Chirps from Center Ice

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Sometimes it’s nice to watch a game and know that the issue is never in doubt. This was one of those games.

A 5-1 walloping of the Belleville Senators by the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. The power play went 3/6, Rem Pitlick scored again and Joel Blomqvist was sharp as a tack. Not much more you could ask for in this one.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Jonathan Gruden and Marc Johnstone were back for Lukas Svejkovsky, who they went to Wheeling earlier in the week and Raivis Ansons. On defense, Ryan Shea made his WBS debut and Will Butcher was back in for Taylor Fedun and Xavier Ouellet.

First Period: They didn’t waste any time, scoring at the expiration of an early power play when Jonathan Gruden scored to open the scoring for Wilkes-Barre.

Colin White doubled the Penguins lead with this nice shot.

Penguins seemed to be in control from the jump.

Second Period: Before you could say Bay of Quinte, the  Penguins were down two men for 1:56 and Max Guenette blasted home a one timer to put the B-Sens on the board and broke up any prospective Joel Blomqist shutout bid.

But the Penguins answered right back on a power play when, guess who, Rem Pitlick scored a power play goal to re-establish the two goal lead for the Penguins.

That’s points in nine straight games for Rem Pitlick.

Sam Poulin added yet another power play goal for Wilkes-Barre when he scored to make it a 4-1 lead for the Penguins.

Third Period: Sam Poulin scores on the back end of a 4:00 double minor for his second of the game for the third power play goal scored for the Penguins in the game.

Penguins didn’t let off at all in the period, outshooting the Senators 13-4 in the period.

Three Stars: Max Guenette (goal) 2) Colin White (goal, assist) 1) Sam Poulin (two goals)

The Good: A better team in the Penguins should wallop a last place team like Belleville. The Senators seemed directionless, and the Penguins made them pay. It was good to see.

The Bad: I’m nitpicking, but they gift wrapped Belleville nearly two minutes of a two man advantage and lost a shutout bid for their goaltender.

Turning Point: Poulin’s first goal, that made it 4-1 at the time, erased any hope of Belleville mounting anything close to a comeback in this one.

Around the Division: Just one other game on this Thursday, Lehigh Valley beats Charlotte in overtime down in North Carolina 3-2.

Standings: Hershey 44 – Hartford 35 – Penguins 31 – Providence and Springfield 30 – Charlotte 29 – Lehigh Valley 28 – Bridgeport 15

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: Check the AHL Video Center for them if you really want them.

Back at it Friday in Laval.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Wilkes-Barre / Scranton’s mastery of the North Division continues, with a 4-1 win in Utica Friday night.

It was not a close affair.

The Comets had only six shots after two periods and only registered their third shot with 4:21 to play in the period, after the Penguins were already up 2-0.

Peter Abbandonato scored in the third and made it 3-0. Utica finally breaks through shorthanded to get on the board but it was far too little far too late.

Here’s how they lined up…

Lineup Notes: The Penguins sent Justin Addamo back to Wheeling and released Libor Hajek. Addamo got shuffled out and Hajek never really had an impact and was taking up a veteran spot.

First Period: No scoring, tons of penalties. The AHL’s top two penalty kills were getting a workout. Penguins by some miracle outshot the Comets 13-4.

Second Period: Goals in this period were scored by defensemen.

Will Butcher’s first as a Penguin then a nifty play, move and shot by Jack Rathbone.

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The Comets didn’t have a shot on goal for well over 15 minutes into the period. When they did manage their first shot, it was too raucous cheers by the Utica faithful. You thought Penguins fans were rough?

Third Period: Penguins notch another goal when Peter Abbandonato, who has been the Penguins most consistent player, scored to extend the lead to 3-0.

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But then Utica scored shorthanded when captain Ryan Schmlezer scored to break up the would be shutout Joel Blomqvist had going for him.

The Penguins locked down from there, getting an empty net goal from Colin White to seal the game away.

Three Stars: 3) Ryan Schmelzer (goal) 2) Colin White (goal, assist) 1) Jack Rathbone (goal)

The Good: They seem to be on a roll right now and that’s a good thing.

The Bad: Would have like to have seen them get a shutout for their goalie, but it was a good night at the office for the road team.

Turning Point: Abbandonato’s goal in the third squashed any hopes for a Utica comeback. You knew the Comets would respond (they had 16 shots in the third) but having to dig from three down after a sleepwalking start is a daunting task for any team, anywhere.

Around the Division: Charlotte shuts out Bridgeport 3-0….Rochester beats Hartford 3-2 in overtime….Laval comes back from down two to beat Lehigh Valley 4-3 and Toronto pounds Providence 8-3. The Bruins eight game point streak is over.

Standings: Hershey 40 – Hartford 34 – Providence 30 – Penguins 29 – Springfield 28 – Charlotte 27 – Lehigh Valley 26 – Bridgeport 13

Wheeling Update: The Nailers played host to the Indy Fuel and won 4-1. Jordan Frasca had two goals and Taylor Gauthier stopped 24 shots.

Video Highlights: AHL Video Center is your friend here.

Housekeeping: I will be out of town tomorrow and not at the Saturday home game against Rochester. I may not have a full writeup, but will try to recap something.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Syracuse has lost now three straight. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins made them look like that with a 4-1 handling Wednesday night. Goals scored by Rem Pitlick, Jack Rathbone, Austin Rueschhoff and a beautiful breakaway goal by Matt Filipe had the Penguins off to the races against the Crunch.

Work night, school night, let’s get this over with.

Lineup Notes: 

First Period: Seemed like a sleepy start, until Daryl Hall from Hall and Oates Rem Pitlick scored on a deflection to put the Penguins in front 1-0.

You kind of wanted this type of sleepy start if you were the Penguins with how offensively potent the Crunch are and can be.

Second Period: Penguins stay relentless on a wall battle, it is dug out and over to Jagger Joshua who finds Jack Rathbone at the top of the slot. Rathbone unleashes a shot that beats Matt Tomkins and it’s a 2-0 Penguins lead.

Syracuse gets on the board with a shot off of the face-off from Shawn Element that rings the bar and goes in.

But almost immediately, the Penguins respond for a goal from Austin Rueschhoff off a deflection from Dmitri Samorukov that re-establishes the Penguins two gaol lead.

Good get for Rueschhoff, who I say has two left hands for his lack of finish.

Goal came :20 after the Element score for the Crunch.

Then old buddy Felix Robert draws a penalty (sound familiar?) and the Penguins are off to a penalty kill.

Matt Filipe’s finest work, right here.

Look at that explosion right there. That’s power skating and I don’t even know how. With every stride, he’s losing his defender. He has to finish, and does. Just an all around great play.

Third Period: Penguins went 0/4 on the power play, and had three of those four chances in the third period but didn’t score.

Three Stars: 3) Corey Andonovski (two assists) 2) Matt Filipe (shorthanded goal) 1) Jack Rathbone (goal, assist)

The Good: Team effort, team win. Goals came from all walks of life with half the team on recall. That’s how you do it.

The Bad: Power play was humming, until Wednesday. 0/4 is manageable because you beat a out of division rival, but these are habits you don’t want to fall into.

Turning Point: I love Filipe’s shorthanded goal so much it gets it here. The Rueschhoff goal could get it, but the Filipe shorthanded goal when you have a chance to get back into it if you are Syracuse just deflates you.

Around the Division: Points for all! Hershey beats Providence 3-2 in overtime…Lehigh Valley comes back and beats Charlotte 3-2 in overtime and Springfield needs a shootout to get by Rochester 4-3.

Standings: Hershey 40 – Hartford 33 – Providence 30 – Springfield 28 – Penguins 27 – Lehigh Valley 26 – Charlotte 25 – Bridgeport 13

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: 

Back at it Friday in Utica. Let’s Go Pens!

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Alternate headline for this one would have been pediophobia, a fear of teddy bears.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, on their teddy bear toss night, were humbled and defeated 5-1 by the Providence Bruins.

The line of Georgii Merulov (2-3), Jesper Boqvist (2-2) and Justin Brazeau (1-1) terrorized the Penguins to a tune of all five goals scored and five assists. The Penguins had no answer for that line Saturday night at all. It is rare that a single line like that completely dominates in a hockey game at this level. I can’t remember when a single line completely murdered the Penguins like that. The 2010 Hershey Bears? The Norfolk Admirals the year they won six million in a row? I can’t remember. The Penguins had no answer for that line and were completely humbled.

Arkoudaphobia is a fear of bears, by the way.

Can’t beat Hershey (Bears) can’t beat Providence (Bruins, a synonym for a bear) but can beat or compete with pretty much every team in the AHL that they play.

Alex Nylander scored a power play goal with :03 left on it in the third period. There were some rogue teddy bears that hit the ice (after they all rained down in the second intermission) which I found hilarious.

The Penguins were in the game into the second period, only down one off of a Merkulov goal at 5:53 of the first period, but that’s when Providence went to work, netting a pair of goals by Brazeau and Boqvist. Brazeau was lest alone in the slot and fired a high shot that went in and Boqvist scored his goal off a rebound left by Penguins starting goaltender Joel Blomqvist.

Blomqvist had a bit of a ride. I thought he should have been better overall, but was left out to dry by his team. Remarkably, Xavier Ouellet was the only player to finish in the negative for the Penguins. Every other player was a -1 or worse. Ty Smith was a -3. Seven others were -2. Yikes.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup was Taylor Fedun and Lukas Svejkovsky out for Colin White, returning from injury and Tanner Laderoute making his WBS debut.

Three stars were all Providence Bruins. Jesper Boqvist (two goals, two assists), Brandon Bussi (30 saves) and Georgii Merkulov (two goals, three assists)

The Good: The assumption is kids in need will get those teddy bears.

The Bad: Penguins had no answer for a one dimension line that sent them into another dimension.

Turning Point: There was a sequence in the second period where they were already down 1-0 and a goal mouth scrum where they couldn’t score. Had they did, teddy bears would have rained down and who knows what would have happened to the momentum and ultimate outcome from there.

Around the Division: Not going to give you boxes tonight. Hershey beat Cleveland 6-0, Springfield beats Bridgeport 5-1, Laval beats Hartford 5-1 and Lehigh Valley leads Charlotte late. Saturday’s scoreboard here.

Standings: Assuming that Lehigh Valley result holds.

Hershey 36 – Hartford 33 – Providence 29 – Penguins 25 – Springfield 24 – Lehigh Valley 24 – Charlotte 22 – Bridgeport 13

Wheeling Update: Nailers are losing to the Tulsa Oilers big. Box on that here.

I don’t think anyone wants to watch video highlights. I sure don’t.

More midweek when Syracuse stops by. They stopped Hershey’s nine game win streak. Should be fun!

Let’s Go Pens!

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I have no witty headline for you tonight. I’ll try and do better the next time.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defeated the North Division leading Cleveland Monsters 5-3 Friday night. They navigated through what was a stifling Cleveland forecheck and managed to take a 2-1 lead after the second period, scoring two goals in the middle frame.

After what seemed like a quick first ten minutes of the third, they catch a pretty goal from Alex Nylander to go ahead 3-1.

Then all hell broke loose and four goals were scored in the span of about three minutes.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup: The trend of dressing 11 forwards and 7 defensemen is a trend, I guess.

At around noon Friday, Pittsburgh recalled Marc Johnstone, Valtteri Puustinen and Jonathan Gruden. For Johnstone it was his NHL debut. They returned Joona Koppanen and the aforementioned Alex Nylander.

Lineup wise, Koppanen and Nylander were joined by Lukas Svejkovsky and P.O. Joseph for Johnstone, Gruden and Sam Houde, who is injured again.

First Period: Cleveland scores on a boffo shot from behind the goal line that banks off of Magnus Hellberg and in.

Monsters were bottling up the Penguins and it was bothering me that I couldn’t figure out what exactly it was. Shots were 12-10 but it seemed like the Penguins were lacking something.

Second Period: Ty Smith shoots and his first shot doesn’t go in. Ty Smith gets the puck, shoots again and it goes in.

It at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Raivis Ansons knocks in a puck for a goal that gives the Penguins a 2-1 lead.

Penguins find themselves in penalty trouble. Cleveland has :47 of two man advantage and fail to score. This was a gargantuan kill for Wilkes-Barre / Scranton. If Cleveland scores here it’s tied, they may score again on the other penalty and re-take the lead. None of that happened.

Third Period: They flew through the first 7:39 without a whistle. Refs Alex Normandin and Riley Brace called an excellent game I thought.

Issue still in doubt, will they, won’t they blow the lead and Alex Nylander scores to make it 3-1.

That move was sick.

Peter Abbandonato picked up an assist here, he’s a point machine for the Penguins.

Then four goals in the span of about three minutes. Here goes nothing…

– Corey Andonovski into an empty net, 4-1 Penguins;
– James Malatesta for Cleveland then scores and hold the phone, 4-2 Penguins;
– Alex Nylander from the opposing blue line on what was technically an empty net power play goal and it’s 5-2 Pens;
– But then Roman Ahcan bags his second on a snipe and it’s 5-3.

Monsters didn’t GIF their second and third goals.

Three Stars: 3) Corey Andonovski (goal, assist) 2) Raivis Ansons (goal, assist) 1) Alex Nylander (two goals)

The Good: Seems like they fought through adversity. Coaching? Maybe.

The Bad: Really couldn’t put a finger on anything. That finish was thrill a minute. Overall I think they played a solid, sound sixty minute hockey game.

Turning Point: That penalty kill back in the second period when they were down two men gets it here. May be the most important penalty kill of the season thus far.

Around the Division: Hartford beats Laval 4-3 in a shootout….Syracuse beats Hershey 4-1. Bears nine game win streak ends….Utica beats Bridgeport 4-1….Charlotte roughs up Rochester 6-1….Providence shuts out Lehigh Valley 2-0.

Standings: Hershey 36 – Hartford 33 – Providence 27 – Penguins 25 – Springfield 24 – Charlotte 22 – Lehigh Valley 22 – Bridgeport 13

Wheeling Update: Nailers take down the Indy Fuel 4-3 in overtime. Davis Bunz gets the overtime goal, Jordan Frasca with a goal and an assist. Issac Belliveau with a goal and two assists.

Video Highlights: 

Providence has won six straight coming into Saturday’s clash. More then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Man, these two teams are so evenly matched.

After beating the Thunderbirds in Springfield Friday night, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins lose a penalty fest thriller 4-3 at home to Springfield Saturday.

At times because the two teams are mirror images of one another, it made for a boring game, like in the first period. But if you were a fan of special teams then the game was for you as there were thirteen power plays given out by referees Patrick Hanrahan and Jack Young.

Penguins get some much needed time off and will next play Friday at home against the Cleveland Monsters.

Here’s how they lined up.

Lineup Notes: Joona Koppanen was recalled to Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon, which explains his absence Friday. Raivis Ansons was in for Libor Hajek as the Penguins returned to the more traditional 12 forwards, 6 defensemen personnel setup.

First Period: Two power plays a side for either team, no scoring.

Second Period: Peter Abbandonato opens the scoring with a power play goal after a hack and whack of a Sam Houde offering.

But then Zachary Bolduc scored on a five on three for Springfield to bring it level for the Thunderbirds.

But the story of the period was the nonstop penalties taken by the Penguins, three in total in the period, which killed any type of momentum they could muster.

Third Period: They leapfrog goals in this frame. Drew Callin sweeps in a puck that Joel Blomqvist makes a save on but doesn’t get all of.

Then the Penguins answer right back on a delayed call on Springfield when Valtteri Puustinen puts a puck in and its tied at two.

Sam Houde was drilled into the boards by Hunter Skinner. Skinner was assessed a match penalty for a check to the head. A 5:00 major ensued. But, refs Young and Hanrahan give Austin Rueschhoff a penalty for instigating.

Here’s where I have a problem with that call. Skinner crushed Houde into the boards and injures him. What do the officials expect Rueschhoff or any Penguins player on the ice to do in this situation? “Hey man, good check!?” The guy throws the hit, gets the penalty and should have to fight if he injures the other guy. That’s the way it’s been for years. I get player safety, but if you  completely strip the code out of the game, you won’t have much of a game left.

Then Springfield strikes yet again on a power play when Matthew Peca puts in a goal that gives the visitors a 3-2 lead…

That’s also Taylor Fedun, who either fell down or took a penalty in the contest, slamming his stick in anger and being given a misconduct for abuse of officials by referee Hanrahan.

But then, with time dwindling and Blomqvist on the bench, Peter Abbandonato comes to the rescue again and ties the game at three.

They manage to get to overtime again.

Overtime: After a bit of a back and forth, Matthew Kessel scores to give the Thunderbirds the extra point.

Three Stars: 3) Drew Collin (goal) 2) Peter Abbandonato (two goals) 1) Matthew Kessel (overtime game winning goal)

The Good: The Peter Abbandonato trade may end up saving the Penguins bacon. The guy has made an immediate impact after the trade with Chicago.

The Bad: Too undisciplined. Springfield scored twice on eight power plays. That has to get tightened up.

Turning Point: Like Rathbone last night, Kessel’s goal in overtime gets it here. I thought about giving it to Abbandonato’s second goal, full disclosure.

Around the Division: Hartford beats Lehigh Valley 5-4 in overtime….Hershey wins their ninth straight with a 5-2 win in Charlotte….Providence beats Bridgeport 4-3.

Standings: Hershey 36 – Hartford 30 – Springfield 24 – Penguins 23 – Providence 23 – Lehigh Valley 22 – Charlotte 20 – Bridgeport 13

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 4-3 in overtime to the Indy Fuel. Hey, affiliate synergy! Jordan Frasca had three assists.

Video Highlights: 

Back at it next week against Cleveland, who are at the top of the North Division and should provide a stiff challenge for the Penguins. More with the Weekend Preview probably Thursday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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They looked great Wednesday in the games first twenty minutes and lost the final forty. They lost that game.

They looked lost in the games first forty minutes Friday and great in the final twenty minutes. They managed to get to overtime.

This is where Jack Rathbone cooked.

Rathbone’s overtime game winning goal gives the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins a 3-2 overtime win.

Gosh these teams are a lot a like. Frustrating for both fan bases.

If you are a Springfield fan, you feel the way the Penguins fans felt on Wednesday. You had them right where you want them, let off and lost. Yeah you got a point, but the team that you are going to be tied to all season comes in, plays a great twenty minutes when it mattered most and beats you.

Best part, they get to do it all again Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Joona Koppanen, Justin Addamo were out. Corey Andonovski and a debuting Will Butcher went in. 300th AHL game for Alex Nylander.

First Period: Springfield didn’t play Wednesday, the Penguins scored five goals on Wednesday. The Thunderbirds had eighteen shots on goal in the period. Yes, they had two power plays in the period but still, that’s a lot of shots to give up in the first period when you only had six shots yourselves.

Second Period: Thunderbirds make it 2-0 in the period when Nathan Walker and Ryan Suzuki score. Suzuki’s came on a power play. Walker’s goal was, in my opinion, way too easy.

I’m trying to figure out who Ty Smith is engaging with behind the goal line there. Don’t know if that was his man or not, but Nathan Walker waltz down the slot and just picks a corner. Too easy.

Ryan Suzuki scored out of a brief review of a possible Penguins goal when the red light came on behind Malcolm Subban’s net. After a small review which clearly showed no goal, Ryan Suzuki came out off of the ensuing face-off and scored.

Pens had one power play through two periods and it looked alright, but obviously didn’t offer up a goal.

Third Period: Wilkes-Barre wakes up and gets a goal from Rem Pitlick to kickstart the comeback.

I am telling you if they can figure out the rest of everything else which is wrong, this power play they have hums and can straight up win them games. They get a goal here and that starts the rally.

Matt Filipe with a deflection in front and it’s tied.

Hindsight, if I am Springfield head coach Drew Bannister I call timeout here. He didn’t, the Penguins had another power play but didn’t score and it was off to…

Overtime: Penguins possessed the puck the entire overtime period and sixty-eight seconds in, Jack Rathbone ended it:

Three Stars: 3) Nathan Walker (goal, assist) 2) Magnus Hellberg (36 saves) 1) Jack Rathbone (overtime game winning goal)

The Good: We came out with torches and pitchforks for head coach J.D. Forrest on Wednesday. Good on JD Forrest for not letting off and scheming them a way to win. What they were doing in the first two periods seemingly wasn’t working, whatever changes he made (if any) won him the game.

The Bad: This formula of a bad first two periods and a miracle third is not a recipe for success.

Turning Point: Rathbone’s goal gets it here, as any Penguins game winning overtime goal would.

Around the Division: Hershey wins their eighth straight, beating Charlotte 4-2….Hartford thumps Lehigh Valley 7-3….Providence doubles up Bridgeport 6-3.

Standings: Hershey 34 – Hartford 28 – Penguins 22 – Springfield 22 – Lehigh Valley and Providence 21 – Charlotte 20 – Bridgeport 13

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 3-2 at home to Toledo.

Video Highlights: Aren’t up yet. Bookmark the AHL’s VideoCenter instead.

More after the rematch Saturday.

Let’s Go Pens!