Chirps from Center Ice

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Getting on a bit of a roll here.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins won their third straight game at home, defeating the suddenly slumping Hartford Wolf Pack 4-2 Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre.

Special teams carried the day for the Penguins, who did all of their scoring in the first period with a shorthanded goal and a power play goal. They held the Wolf Pack to just 8 shots through the two periods before Hartford nudged a little closer, but not too close to the point to where it may become uncomfortable.

Hershey Sunday and a chance to sweep the week.

Here’s how they lined up:

Hartford didn’t post lines and never does.

Lineup Notes: Vinnie Hinostroza went up Thursday, Corey Andonovski came back. That was it, D pairings stayed the same.

First Period: A blitzkrieg for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

Valtteri Puustinen receives a nice stretch pass and doesn’t miss for a 1-0 Penguins lead.

I don’t know if Puustinen reads the blog (please don’t) but ever since I said he should be scratched, he’s responded with goals.

Penguins go on the penalty kill and Joona Koppanen skates in all alone and scores a shorthanded goal.

Jonathan Gruden on a hack and whack job and the rout was on.

And then Rem Pitlick scores a power play goal for the cherry on top.

Now I was expecting Hartford starting goaltender Dylan Garland to get the yank but Kris Knoblauch stayed with him. After the Pitlick goal, Garland shut it down from there.

I really thought that had the Penguins scored a fifth, Garand’s night would have been over.

Second Period: Seemed at times a bit tamer, which I think played more in favor for Hartford and less so for the Penguins.

Jack Rathbone and Xavier Ouellet cross wires and Turner Elson scores to put the Wolf Pack on the board.

Third Period: Hartford had a leftover penalty from the second, and Jonny Brodzinski rifles one home just :39 into the period to make the game a lot closer.

Said this at the time…

Sometimes I tweet things to set things up for the blog. If Hartford scores again, then yeah it’s a lot tigher and I use foreshadowing to set up the rest of the blog entry, If the Penguins score to make it 5-2, it’s likely an easy win for the Penguins. Either way, the tweet still stands.

Only no one scored again.

Jansen Harkins came close on a breakaway, but Dylan Garand was a completely Dylan Garand in the second and third periods then he was in the first.

Hartford had a few chances late with Garand pulled and a power play, but never got any closer.

Three Stars: 3) Ty Smith (assist) 2) Valtteri Puustinen (goal) 1) Jonath Gruden (goal)

The Good: Jump all over the opponent in the first and send them scrambling. The Penguins have not allowed the opponent to score at all in the first period so far this season. It’s a good trend, you’d like to see it continue.

The Bad: Boy oh boy, they nearly blew that one until the didn’t. Take the two points and move on.

Turning Point: Turns out that Gruden power play goal was big at the time back in the first period as it stood up as the game winning goal.

Around the Division: Charlotte shuts out Bridgeport 2-0 at home….Hershey does the same to Lehigh Valley 4-0.Lehigh Valley had eight power plays…Springfield beats what looks like a bad Providence team 5-2. The Thunderbirds scored three power play goals.

Standings: Hershey 10, Penguins, Charlotte and Hartford 8, Lehigh Valley and Springfield 6, Bridgeport 5 and Providence 4

Wheeling Update: Nailers are down big in Fort Wayne. Box here.

Video Highlights: 

Hershey Sunday at 3 in Hershey. Don’t be late. Talk to you then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Sam Houde has four points in two games.

Yeah, he’s not coming out of the lineup any time soon.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins continue to be the kryptonite to the Hershey Bears and throttle the defending champions at home 5-1, handing the Bears their first road loss of the season.

The Penguins are 2-0 at home, important to note also. Gotta defend that home ice.

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

Lineup Notes: Just Sam Poulin for Colin White. Corey Andonovski went up and Radim Zohorna came back down. The Penguins also recalled Magnus Hellberg.

First Period: Good start, the Penguins score first, in the first period, to boot.

Alex Nylander on a power play.

I don’t know which idiot on this blog suggested the Penguins scratch Nylander.

Penguins played an overall quiet, disciplined first period. Didn’t take a penalty and scored on the on power play they were awarded.

Second Period: Joe Snively, one of my favorite non-Penguin player and definitely my favorite Hershey Bear, scores his first of the season with this snipe.

So next goal was crucial here in this overall, to this point, even headed hockey game.

Enter Sam Houde.

A St. Ivany blast from the point that Joona Koppanen and Sam Houde get deflections on and it’s 2-1 Penguins.

Third Period: So the question coming in here was whether or not the Penguins could hold the lead and hold the Bears back when the inevitable charge came.

Not only did the Penguins hold the lead, they extended it and the 12-time Calder Cup Champions never made that charge.

A second power play goal? In one game? In this economy?

Sam Houde again.

Marc Johnstone picks Vinnie Iorio’s pocket, or Iorio gave it away like the kid who sees the bully coming and Johnstone didn’t miss.

And then Vinnie Hinostroza scores another breakaway goal and the rout was on.

Goals came fast, and they came furious, 4:32 to be exact provided my math is right.

Penguins continued to play disciplined and it never really felt like the game was going to get out of hand for the home team.

Three Stars: 3) Joel Blomqvist (19 saves) 2) Alex Nylander (goal, assist) 1) Sam Houde (two goals)

The Good: Kind of the game you wish you could bottle up and keep. They played their most complete game of their young season, did mostly everything right and there were no weak points in this one. Hershey is a good team, a championship team, and not a pushover by any means. But for some reason, for all the pitfalls that befell this Penguins team, whenever the Bears come around, it’s like a completely different hockey club.

The Bad: When I got nothing, I got nothing. Moving on….

Turning Point: The Houde power play goal in the third period was the breathing room that the Penguins needed here when they were nursing a one goal lead as the third period started. It ripped the game open and the once close game turned the game into a laugher.

Around the Division: Charlotte loses up in Rochester 4-3.

Standings: Hartford / Hershey 8, Penguins / Phantoms 6, Bridgeport 5, Charlotte / Providence 4, Springfield 2

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: 

Rare Friday off for the Penguins and then Hartford comes calling Saturday night. Let’s see how they show up then. Good start to the week, however.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Here’s a hot take for you, Springfield and Wilkes-Barre are a lot alike.

I got that sense after watching about 40 minutes of these two teams battling Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre in a game that the Penguins would win 3-1, their home opener.

No score after the first, 1-1 after the second, the two teams couldn’t separate from one another until a Rem Pitclick power play goal put the Penguins ahead for good and a Jansen Harkins empty netter sealed it late.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: After that effort last night, Alex Nylander was a scratch. So too were Corey Andonovski and Austin Rueschoff. In were Sam Houde, Jansen Harkins (making his WBS debut) and Matt Filipe. For Filipe and Houde, it was their season debuts.

No changes to the defense or the pairings from Friday in Hartford.

First Period: Another scoreless first. After seeing him on the road on AHLTV and now seeing him in person, Marc Johnstone busts his ass every shift. Like every shift he’s methodical in his positioning and gives 100%. Early fan favorite in my opinion. Give me a team full of Marc Johnstone’s.

Penguins failed to score on two power plays, so they have gone 0-for-15 to open the season.

Second Period: Vinnie Hionostroza opened his account with a breakaway goal to open the middle frame.

Nice little cueball pass there by Rem Pitlick, setting up the breakaway for the veteran Hinostroza. He shouldn’t miss these and didn’t. Big goal.

A little over a minute and a half later, Xavier Ouellet is in his defensive zone and goes to rim a puck around the wall. Valtteri Puustinen was closely and assumed that the puck would do it’s thing and goes where he thought it would go.

You know what happens when you assume, right?

I enjoy the use of the pun there.

Third Period: Things got chippy about halfway through. Will Bitten was caught with his head down and needed help off. A few minutes later Penguins get a power play and it’s Marc Johnstone (that man again) setting up Rem Pitlick for a power play goal (a what?!?!?) that gives the Penguins a 2-1 lead.

A few more heart in your throat moments however as Wilkes-Barre would get tagged with too many men putting Springfield on the power play and with starting goaltender Vadim Zherenko pulled for an extra attacker for the power play, Springfield would not find the equalizer and indeed Jansen Harkins would seal the victory for the Penguins with an empty net goal.

Three Stars: 3) Joel Bloimqvist 31 saves (first AHL win) 2) Vinnie Hinostroza (goal) 1) Rem Pitlick (goal, assist)

The Good: Don’t make any lineup changes. Roll with this for the Wednesday game against Hershey, J.D. Please, I beg you. Sam Houde had two assists, hasn’t played yet.

The Bad: I you had to make one move though, J.D., I’d scratch Valtteri Puustinen cause the guy doesn’t play any defense and thinks he’s Superman out there when he has the puck.

Turning Point: Wilkes-Barre’s special teams in the third period. They scored a power play goal and came up with a huge stop late to deliver the win.

Around the Division: Hershey wins their third straight, taking down and sweeping Providence 5-4 in a shootout….Charlotte wins 3-2 in Toronto….Bridgeport beats Utica 2-1 in overtime and Hartford earns the 1,000th goal in franchise history with a 5-1 win over Lehigh Valley 5-1.

Standings: Hartford 8, Hershey 6, Charlotte, Lehigh Valley, Penguins, Providence and Bridgeport 4 and Springfield 2.

Wheeling Update: Nailers started an hour and a half later then the Pens, she they are finishing up what should be a season opening with against the Cincinnati Cyclones. Box here. Taylor Gauthier in net. Lukas Svejovsky with a goal and assist. Nailers have three power play goals! 🤯

Video Highlights: 

Hershey Wednesday. Notes as they come if I have time, etc.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I think I have reused this headline before.

Penguins lose 5-0 in Hartford Friday night. Their old habits from last year bubbled up and the game got out of hand quick on them.

They lost puck battles, their offensive “threats” were taking liberties with the puck, which led to goals for the other team.

Say it with me now, it’s only the third game of the season. It’s only the third game of the season. It’s only the third game of the…

…you get it.

Here’s how they lined up…

(Hartford didn’t and doesn’t post lines)

Lineup Notes: Sam Poulin was out, day to day with something. I didn’t catch what was likely a very detailed description of the injury from Nick Hart pregame. Liens were jumbled from last weekend in Charlotte. Pittsburgh recalled Radim Zohorna and sent down Jansen Harkins, who wasn’t in the lineup Friday…Alex Nylander was back in as was Jagger Joshua. On defense, Jack Rathbone made his WBS debut, Xavier Ouellet was back in. Justin Lee was out. Mark Friedman was traded, as you know from this week.

First Period: Hartford’s power play carried them to a pair of wins last weekend, but in the first period Friday, it didn’t do anything for them as they had two power plays in the opening period but didn’t score. The Penguins seemed to get some jump out of those penalty kills in what was a bit of a feisty period by current AHL standards, as there were two fights in the period. Corey Andonovski and Taylor Fedun fought.

Second Period: Penguins had a pair of power plays in the period but didn’t score on them and that brings them to 0/11 to start the season on the man advantage.

Hartford would score a pair of goals at even strength (they didn’t get a power play in the period) when Brett Berard would score a fluky goal.

Pinballing puck, fluttering a bit, Berard takes a poke at it and high sticks Xavier Ouellet in the process (no call on that) and Hartford is on the board first.

Later, Wolf Pack captain Jonny Brodzinski scores a goal scorers goal which extends the home teams lead to 2-0.

It was Brodzinski’s 300th AHL game, as well.

A lot of things wrong on that play. Colin White shoving Alex Nylander, who never plays any defense, trying to encourage him to either a) get the hell out of his way or b) play defense, was something there and Avery Hayes trying to break up the pass was an effort, but a miss and Brodzinski with all the time and space he needs, didn’t miss.

Last years habits creeping into this years team. Great.

Third Period: A two goal deficit is usually nothing for a team to overcome.

But when you have bad habits, they usually die hard.

Riley Nash beats Jack St. Ivany to a race to the net and catches a pass for an easy tap in and it’s 3-0.

The wheels straight up fell off from there.

Hartford won every puck battle. Pens were one and done when they entered their offensive zone. The bad habits quickly rubbed off on the newcomer Jack Rathbone, who gets beat in a race by Adam Edstrom who had a good chance which was denied by Hellberg.

Has Kyle Dubas kept his receipts?

It’s only the third game of the season…It’s only the third game of the season….

Anyway.

Under 5 to play with the game slipping out of control and there are five black jerseys watching a player shoot.

Alex Nylander didn’t have a great game. A homer backhand chance from the crease went about 15 feet wide. Then, he tries a cross ice pass to a team mate with the Penguins having an empty net and Connor Mackey intercepts it for an easy empty net goal and a 5-0 lead.

The Hartford fans wouldn’t stop throwing stuff on the ice, so the bench was given a delay of game penalty. Referees Jackson Kozari and Chris Waterstradt weren’t messing around.

But the Penguins couldn’t score on the power play that ensued, even getting a 5-on-3 when the WolfPack scored another empty netter that made it 5-0.

When it rains, it pours.

0/13 on the power play to start the season by the way.

Three Stars: 3) Riley Nash (goal, assist) 2) Brett Berard (goal, assist) 1) Louis Domingue (35 save shutout)

The Good: You tell me. 🤷‍♂️

The Bad: Nyalnder doesn’t play defense and thinks he’s superman out there. Cure your vet problem by benching this bum. Series clinching goals against Hershey be damned.

Turning Point (hey I remembered this time!): The Riley Nash goal made everything worse, putting the game out of reach for Wilkes-Barre.

Around the Division: Hershey beats Providence 3-2 in Rhode Island….Lehigh Valley thumps Springfield 5-2. Charlotte and Bridgeport were off.

Standings: Hartford 6, Lehigh Valley and Hershey 4, Providence 3, Charlotte, Springfield, Penguins, Bridgeport 2.

Wheeling Update: Nailers open their season Saturday in Cincinnati.

Video Highlights: If they post them, I’ll work in an edit.

Back at it Saturday when they host Springfield. Hopefully it goes a bit better then this flaming disaster in the Connecticut capital.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I wouldn’t be surprised to see Checkers defenseman Santtu Kinnunen get some consideration for AHL Player of the Week honors.

Four assists for Kinnunen, two last Friday and two Saturday for the defensemen who loves playing the Penguins; 12 total points for him in to games against the Penguins as the Charlotte Checkers defeat the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins 4-1.

The Penguins power play went 0/4, and is 0/9 to start the season. It shouldn’t be that big of a problem, but when you are gifted a power play and want to use that moment to get some momentum and come up with nothing, the result like tonight is what you get.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: They cycled Joona Koppanen for Alex Nylander up front and Taylor Fedun for Xavier Ouellet on defense. Both veteran swaps.

First Period: Early issue is the start. They looked better Saturday as opposed to Friday, held Charlotte to a low shot count and stayed out of the box. They took a penalty (a Hinostroza hook at 14:19) then were outshot 3-1 and outpaced, slightly. Both teams hit posts; no scoring for either side, though.

Second Period: Seems like the Penguins got close, then the Checkers got down the ice and capitalized.

Mack Guzda with highway robbery on Vinnie Hinostroza and then Rasmus Asplund weaves through traffic and scores to put the Checkers up 1-0.

Then off a rush late, Santtu Kinnunen sets up Patrick Khodorenko to make it 2-0.

Penguins power play continues to sputter to this point, 0/5 last night and they missed on two chances here in the second period Saturday.

Third Period: Will Lockwood scores power play goal in a scrum which made it 3-0 and really put the game away for the home team.

Preceding this, the Penguins were given a power play but didn’t score. When it happened, Nick Hart said what I was thinking, which was the Penguins had to have it. They got nothing, and they fell further behind in the process.

Colin While busted up the would be Mack Guzda shutout bid with this goal…

This came with Joel Blomqvist pulled for the extra attacker.

But the Checkers would score on an empty net when Patrick Khodorenko scored his second of the contest to firmly put away any weird intentions the Penguins may have been cooking in their heads at the time regarding a comeback.

Three Stars: 3) Will Lockwood (goal, assist) 2) Patrick Khodorenko (two goals) 1) Mack Guzda (32 saves)

The Good: I can’t think of anything from this game, quite honestly. 62 total shots this weekend for the Penguins. The goals will come, I hope.

The Bad: The power play is a problem. 0/9 for the early season. Too soon to panic and ridiculous to even insinuate. See what next weekend in Hartford and home against Springfield brings, go from there. But it would have been nice if you could have connected a few times last night and even tonight, moreso in the game you were in till the end and lost.

Around the Division: Belleville blanks Hershey in Hershey and spoils the Bears banner raising ceremony with a 3-0 win…Syracuse beats Bridgeport 4-2…Cleveland uses 3 first period goals to beat Lehigh Valley 5-2 and Hartford continues their hot start out of the gate with a 3-1 win in Springfield.

Standings: Hartford 4, Charlotte, Penguins and Bridegport 2, Providence 1, Hershey, Springfield and Lehigh Valley 0.

Wheeling: Still in preseason. They get kicking next week.

Video Highlights: Will likely post as the rest of the finals roll in on Saturday so if I see them I will post them in here in the clean up edit.

I’ll probably post the Weekend Preview again on Thursday, depending on how the week goes. Talk to you then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Lots of talk about how the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are rebuilt and rebuilt in a good way, in a contending way.

Cast aside the 3-1 preseason record, it means nothing. The real work started Friday in Charlotte..

For the first two periods, they looked like last years team. In fact in a lot of ways it was because there wasn’t any scoring by either team.

But finally, one of their offseason acquisitions, Austin Rueschoff scored to break the deadlock.

Then Jonathan Gruden scored a little over a minute later and it looked like they were off to the races.

But no, :14 later, Charlotte scores.

Normally, last years team starts scrambling and find ways to lose but this years team (so far) didn’t, and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are 1-0 with a 4-2 win in Charlotte.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: They have a veteran problem. They will rotate vets in and out per Nick Hart on pregame. Don’t ask me to name the veterans. They right now also don’t have any injuries as anyone who didn’t dress Friday was considered a health scratch.

First Period: I got nothing. They had to kill two penalties and went on a power play of their own which looked really good.

Second Period: Penguins had a couple power play chances but didn’t get anything out of it. Checkers think they scored but the would be goal is immediately waved off by referee Morgan MacPhee, then Colin White is stopped by Spencer Knight of Charlotte.

Seemed like a goaltending duel was brewing between Magnus Hellberg and Spencer Knight heading into the…

Third Period: I was waiting for something to develop and in less than two minutes the floodgates opened.

I gave this to you at the top of the story, scroll up in case you forgot.

Penguins couldn’t ice the game away with the benefit of two power plays, coming nearly back to back, but time remained the enemy of the home team.

Charlotte pulled Spencer Knight and Xavier Ouellet scored from his own blue line into the empty net. About :45 later, and about 15′ further back, Dmitri Samorukov scored into the same empty net to make it 4-1.

But Charlotte would score with about :08 when Ryan McAllister scored off of a shot which Nick Hart may have deflected off of a Penguin in front.

Three Stars: 3) Will Lockwood (goal) 2) Jonathan Gruden (goal) 1) Magnus Hellberg (26 saves)

The Good: After that disaster of a season last, good to start the new one on a winning side.

The Bad: Power play went 0/5. If it weren’t for the flood of goals, a game this razor thin could be won with a special teams effort.

Turning Point: The Gruden goal gave the Penguins some scant breathing room. Hellberg and the rest of the defense carried them across the way for the first win of the season.

Around the Division: Hartford clips Providence 3-2 in a shootout. Bridgeport beats Rochester 4-3 in overtime. Everyone else gets going Saturday.

Standings: Early days, Penguins are sitting atop the Division with 2 points. Springfield, Hershey and Lehigh Valley were off, they get their seasons going Saturday.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers are still in preseason.

Video Highlights: 

Penguins and Checkers Saturday at 6. More after the rematch.

Let’s Go Pens!

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The Charlotte Checkers didn’t lead at all in the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins season finale game except for when Anthony Bitetto scored at 2:21 of overtime to give the Checkers a 5-4 win over the Penguins Saturday night in overtime. Charlotte goes on to the Calder Cup Playoffs as the three seed in the Atlantic, the Penguins are going home for the summer.

Bit of a fitting end to a forgetful season. The Pens were up 3-1 to start the third, Charlotte scores two power play goals to tie it, then they yo-yo back and forth to force overtime. Just when you think they have the victory in hand to send the fans who attended (I didn’t, my niece’s 5th birthday party was my evening) home for the summer happy, Charlotte snatches victory from the jaws of defeat.

Here’s how they lined up…

Lineup Notes: Charlotte dressed a younger lineup…Dustin Tokarski in likely his swan song as a pro got the start in goal for the Pens. Jamie Devane was in for Lukas Svejkovsky.

First Period: Ty Glover scored when a Jamie Devane shot goes off of J-F Berube’s mask and back to Glover for a goal.

Nathan Légaré picked up a game misconduct for cross checking in the first period and was dismissed for the evening. What a fall from grace for the once highly touted Légaré. I’ll have more on him this week on the season wrap up on Sunday.

Second Period: Wilkes-Barre goes up 2-0 on a Valtteri Puustinen goal. For Puustinen, he was the Penguins Ironman this season, appearing in every game.

Anthony Bitetto scores his first of the night to bring Charlotte back to within one.

Sam Houde could have made it 3-1, but shoots the puck off Berube’s ass instead. Here that wild sequence is…

Ty Smith with his second goal of the night on the power play makes it 3-1 for the Penguins.

I liked how they played give and go with the puck, almost toying with the opponent there. Fun stuff.

Third Period: Four power play goals scored in the first 6:18, three by Charlotte, one by the Penguins.

Santtu Kinnunen, Connor Bunnaman, Jonathan Gruden and Grigori Denisenko in that order. Here they are.

So that was a dart.

Pens were put right back on the penalty kill because Dustin Tokarski said something to referees Patrick Hanrahan and/or Jordan Watt they didn’t like. Bunnaman makes them pay here…

Watt and Hanrahan were a mess all night, and I wasn’t even at the game. Par for the course for Hanrahan, always late to the play, can’t skate the right way. Mix in a salad, dude.

Here’s the Gruden power play goal which was an obvious makeup call from Watt / Hanrahan, who should both be skating in their last games of the season after tonight’s performance.

But the Checkers even the affair yet again with a baffling third power play goal of the period on the Denisenko shot that makes it 4-4.

Things calmed down from there because Jordan and Patrick must have realized that the fans paid to see the players, not the officials as, but for an Ethan Keppen interference call, there were no other penalties.

No scoring, neither, so it was off to…

Overtime: Pens possessed for the first two minutes or so, but then Charlotte got the puck and Bitetto skated in and, well…

See you in the Fall.

Three Stars: 3) Valtteri Puustinen (goal, two assists) 2) Ty Smith (goal, two assists) 1) Anthony Bitetto (two goals, over time game winner)

The Good: This sorry season is over?

The Bad: They went 2/5 on the kill, and Charlotte scored three power play goals setting up the….

Turning Point: Checkers three power play goals in the third guarantees them a home ice in the first round of the playoffs.

Around the Division: Here’s the scoreboard for the night. If anyone at Coal Street reads the blog, please go back to the 7:05 starts on Saturday. As always with whatever comes out of the Pens offices, it’s a half baked idea that’s forced on folks and forgotten about, sort of like the mottos they used to use (Feel the Excitement, Black and Blue, etc.) there’s no point in 6:05 starts if yo aren’t going to do a concert, a comedy act, etc.

Standings: Spoiler, the Pens finished last in the division.

Wheeling Update: Nailers aren’t making playoffs either and are playing in their finale out in Iowa. Box here.

Thanks again for reading and following along with me this season. On Sunday afternoon, I’ll have a player grades feature. On Monday I’ll revisit my predictions I gave way back in October and on Tuesday I will have a Calder Cup Playoffs Preview and prediction for a champion.

They should be back better than this year (hopefully, I’d hate to see what worse is) so keep the faith, and Let’s Go Pens!