Chirps from Center Ice

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Let’s get business out of the way first.

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For the 21st time in team history, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are headed to the Calder Cup Playoffs after a 2-1 shootout win in Belleville Friday night.

This game had a ‘fight forever’ feel to it. Goals were hard to come by for the Penguins with just Aidan McDonough scoring his team leading seventh power play goal in the second period and Tyler Boucher scoring later in the period to respond.

So it was a defensive battle and the Penguins, despite being outshot 29-20, managed to get it to overtime to qualify for the postseason. Adian McDonough, Gabe Klassen and Avery Hayes all scored in the shootout to give the Penguins the extra point.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Avery Hayes was returned to Wilkes-barre on Thursday and was in the lineup for the Penguins Friday, replacing Zach Urdahl. Emil Pieniniemi for Chase Pietila on defense.

First Period: Nothing doing. Pens were being badly outshot in the period before a late power play upped the shot total. Both teams traded power plays.

Second Period: 2:10 into the period Aidan McDonough scored a power play goal that gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

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Then a bad pinch in the neutral zone by Emil Pieniniemi sees Tyler Boucher score on a 2 on 0.

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Penguins sweated out two Belleville power plays.

Third Period: Penalty kill really did work here, killing two late penalties virtually back to back. No scoring, though.

Overtime: Avery Hayes had two shots to end the game in overtime via breakaway but was stopped both times by Leevi Meriläinen who was impressive all game but really outstanding here in the overtime period.

Shootout: Aidan McDonough on a backhand shot, Olle Lycksell followed with a carbon copy shot, Gabe Klassen scored through the five hole, Arthur Kaliyev, who leads the AHL in goal scoring was stopped and then Avery Hayes won it in the top of the third.

Three Stars: 3) Avery Hayes (shootout goal) 2) Riley Kidney (assist) 1) Joel Blomqvist (28 saves)

Really thought that Leevi Meriläinen deserved a star here, he was outstanding. He had no run support though.

The Good: 21 trips to the playoffs out of 25 tries is good, right?

The Bad: Power play scored, yeah, but that was it. The Penguins are a good 5-on-5 team? Someone forgot to tell Belleville, but that’s nitpicking on a clinching night like this.

Turning Point: Took till the very end but the Hayes goal that won it gets it here.

Around the Division: Penguins would have backed if they didn’t win, because Laval beat Springfield 4-1…Providence wins 4-3 in Utica.

Standings: Providence 93 – Penguins 84 – Charlotte 75 – Hershey 62 – Lehigh Valley 60 – Springfield and Bridgeport 56 – Hartford 54

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 4-3 in a shootout over Trois-Rivières. Newly acquired Blake Bennett had a had trick and Logan Pietila had the shootout game winning goal.

Video Highlights: 

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More Sunday evening from Toronto. Enjoy the Saturday off.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Good things come to those who wait, I suppose.

Needing just one point to clinch a playoff berth in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs, Wilkes-Barre / Scranton gets no out of town help and lay an egg in Laval, QC, a place they have not won in since 2018 and lose 5-1.

Game was decided, in my opinion, in the first six minutes. Laval goaltender plays like he has ants in his pants whenever he has the puck on his stick or nearby him. He played way too fast and loose in the games opening stages and the Penguins were not able to capitalize on this loosey goosey-ness and Laval settled in and methodically turned the game into a rout.

The Rocket lead the North Division and have the second best home record for a reason. They wear you down.

Gabe Klassen had the lone goal for Wilkes-Barre / Scranton, his 15th of the season.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Alex Alexeyev and Finn Harding for Jack St. Ivany and Scooter Brickey.

First Period: Shots 9-1 for the Penguins to start, Laval goaltender Kaapo Käkhönen swimming in his crease making ridiculous out of position saves but then a neutral zone hooking call against Aidan McDonough stops that momentum and the Rocket start to catch up. Then a careless too many men on the ice call against Wilkes-Barre sees Jared Davidson score :09 into the ensuing Rocket power play.

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Shots ended up 11-9 for the Penguins.

Second Period: Penguins went down a pair of goals and returned only two shots on Käkhönen in the process.

Sammy Blais catches a long lass from ex-Penguin Nate Clurman, deep in his own zone, and Blais steps in and scores on the breakaway.

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Then, a pass from Joshua Roy bounces off of the elbow pad of Josh Jacobs and caroms to Sean Farrell who scores to make it 3-0.

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I mean that’s just ugly puck luck.

Third Period: I liked the initial response here and this is where Gabe Klassen scored at the 2:55 mark and I liked the vibe they came with but was troubled by the, “just turn it on and go” mantra they have won games with in the past with.

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But the Rocket continued to wear down the Penguins, but not without more goalkeeping adventurism by Kaapo Käkhönen. Sebastian Aho was unable to score, however.

Joshua Roy scores late as the Penguins stared desperation in the face and then Florian Xhekaj scored into an empty net with Sergei Murashov pulled.

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Three Stars: 3) Joshua Roy (goal, assist) 2) Kaapo Käkhönen (29 saves) 1) Sean Farrell (goal, assist)

The Good: Gabe Klassen is warming up again.

The Bad: Three players were even on the +/-, the rest were all -1 or worse. Finn Harding and Atley Calvert were -2’s. That’s the definition of wearing a team down.

They clearly miss Ville Koivunen, Tristan Broz and Avery Hayes. They are rudderless offensively and whatever Kirk MacDonald is doing (or not doing) doesn’t seem to be working.

Turning Point: The Blais breakaway goal gets it here because that opened the Rocket floodgates.

Around the Division: Can’t rely on Providence for jack. They needed to beat the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the Penguins to back into the Playoffs. They didn’t. Phantoms win 6-3. Hartford sweeps Charlotte with a 5-2 win Wednesday after beating the Checkers on Tuesday. Forget quantum mathematics. I will never figure out how a team like Charlotte that gives the Penguins fits it swept by a Hartford team that was booed 7-0 by Providence last weekend.

Standings: Providence 92 – Penguins 82 – Charlotte 75 – Hershey 62 – Lehigh Valley 58 – Springfield 56 – Bridgeport 56 – Hartford 54

Wheeling Update: The Nailers had the night off.

Video Highlights: The Rocket’s YouTube page they put game highlights is here. Tonight’s package isn’t up yet at 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

Talk to you Friday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Wilkes-Barre salvages the weekend with a gritty, gutsy 3-1 win in Allentown on Sunday and are a point away from qualifying for a berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

They were a second half team Sunday, falling down 1-0 in the first period, no shots about halfway through the second, but then tie the game in the second on a Rutger McGroarty deflection, a Gabe Klassen power platy goal in the third and then an Owen Pickering empty net goal that iced it away.

Off now to Canada and a date with the first place North Division’s Laval Rocket on Wednesday with a chance to punch a ticket to the playoffs.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Nick Hart mentioned on the broadcast pregame that Alex Alexeyev was yo-yo’ed from/to Pittsburgh earlier in the day. On ice, Boko Imama for Zach Gallant up front, Sebastian Aho, Scooter Brickey for Ryan Graves and Finn Harding.

First Period: Ex-Penguin Phil Tomasino opens the scoring for the Phantoms after a puck is chopped out of the crease by Sergei Murashovb which then finds its way to Tomasino who scores to make it 1-0.

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Marathon period with a lot of icings and both teams feeling the effects of a three in three weekend.

Second Period: Despite not registering a shot on goal till around the 8:30 mark of the period, the Penguins were the better team in the period and tied the game on a Rutger McGroarty deflection.

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They had a few cracks (and a few good looks) on the power play but could not solve Aleksei Kolosov.

Everything was coming up aces here for the Penguins but the score remained tied at one heading into the…

Third Period: They had about 3:30 of leftover power play from a double minor high sticking call to Phil Tomasino. It almost seemed like they had to score on the power play or else you are looking at a momentum shift.

They got it, off the stick of Gabe Klassen.

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But then they had another chance at the power play with an opportunity to ice it away, and that turned into four, maybe five Lehigh Valley Phantom shorthanded chances.

Owen Pickering buried one from deep, late.

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Ballgame.

Three Stars: 3) Phil Tomasino (goal) 2) Sergei Murashov (16 saves) 1) Gabe Klassen (goal, assist)

The Good: They smothered the Phantoms last night even strength and lost. They smothered the Phantoms on Sunday and won.

The Bad: The power play needs work. It may be too late to fix, sadly.

Turning Point: The Klassen power play goal got it here. My faith in MacDonald is starting to slip, but they are too well coached to let a result that happened to them Saturday happen to them less than 24 hours later on Sunday.

Around the Division: Springfield beat Providence 4-3 so the Penguins could not clinch because they needed out of town help. Belleville is up on Hershey at 6 p.m. on Sunday. That box is here.

Standings: Providence 91 – Penguins 82 – Charlotte 75 and that’s as far as I can go without the Hershey final. If you are interested after like 7:30 on Sunday, click here.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: They would be here if you are so inclined, as they are not up yet.

Canada trip is next, Weekend Preview is here Wednesday around lunch time.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I’m going to let play by play man Bob Rotruck explain this one for you.

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Straight up, this Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins team is going nowhere fast if they can’t…

a) score
b) defend a lead when they score
c) win special teams battles

They did two of the three this evening. Even me, a C student and the living embodiment of the term, “C’s get degrees” would think this has to be enough to win the game, right?

Wrong. They lost 4-3 in overtime. They carried a 3-1 lead into the third period, the Phantoms score a power play goal to get within one then a late goal with Carson Bjarnason pulled to tie it and then Lane Pederson scores his second of the night on the power play to win it in overtime.

The two teams rematch Sunday in Allentown. The only silver lining out of the evening was that no matter what happened here, the Penguins could not clinch a playoff spot. More on that in a bit.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Zach Urdahl for Boko Imama up front, Chase Pietila for Sebastian Aho on defense.

First Period: Ryan Graves atones for his -3 in the second period Friday against Hershey with a goal that gives the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

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Good link up there with the passing.

Penguins were playing with fire giving away two power plays to the Phantoms.

Second Period: Joona Koppanen scored two goals but only one of them was deemed good as the other was taken down after video review. Finn Harding had the other goal in the period when he snaked to the far side and fired a shot that was screened.

Ex-Penguin Boris Katchouk scored the opposition goal, the Phantoms only even strength goal of the game.

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Third Period: All they need to do is defend a lead and not give a sliver of momentum to the opponent.

Wilkes-Barre couldn’t do anything with a power play about midway through the period, Lehigh Valley cashes on their sole opportunity in theirs, and here’s Mr. Moe Mentum changing his address.

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But it’s still a one goal game and the Penguins have second in the division thanks to defense and goaltending and…

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Momma, there go them men (Jack St. Ivany and Ryan Graves) again.

Overtime: I mean it was inevitable, and more so when they take not one, but two penalties in the period. They get out of one, but momentum, man. It’s a game of momentum, and Lehigh Valley wasn’t going to miss on the second power play of overtime.

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Ballgame.

Three Stars: 3) Anthony Richard (three assists) 2) Joona Koppanen (goal, assist) 1) Lane Pederson (two goals, assist)

The Good: I mean they manufactured a point?

The Bad: They are developing bad habits at the worst time of the season and it is going to cost them a first round bye. Kirk MacDonald has his first real headache of the season to deal with because fans will not stand for another first round exit this season. It’s trending straight in that direction. I saw it last year with the New York Mets in a different sport when they collapsed in June and never were the same team and completely missed playoffs. It’s a different story here because the Penguins are a playoff team, but what does that mean when everyone makes it and all the momentum you have is bad momentum.

Turning Point: The Pederson goal that tied it gets it here, because the rest was elementary.

Around the Division: Providence wins 7-0 over hapless Hartford….Charlotte picks up another two points with a 2-0 shutout at home against Bridgeport where the Islanders are shutout in back to back games in North Carolina…Springfield wins 6-3 at home against Utica so the Penguins couldn’t clinch anyway and Belleville doubles up Hershey 6-3.

Standings: Providence 91 – Penguins 80 – Charlotte 75 – Hershey 62 – Lehigh Valley 58 – Bridgeport 56 – Springfield 54 – Hartford 50

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 4-2 over visiting Adirondack. Matty De St. Phalle with a goal and and assist.

Video Highlights: 

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Hope for a better fate Sunday in Allentown. Talk you to then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Don’t look now but the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have not won in four games.

A 4-2 setback Friday night after a valiant would be comeback in the third sees the Hershey Bears take this one on Friday.

Oh and tomorrow’s opponent, Lehigh Valley did something the Penguins couldn’t do and that was beat Syracuse in Syracuse this evening.

I don’t know if they are missing offensive guns like Ville Koivunen and Tristan Broz that badly that it shows with these results as much as it is lapses in defensive judgement.

They fell in a 3-0 hole in the second period after the two defenseman down on conditioning, Jack St. Ivany and Ryan Graves, were on the ice for all three goals scored in the period.

Offense never got going Aidan McDonough scored early in the third to kick start a comeback, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard scored :20 into a power play but they got no closer.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Penguins made a small future consideration trade with the Calgary Wranglers, trading for Blake Bennett who has been with the Flames ECHL affiliate the Rapid City Rush all season. On ice, Ryan Graves, Jack St. Ivany and Sebastian Aho in; Scooter Brickey, Chase Pietila and Alex Alexeyev out.

First Period: No scoring. They traded power plays.

Second Period: Hershey scores three times in a span of 5:37. Andrew Cristall crashes the net to make it 1-0, Sonny Milano throws one off of Sergei Murashov to make it 2-0 and then Ryan Chesley from the blue line makes it 3-0.

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Jack St. Ivany and Ryan Graves, NHL contracted NHL defensemen, on the ice for all three goals against.

Third Period: Aidan McDonough gives them life at 2:35.

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Where would we be without Aidan McDonough?

:20 into a power play and Harvey-Pinard scores to bring the Penguins within one.

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Bears blocked a lot of traffic and Mitch Gibson was solid enough when he needed to be, on a delayed call with Murashov pulled, Borden Trineyev scores an empty net goal.

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No, that’s not the empty netter, but he had some key blocks that preserved the win.

Three Stars: 3) 2) Melvin Fernstrom (two assists) 2) Ilya Protas (assist) 1) Andrew Cristall (goal, assist)

The Good: I liked the comeback attempt.

The Bad: NHL contracted defenders shouldn’t have put them in that predicament to start.

Turning Point: The Chesley goal gets it here as it stopped being fun after that and they desperately tried to erase a three goal deficit.

Around the Division: Charlotte shuts out Bridgeport 3-0….Cleveland beats Hartford 3-1….Lehigh Valley beats Syracuse 4-1.

Standings: Providence 89 – Penguins 79 – Charlotte 73 – Hershey 62 – Bridgeport 56 – Lehigh Valley 56 – Springfield 52 – Hartford 50

Don’t look now but Charlotte is comin’!

Wheeling Update: Taylor Gauthier with another 29 save shutout as the Nailers win 4-0 in Glens Falls and the Thunder.

Video Highlights: 

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More Saturday after the Phantoms game.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I didn’t like the first 20 minutes of this game, but was OK with the final 40 plus overtime. Wilkes-Barre / Scranton grits out a point on the road in Syracuse but lose 3-2 on overtime on a Lucas Mercuri power play goal that give the Crunch the extra point.

It looked like the Penguins were set to get buried again by the Crunch like the last time they were here on January 3 when they got creamed 6-0. But they tightened things up considerably from the second period on and a Melvin Fernstrom goal with under a minute to play in regulation get them a point they can use.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Quiet trade deadline day. No moves affecting the AHL club. Avery Hayes was papered down making him eligible for playoffs, Ville Koivunen was recalled under emergency conditions.

Melvin Fernstrom returned from injury replacing Ville Koivunen up front, Scooter Brickey was in for Matt Dumba.

First Period: Syracuse struck twice on transition plays and ran out to a quick 2-0 lead. Wilkes-Barre had two cracks at the power play but could not solve Brandon Halverson, who has been a stone in the shoe of the Penguins for two seasons now.

Tristan Allard and Brendan Furry with the goals here.

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And since they posted it, I will let you know about it – Boko Imama fought ex-Penguin Jarred Tinordi. Both men landed clean shots and never budged.

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You just don’t see that anymore.

Second Period: Better period for the Penguins as Rutger McGroarty scores on transition that gets Wilkes-Barre on the board.

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Pens whiff on their third power play of the game early on and then kill a good Crunch power play easily but still trailed 2-1 heading into the…

Third Period: No penalties in the period which seemed to snap by with the Penguins in control but the Crunch just keeping them at arms length. Then with Sergei Murashov pulled and after a timeout an Aidan McDonough shot is blocked to Melvin Fernstrom who scores to tie the game.

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This got them to…

Overtime: I thought the officiating was better here then it was Wednesday, but Wednesday was a low bar. Ref Riley Brace gets Finn Harding for an iffy-ish hold on Tristan Allard that puts the Crunch on a power play. After a timeout, Lucas Mercuri scores to end the game.

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Ballgame.

For what it’s worth, the Penguins had their chances to score in overtime with Aaron Huglen getting denied by Brandon Halverson twice on the same sequence with the pad and then later on a one timer, both set up by Rutger McGraorty.

Bounces.

Three Stars: 3) Tristan Allard (goal) 2) Brendan Furry (goal) 1) Lucas Mercuri (game winning overtime power play goal)

Around the Division: Hartford shuts out Bridgeport 6-0….Charlotte beats Lehigh Valley 5-3 and Iowa shuts out Springfield 2-0.

Standings: Providence 85 – Penguins 79 – Charlotte 69 – Hershey 60 – Lehigh Valley 53 – Bridgeport 52 – Springfield 51 – Hartford 48

Wheeling Update: Nailers are out in Rapid City, SD for game two of their three game visit to the Rush. That box is here.

Video Highlights: 

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Enjoy the rest of the weekend off, enjoy the taste of Spring this weekend with the slightly warmer weather and don’t forget to turn your clocks ahead before you go to bed Saturday. Back here next week for the three in three against Lehigh Valley and Hershey.

Let’s Go Pens!

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If you want to beat the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, you have to get to them early.

Any maybe have the referees on your side, too.

A 5-4 loss on a Wednesday night where the Penguins were a step slower than the Thunderbirds for the first two period and then picked it up in the third. A pair of Aidan McDonough goals tied it, but a controversial Mathieu Joseph power play goal was ruled a good goal when it was clear that Joel Blomqvist was interfered with.

I am long past the getting hot over what goaltender interference is or isn’t. No one knows what it is, no one can explain it, and if you think you can you are lying to yourself and others who believe you.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Back to the conventional 12/6, Tristan Broz indeed injured, their leading scorer, Nolan Renwick and Zach Gallant draw in at forward, Sebastian Aho out on defense.

First Period: A bad pinch by Owen Pickering sees Juraj Pekarcik score 17 minutes into the game.

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Okay, not bad. They were a step behind all period but a one goal lead is manageable.

Only they took three penalties in the period and gave all the momentum to Springfield.

Second Period: Dillon Dube strikes twice, once at even strength and then on a power play. Aidan McDonough netted a power play goal just six seconds into the first power play of the game for Wilkes-Barre, to get the Pens on the board.

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I didn’t particularly like that third goal by Dube, if we didn’t have what we had in the third period, I would have gave that the turning point of the game. It had the feel.

Third Period: To this point the Thunderbirds were on their fifth power play of the game to open the frame on a Matt Dumba roughing penalty at the conclusion of the second period. I didn’t particularly like Dumba’s game, he took too many penalties (three in total) and just handcuffed the team all night.

I made a comment that the keep it close and step on it in the third period strategy could only get them so far. It nearly worked here because the Penguins wee by far the better team the entire period, and tied the game on goals by Tanner Howe and Aidan McDonough. For McDonough, his second power play goal of the game.

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But then the Mathieu Joseph power play goal. Springfield’s social media team, while usually class of the field with the amount of stuff they put out there, casually didn’t post the video of the Joseph interference goal here. After a brief conference at the scorers table, the goal was allowed to stand.

That basically did it. A Chris Wagner empty netter put it out of reach but then a bonehead turnover by Springfield sees Rafaël Harvey-Pinard score to make it 5-4 and closer than it seemed.

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Three Stars: 3) Mathieu Joseph (goal) 2) Aidan McDonough (two goals, assist) 1) Dillon Dube (two goals)

The Good: Where would they be without Aidan McDonough, who is carrying the freight with consistency with Hayes recalled and Broz hurt.

The Bad: The officiating was an abomination tonight. You know you are in for a guessing game when you see Rob Hennessey in the arm bands. He’s one of the slowest referees in the League, is overmatched, guesses, and flies by the seat of his pants on most nights. Seven power plays for Springfield? I have heard of refereeing the score, but refereeing the standings? Get lost. They normally send the B-team referees to lazy weekday games, and Hennessey embodies what it is to be a middling AHL official.

That said, you cannot be giving away points to a seventh place team that doesn’t belong on the same ice as you.

Turning Point: The Joseph power play goal gets it here.

Around the Division: The Paper Tigers do it again, rallying from two goals down to beat last place Hartford 3-2. Too bad the Wolf Pack won’t be around in mid-April and beyond. Then what?`

Standings: Providence 85 – Penguins 78 – Charlotte 67 – Hershey 60 – Lehigh Valley 53 – Bridgeport 52 – Springfield 51 – Hartford 46

Wheeling Update: Nailers are out in Rapid City, SD for a trio of games against the Rapid City Rush. That game is ongoing at 11 o’clock on a Wednesday night, so I will leave the box here.

Video Highlights: 

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It doesn’t get any easier when they head to Syracuse Friday. More then.

Let’s Go Pens!