces on it and scores a shorthanded hat trick goal. Devils get extended 5-on-3 power play time later, hit the post three times. Penguins kill the penalty then on a rush Paul Thompson finds Jayson Megna who slips it five hole on Kinkaid for a 4-3 Albany lead.
Despite all this, I felt that the Penguins were not out of this game and could have still come back and won.
Third Period: Bobby Butler eradicates Dylan Reese at his own blue line. Picks up the puck, skates in and drops a pass for Steve Zalewski and it’s 5-3 Albany. Later, Butler scofres goal number four on a ridiculous backhand goal from about 10′ away to make it 6-3 Devils.
Fights. Bobby Farnham probably loses his first fight of the year against Darcy Zajac. Dominik Uher tunes up Steve Zalewski. Uher then fights Zajac.
First time all year the Penguins allow six goals to an opponent.
Three Stars: 3) Jacob Josefson (two assists, +1) 2) Steve Zalewski (goal, two assists, +2) 1) Bobby Butler (four goals, assist +5)
Around the Division: The sound you hear behind you is the Big Bear Machine getting its sea legs. Braden Holtby and the Bears shut out the St. John’s IceCaps 4-0 and now sit one point behind the Pens. For what it is worth the Bears have played the most games in the division. Syracuse drops Binghamton 4-3. Norfolk was off tonight.
Comments Off on Something for Everyone – Pens LOSE 4-3 (SO)
Posted by nafsnep on December 8, 2012
Did some freelancing for Chris Roy and the Maine Hockey Journal tonight and was back in the WBS press box again. That’s why if you tuned into the live-tweeting earlier you saw a much more reserved game call.
What a difference a day makes.
The Penguins, who were frustrated by the Hershey Bears the night before, had a goal fest in the first 6:10 of the first period of the game tonight.
But, you play sixty minutes. Not six minutes and ten seconds. The Pirates won tonight in a shootout 4-3 bolstered in net by Mike Lee, who saw his first action at the AHL level. He didn’t start the game though.
Classic game really that had a bit of everything. A big lead by the home team early. A rookie goaltender who never saw any AHL action thrust into duty against one of the leagues sharpest teams. Fights, lots of them. A comeback by the visitors and a hero in the aforementioned rookie in the end.
Brad Thiessen vs. Mark Visentin – Steve MacIntyre was in for Paul Thompson, Joey Mormina and Alex Grant for Simon Despres an Philip Samuelsson.
First Period: Philippe Dupuis swings around the net and does a spin-o-rama which fools Visentin. He fires the puck at him, then Trevor Smith deflects it in for a 1-0 Pens lead. Less than a minute later, Philippe Dupuis fires a puck towards the net, Visentin leaves a rebound that Jayson Megna gets a stick on and settles and slips past Visentin. Portland head coach Ray Edwards saw enough and replaced Visentin with Mike Lee, fresh from ECHL Gwinnett. Visentin, the night before got tuned up to the total of six goals in Binghamton last night. The Pirates settled from there and it was on to the…
Second Period: Pacquiao / Marquez 4 had nothing on this period. Steve MacIntyre finally got his chance to fight Joel Rechlicz. MacIntyre buried him with one punch. That wasn’t even the best fight of the period though as Andy Miele, not known as a fighter fought pest Baobby Farnham. Miele really represented himself well and stood right in there with the more established Farnham. Eric Tangradi and Alex Bolduc were the undercard with Tangradi dropping Bolduc.
Edit: Here is the MacIntyre / Rechlicz fight I captured on my phone from the press box. Yes, it looks like they are on Earth and I on the Moon. Check out the videoboard above them for a better view or hope that the highlights go up on the SendToNews package later.
Oh, there were goals too. Riley Holzapfel picks off a Pirates pass as they were attempting to clear the defensive zone and blasted it past Mike Lee. It looked like it caught Lee by surprise. Then rookie sensation Chris Brown scored for the Pirates after the MacIntyre and Farnham fights.
Third Period: Jordan Martinook scores a goal nearly the same way that Riley Holzapfel did the period prior. The Pirates had life. Later, Oliver Eckman-Larsson scored an NHL quality wrist shot on Brad Thiessen while Brian Dumoulin was in the penalty box. Tie game. Through penalties, no other goals were had in regulation or…
Overtime: There were penalties, but no scoring. Lee really showed himself well for this being his first AHL minutes.
Shootout: Lee really deserved a star of the game because he stopped Jayson Megna, Benn Ferriero, Trevor Smith and Beau Bennett. Bennett on his attempt tumbled into the boards hard and was down for a second. He left the ice on his own power. Chris Conner and Rob Klinkhammer scored for the Pirates.
Three Stars: 3) Rob Klinkhammer (shootout goal) 2) Riley Holzapfel (goal, +2) and 1) Oliver Eckman-Larsson (goal, assist, -1)
Editorial: Missed opportunity for the Pens to pick up ground on teams ahead of us that straight lost or did not maximize points. Can’t be happy with this effort this weekend at all.
Conference: 1) SPR 32 2) SYR 31 3) WOR 25 4) BNG 28 5) WBS 28 6) MCH 25 7) PRO 23 8) POR 24
Wheeling Update: The Nailers rematched against the defending champion Florida Everblades tonight and lost a heartbreaker in the shootout 5-4. Nailers allow Florida to score three goals in the third period to force overtime and lose in the shootout.
SendToNews Highlights: I think I can see Brian Coe editing these for everyone over in the media box. Maybe not, that looks like an empty popcorn box on second look. The highlights aren’t up yet. They may be when I get home.Here they are.
Pens are off until Wednesday when they are in Albany on December 12. I have a couple of things kicking around in my head I can use for blog fodder between now and then.
Comments Off on Bear-ied – Pens LOSE 5-4 in OT
Posted by nafsnep on December 7, 2012
The Penguins have lost games this season.
Here, I will name all the teams that the Pens have lost to.
Binghamton, Bridgeport, Springfield and Syracuse once.
Hershey. Four times.
The Pens and Bears play each other twelve times.
That’s not a good pattern.
The Penguins lose in overtime to the Bears by a score of 5-4. When the Pens were on, they were on. When they were off, Hershey scored. That simple. The Penguins did not play a full sixty minutes of hockey tonight and the results are indicative of the score.
Jeff Zatkoff vs. Dany Sabourin – Brian Strait was a scratch and Paul Thompson drew back in the lineup.
First Period: Bears come out flying. Coach John Hynes told Pens beat writer Jonathan Bombulie earlier this week that the Bears would be sharp from playing the night before in the Nation’s Capital in the AHL Showcase and that the Pens needed to match this or else. Well, in the short term they didn’t and the Bears found themselves up 1-0 thanks to a Mattias Sjogren tip of a Steve Oleksy shot from the point. Later, the Pens cash in on the power play just :04 in when Benn Ferriero rifled home a shot from the blue line to bring the game even at one. Then, Warren Peters below the goal feeds a cutting Simon Despres to put the Pens up 2-1. Late, as been the case with the Penguins with opponents under five minutes, the Bears scored to tie it at two.
Second Period: Robert Bortuzzo shoots from the blue line and it eludes Sabourin for a 3-2 Pens lead. The first ten minutes of the period were all Wilkes-Barre only allowing the Bears one shot on goal. Then, to start the second half of the period, Jon DiSalvatore would score to tie it at three. Under five minutes again in the period, Tomas Kundratek beats Zatkoff clean with a shot to push the Bears back out in front 4-3.
Third Period: The Pens would have extended power play time to work with when Steve Oleksy for Hershey took a penalty then argued the call nonstop with referee Terry Koharski. After a pretty inert stretch of power play time for the Pens, Eric Tangradi was finally able to breakthrough and even the game at 4 apiece. After that, a lot of back and forth but no scoring and it was onto…
Overtime: Philip Samuelsson coughs up a puck that T.J. Syner or Kevin Marshall pick off. They come in two vs. one and Kevin Marshall scores to end it.
Three Stars: 3) Eric Tangradi (goal, assist, -2) 2) Kevin Marshall (game winning goal, even) 1) Jon DiSalvatore (goal, assist, +2)
Editorial: I seem to be more miffed at the fact that we lost the game than I am the fact that we got a point out of the affair and by rights should have lost. I am really growing tired of Penguins rookie and/or second year defensemen getting doe-eyed when the slightest forecheck is applied while Alex Grant, Joey Mormina and others waste away as healthy scratches and Carl Sneep is buried in Wheeling. Yes, I understand development of players who are your future and fully understand the role of a minor league hockey team in the mess that is never-ending NHL labor strife. Just because I realize this doesn’t mean that I have to like it.
Oh, Simon Despres was not seen at all from the third period onward.
Around the Division: The two teams ahead of us in the East Division won. Syracuse dispatched the Hamilton Bulldogs by a score of 5-1 and the Binghamton Senators subjugated the Portland Pirates 6-1 good for their ninth win in a row. Norfolk was idle.
Wheeling Update: The Nailers come back from down 3-0 to the defending champion Florida Everblades only to lose 4-3 in a shootout. Carl Sneep had a goal for the Nailers in the loss.
SendToNews Highlights: Are slowly being pieced together as I type this but can be found here.
Pens back in action tomorrow night at 7:05 when they host the Portland Pirates.
I’ll be covering the game for the Maine Hockey Journal tomorrow and my friend Chris Roy. That means press box and “reporting” the game vs. “cheering” in case anyone is looking for my lanky seven foot frame in Section 104 tomorrow.
Gameday setup will be here on the blog tomorrow at 3 p.m.
WBS News
