Chirps from Center Ice

With half our team playing in Long Island tonight, Brad Thiessen kept the Sound Tigers out of the net and earned his second shutout of the week as Wilkes-Barre defeated Bridgeport 2-0.

Take nothing away from this game as far as “we can win with half our team in Pittsburgh.” No. Bridgeport has now lost seven in a row, and only dressed 17 skaters tonight.

Brad Thiessen vs. Joel Martin.

First period: Pens had to kill a Bortuzzo hook early and then later Carl Sneep came down the slot to make it 1-0. Shots on goal thru the first were 13-6 for the Penguins.

Second period: Geoff Walker had an early chance that was snuffed out by the ageless Mark Wotton, then Ben Street would score to make it 2-0. Nice assist by Tim Wallace on that one. Second half of this period, the Sopund Tigers would come alive but Thiessen would deny all callers. Shots for the period would be 8-8, but Bridgeport would get more than half of them in the last two minutes it seemed.

Third period: Before AHL commissioner David Andrews, Robin Figren would get robbed by Thiessen in close. For about 15 minutes the Sound Tigers would get chance after chance, but Thiessen would say no. Bridgeport would outshoot us 8-6 this period, but the Pens would hold on and win 2-0, getting Thiessen a 22 save shutout.

Thoughts: Again, Bridgeport is a team totally headed in the wrong direction, you can’t take much away from this. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to get a win, let alone a shutout, but this game should hardly be a blueprint as to what to expect going forward. At least in my opinion.

Three Stars: Joel Martin (25 saves), Carl Sneep (game winning goal, +1), Brad Thiessen (22 saves, shutout)

Around the Division: Keith Aucoin a three point night, Jared DeMichiel his first win in net as the Bears keep rolling, defeating the Providence Bruins 4-3. Norfolk blanked Syracuse 3-0. Bingo did the same to Rochester, 3-0.

Standings: WBS 78, HER 70, CHA 63, NOR 63, BNG 58, SYR 42, ALB 39, ADK 37.

Tomorrow: We get Adirondack tomorrow at Mohegan. Albany is in Charlotte, Hershey hosts Binghamton and Norfolk and Syracuse rematch on Hampton Roads.

Let’s Go Pens!

Establish a forecheck.

Crash the net.

Bang bodies.

Rinse and repeat.

That was the formula for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins tonight in a 4-1 victory over the rested Manitoba Moose in Wilkes-Barre Township this evening. Pens went 2 for 5 on the power play against the league’s number one penalty kill. Some nights, the Pens can’t get out of their own way and sometimes win, sometimes lose. Tonight, completely different story even with half of the talent on recall to Pittsburgh.

Eddie Lack v. Brad Thiessen. Carl Sneep and Nick Petersen were the scratches. Petersen is on “the injured list” as was announced pre-game. Bryan Lerg returned from whatever it was that was ailing him.

First period: After a Sami Salo delay of game penalty, Jordan Schroeder would stickhandle his way through a crowd and score on the first Moose shot of the night to make it 1-0 Moose. Then, Mario Bliznak would get whistled for high sticking and on the ensuing power play Nick Johnson would score. Then just over a minute later, Joe Vitale would dig a puck out from behind Lack’s net to the stick of Keven Veilleux (who, in this Sunday’s Citizens Voice said that his nickname was “The Cherry” as in the “cherry” on the sundae) who was right in front of the Moose net to make it 2-1. The Pens would then have to kill a Geoff Walker hook and a lazy Joey Haddad trip before the period would end 2-1 with the shots on goal 13-11 in favor of the Penguins.

Second period: Here is where the Forecheck, crash, bang strategy really worked. Veilleux would steal a puck at center skate in and fire a slap shot at Lack which caromed to Corey Potter who hacked at it and then somehow find its way onto Chris Collins’ stick which he stuffed under the left pad of Lack to make it 3-1. After that, the Pens put on a forechecking clinic for a good ten minutes. Kevin Clark for the Moose would sit for a hooking call and Ryan Craig would continue the forecheck, crash, bang and score mentality to put the Pens up 4-1. The Pens in this period allowed one shot on goal. Just one. Not to a last place team mind you, to the best team in the North Division.

Third period: Moose would attempt to mount an early comeback but the Pens would have none of it. Nothing much happened this period. Teams would trade penalties but not convert. Shots  would be an even seven this period and 32-19 overall.

Three stars: Ryan Craig (goal, assist), Chris Collins (goal, assist +2), Keven Veilleux (game winning goal, assist +2)

One thing of note: I thought this was a really well officiated game. I don’t know if anyone from the league offices in Springfield read my blog at all but I thought that Geno Binda and Francis Charron did an excellent job tonight. It’s rare that I ever say that about a referee not named Jeff Smith or Chris Cozzan, but credit to where credit is due. Binda / Charron did an excellent job tonight.

Around the Division: Charlotte beat Providence 4-1.

Standings: Lead is back to 10 over second place Hershey. Imagine if we won those three games we lost what it would be. The Bears have three games in hand on us. They have played 49 games to our 52. They play one of those games tomorrow against Atlantic Division leader Manchester tomorrow in ManchVegas. The league had a nice piece on the Monarchs today you should check out. Anyway, its Wilkes-Barre 76, Hershey 66, Charlotte 63, Norfolk 61, Binghamton 56, Syracuse 42, Albany 39 and Adirondack 37.

Tomorrow: Will be tuned in to Hershey @ Manchester at 7 p.m. from the Verizon Wireless Center over an AHL Live. Will probably tweet updates on it only after period breaks.

Pens will have an off day tomorrow, practice Thursday then they will bus to Bridgeport for Friday’s game vs. the Sound Tigers. Let’s Go Pens!

Call it the Wheeling Invasion if you want. Ben Street scores twice in the first seven minutes and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins cruise to a 4-0 shutout win over the Albany Devils in Atlantic City. First neutral site win of the year for the Penguins.

Brad Thiessen, back from injury vs. Dave Caruso. Bryan Lerg and Carl Sneep were the scratches.

First Period: 1:57 in, Ben Street scores to make it 1-0. Nice point shot by Nick Petersen which Street cleaned up. Later, Peterson sends a shot towards Caruso that Street tipped that went five hole to make it 2-0. We’ve been calling for a Brett Sterling snipe for days now and at 14:08 of the first the Ticket scored to make it 3-0.

Penguins had only scored 5 goals total in their last three games. Anemic if you ask me, so nice to see that explosion in the first period.

Second Period: Some suspect defense by the Pens as Thiessen had to make saves, but Brad held the Devils off the scoresheet. Penalty kill was clicking tonight too, in one kill Walker and Vitale came in shorthanded. The Pens really smothered the Devils in this period too, with chance after chance. Nick Petersen would go hard into the boards and not return, skating off under his own power with a left shoulder injury it appeared. Shots on goal through two periods were 23-18 Penguins.

Not for a lack of effort from Sterling, but he fanned on a few open nets this period. I think The Ticket is snake bit. How do you break it? Keep shooting. Also, how great is it to have Thiessen back? He was a calming presence I thought tonight in net for Wilkes-Barre. Taking absolutely nothing away from the yeoman work John Curry put in, but it was just great to see Thiessen back in between the pipes.

Third Period: Petersen would not return. Keven Veilleux would make it 4-0. Ryan Craig and Nick Johnson would fight at the same time. Craig, Dan Kelly. Johnson, Rob Davison. That was pretty much it. The Penguins shut down the Devils in the third, holding them to 3 shots on goal. Final SOG would end up 35-21 Penguins.

Three Stars: Nick Petersen (2 assists, +2), Brad Thiessen (shutout), Ben Street (2 goals, 1 assist, +3)

No one else played tonight, so the lead over the Bears inflates to eight. It can get back to double digits tomorrow with a win vs. Manitoba.

Standings: Penguins – 74, Bears – 66, Checkers – 61, Admirals – 61, Senators – 56, Crunch – 42, Devils 39, Phantoms – 37.

Tomorrow: Penguins home vs. the first place in the North Division Moose who are resting in Wilkes-Barre right now, hungry to get back into action after the 5-1 shellacking laid upon them by the Bears Sunday. Providence plays again in Charlotte. This after the P-Bruins lost 4-3 to the Checkers on Sunday.

Let’s Go Pens!

News of the day includes Evgeni Malkin being sidelined for what is probably the rest of the year with a torn ACL and MCL. Also, Tim Wallace was recalled to Pittsburgh.

Wilkes-Barre needed its scorers to score and they didn’t, and lost 4-2. The Crunch power play went 3 for 5. Look no further than that right there.

We have now lost three in a row. Mettle is being tested. Teams are getting up to play us. We remain the leagues best, but if more of the same continues, not for much longer.

John Curry vs. J-P Levasseur. Joey Haddad was recalled from Wheeling tonight and was in.

First period: Crunch couldn’t get out of their own way, offsides here, icing there. Finally Nick Bonino scored on the power play for an Andrew Hutchinson slash at about half way through the period with Curry screened. Later, Ben Street would notch his first AHL goal to tie the game at 1.

Second period: Early, Keven Veilleux would fan on an open net. Robert Bortuzzo would sit for a tripping call and Maxime Macenauer would cash in on the power play. At this point out PK was 1 for 3. Soon thereafter, the shots on goal were 23-15 in favor of the Pens. Quantity over qulaity I suppose. Then Bombulie dropped this nugget on the Twitter side:

http://twitter.com/#!/CVBombulie/status/34070827079180288

Third period: Teams would go back and forth, then Andrew Hutchinson would go off for holding the stick and Matt Belesky would score to make it 3-1. Later, Beleskey would punch Keven Veilleux in the face with his glove on and Keven would retaliate and draw a penalty. Both would get 4:00 for roughing. Later Nate Guenin, who will undoubtedly go down as one of the worst players to ever put on a WBS uniform, clotheslined Chris Collins which led to a fracas. Collins would skate off the ice under his own power with Trainer Steidle but not return. Stuccio on radio called it the hardest hit he has ever seen in person. Late, Mat Clark would sit for cross checking ans Steve Wagner would score to make it 3-2, but Coach Hynes would call timeout, pull Curry and Nick Bonino would score on the empty net and that was all she wrote.

Fully realizing what the purpose of an AHL team is for, this sucks. Crosby’s hurt. Malkin’s hurt. Letestu’s hurt. Asham is hurt. Who fills the roles? Damn right, your best AHL players. I want to see Wilkes-Barre win. Pittsburgh can take care of itself. Such is life.

Around the Division: Hershey lost in a shootout tonight, 5-4 to the Manitoba Moose. This after the Bears were up 4-1 and ready to run away with it. Sami Salo, who terrorized Wilkes-Barre last night, did not play in this one. Adirondack, who was shut out 5-0 by this Crunch team, shutout the 1st place Hamilton Bulldogs tonight 4-0. The Hammer had a hat trick. ManchVegas goes into Albany and shuts out the Devils 4-0. Apparently the Devils think they can still make the playoffs. Binghamton beat Norfolk 3-2.

Standings: With the shootout loss, the Bears get a half step closer, within 8 now. The lead was 13, it’s 72-64 now. Hershey has two games in hand. Norfolk could have closed to within 1 of Hershey if they won, but they sit in third with 61 points. Charlotte hasn’t played in forever, and sit fourth with 59 points. Binghamton is getting closer. They have 56 points. They’d make the playoffs today because fourth place Connecticut has 55 points in the Atlantic. Syracuse sits sixth with 42 points. Albany, 39 points in seventh and Adirondack draws within two of them with 37 points.

Tomorrow: Hershey loses one of those games in hand with a rematch I will be watching vs. Manitoba. Charlotte plays Providence. That’s not fair because Charlotte is rested and the Peebs got shut out by the Sharks tonight 2-0 in Worcester, Massachusetts.

That which does not kill you, only makes you stronger. Let’s Go Pens!

For this game, look no further than having an NHL defensemen come down on a conditioning stint and score two goals for you and a goaltender who is the Vancouver Canucks future in net. Combine the two and win you win the game.

That’s all she wrote, as Sami Salo would score two goals, one the game winner and Eddie Lack would save 40 of 42 as the Moose skated away with the two points and the 3-2 win tonight.

John Curry vs. Eddie Lack. Jesse Boulerice, as it turns out, got sick before the game and was a late scratch per Bombulie so John Hynes went with 17 forwards.

First period: Pens fired something like 6 shots at Lack, he turned them all aside then Mark Flood fires a lukewarm shot at the net, Curry was screeened, never saw it, and it ended up in the back of the net for the 1-0 Moose lead. Then a few minutes later, Sami Salo dekes around Curry to give the Moose a 2-0 lead. Hynes would use his timeout then. The Pens would get two straight power plays handed to them and not score, whether it was for lack of success on the power play or Lack just being that good. Manitoba has the league’s best PK, and with the Pens having a power play which is just not good these days, of course we went 0 for 3 on the night.

Second period: I prescout these teams. I have the AHL Live All-Access Pass. That said, I see a lot of Manitoba Moose games when I can. Eddie Lack is a fantastic goaltender. He is even better in person. Everything he sees he stops. You need to get bodies in front to have a chance at scoring. Well, Nick Johnson scored on a net front scramble to make the score 2-1. Later, Andrew Hutchinson would sit on a tripping call and Sami Salo would uncork an NHL caliber slap shot to put the Moose up 3-1. Pens would later sit in the offensive zone for a good two minutes but Lack was on his game and denied all chances. At the end of the period, the Moose would come in three on none and Curry would deny the chance with a pad.

Third period: Zach Sill would deflect a Corey Potter point shot to bring the Pens within one but they would get no closer. They would get chances, but not anything Lack couldn’t handle. The Moose are now 15-0-1-3 when leading after two and the Pens are now 2-8. Ryan Craig would have a golden chance in front of Lack late, but nothing doing.

Thoughts: Pens had some golden opportunities to get back into the game with the power play, but again, failed to convert. This will doom this team in the long run. If not but for Salo’s performance, I think we win this game.

Around the Division: Hershey has won 7 in a row, 5-3 winners over Albany in Atlantic City, NJ. The Bears keep winning and are within 9 and closing fast. Tomorrow’s opponent, the Syracuse Crunch, won 5-0 over the Adirondack Phantoms. Norfolk beat Binghamton 4-3 in overtime in Norfolk. Unrelated to the doings in the division, Milwaukee beat Rockford 4-2. Check out who got goals for the IceHogs in that one.

Standings: WBS (72) HER (63) NOR (61) CHA (59) BNG (54) SYR (40) ALB (39) ADK (35)

Tomorrow: If the Manitoba Moose go into Hershey tomorrow and get blown out to the tune of say 5-1, I officially start to worry about the Big Bear Machine. The Moose play two in Titletown Saturday and Sunday. Bears in the mirror may be closer than they appear. Bingo / Norfolk in a rematch. Charlotte is idle tomorrow. ManchVegas invades Albany. Wilkes-Barre is in Salt City for a game versus the upset-minded Crunch.

Let’s Go Pens!

My goodness this team is deep. When you have Rookie Defensive Defenseman Carl Sneep getting two goals and chasing starting goaltender Mike McKenna on a night where the Pens would win 4-1 it just speaks volumes to the depth that this Wilkes-Barre team has.

John Curry vs. Mike McKenna. Jesse Boulerice was back in the lineup after his 10 games suspension. The Pens sent Ryan Schnell to the Wheelhouse and scratched Bryan Lerg while Keven Veilleux centered the fourth line. Joey Mormina also was scratched.

First period: Devils had all the chances early in the period. Curry really had a great night in goal. About half way Brett Sterling boarded Brad Mills and picked up a five minute major for boarding. Mills would go to the locker room but would return. The Devils couldn’t do anything with it as the Pens only allowed two shots on goal for the entire five minute major. Late, the Pens were aggressive on the forecheck and then Carl Sneep uncorked a shot from the top of the right circle which found its way past McKenna to put the Pens up 1-0. Then with under a minute to play in the first Dustin Jeffrey would draw two defenders and feed a pass to Eric Tangradi right on Mike McKenna’s doorstep to put the Pens up 2-0 going into the first intermission.

I thought that the Devils won the first half and the Pens the seocnd half (clearly) that period.

Second period: At 2:02 of the second, Carl Sneep throws a routine wrist shot from a rookie defensive defenseman at McKenna which found it’s way in for a 3-0 lead. That was it for McKenna as Head Coach Rick Kowalsky went with Dave Caruso in goal. Caruso really settled things down I thought after that as about two minutes later Dan Kelly puts the Devils on the board. Then very late in the second Mattias Tedenby was just putting on a stickhandling and dangling clinic as the Devils sustained pressure in their zone for a bit. Curry made some neat pad saves and kept the score at 3-1.

Third period: Again, John Curry with some huge 10-bell saves in the third. Albany had established themselves in their offensive zone for at least a good three minutes and Curry kept them off the scoreboard. Late in the game, Olivier would sit for a tripping call and Nick Johnson would bury the rebound left by Caruso for the power play goal. Really that was it. Albany sent a lot of guys down for conditioning and the like but it was clear that they just could not run with Wilkes-Barre this evening. John Curry wins his 98th game as a member of WBS.

Three stars were Dan Kelly, Carl Sneep and Eric Tangradi.

Around the Division: Bingo lost to Hershey 3-2. Don’t look now but the Bears have won five in a row. If you ask me, no way that Binghamton loses two in a row this weekend. I am not saying expect the Pens to lose tomorrow, all I am saying is that tomorrow night’s game with the Senators just got that much more interesting in my opinion. Charlotte beat Adirondack 2-1. Springfield beat Norfolk in a shootout 3-2. Tough loss for the Admirals on a night where WBS, Hershey and Charlotte all win. Toronto beat Syracuse 5-2.

Miscellany: This gem from Bears beat writer frightens me a little bit. The Milwaukee Admirals pumped the Western Conference leading Peoria Rivermen 8-1 tonight.

Standings: WBS has 72 points in first. Hershey has sole possession of second now with 59 points. Norfolk has third with 58 points. Charlotte is a point behind with 57 points. Binghamton almost has to win to stay relavant tomorrow in fifth with 51 points. Right now they would cross over into the Atlantic Division if the playoff started tomorrow. Albany, Syracuse and Adirondack sit six, seven, eight with 39, 38 and 33 points respectively.

Tomorrow: I am traveling to Binghamton tomorrow for the game. While I am on my way to Binghamton, Charlotte and Hershey will play in Titletown at 2 p.m. Springfield and Norfolk will have a rematch.

Before I leave Binghamton tomorrow I would ideally like to have the postgamer up and posted. I am not taking my computer or my iPad with me to Bingo, rather will be taking “notes” for each period and throwing it all together at the conclusion of the game. Links to other action may not be immediately available, but if you have clicked on them before in the past, I trust you know where to find them.

Let’s Go Pens!