Chirps from Center Ice

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Oh man, I wished they would have gotten a point out of this game at least.

They have to fly to Charlotte for a 4 p.m. game Friday. Thursday is Thanksgiving. Seems unfair and downright crazy that you would have a not easy to get to team (Charlotte) host a home game against an opponent (the Penguins) who just played less than 48 hours ago (Penguins lost 2-1 in Hershey Wednesday)

So it goes.

Here’s how they lined up…

Lineup Notes: Besides the recalled guys (Alex Nylander, Dmitri Samorukov (signed an NHL deal yesterday, I thought it was merit based but he was legit recalled) John Ludvig (recalled from conditioning stint) were all out. In were Cedric Desruisseaux (signed PTO Wednesday morning, Wheeling’s leading scorer) Raivis Ansons (forgot about him, but WBS assigned him to Wheeling a few weeks ago, then recalled him this morning) Corey Andonovski and Jack St. Ivany were in. Jansen Harkins was reassigned back to Wilkes-Barre Wednesday evening.

Whew. That’s a lot. I wonder what’s up with Taylor Fedun. Take all the time you need.

First Period: Pretty even period but a bit lopsided. Bears got the first seven shots, got a goal from Dylan McIlrath from the blue line which I think was redirected in off of the skate of Raivis Ansons, then Rem Pitlick scored to tie the game about half way through, they had the next seven shots, then the Pens went on a power play which was a masterclass where they kept the puck in Hershey’s zone for 1:35. Shots were an even 10-10. Here were the goals…

Second Period: Felt that Hershey had the edge in play this period despite it being a pretty evenly played period at that. Bears take the lead when Ivan Miroshnichenko set up Riley Sutter for an easy goal which gave the Bears a 2-1 lead.

Nothing you could do here. Miroshnichenko pursues the puck, two Penguins chase after, he threads a pass to Riley Sutter in front for an easy tap in goal.

That was the difference in an overall even period with a slight edge to Hershey. Joel Blomqvist made a bunch of late, difficult saves to keep it a one goal deficit for the Penguins.

Third Period: Penguins had to kill two Ty Smith penalties (slashing at 10:36, tripping at 16:22) and never gained enough positive traction to challenge Hunter Shepard, firing just a scant 5 shots at the Hershey goaltender.

Three Stars: 3) Matt Strome (assist) 2) Dylan McIlrath 1) Riley Sutter (goal, assist)

The Good: This team can beat Hershey.

The Bad: Not tonight, at least.

Turning Point: Nothing you could do about that second goal Hershey scored (trust me, I tried to find a scapegoat here) and, in a tight game like this, save maybe for the effort or lack thereof in the third, that goal gets it here.

Around the Division: Hartford beats Providence 6-4….Cleveland beats Charlotte 5-2….Springfield beats Bridgeport 4-2.

Standings: Hershey 26 – Hartford 22 – Springfield 19 – Penguins 18 – Lehigh Valley and Charlotte 18 – Providence 15 – Bridgeport 11

Wheeling Update: Depleted Nailers beat Toledo 4-2. Taylor Gauthier with 33 saves.

Video Highlights: AHL VideoCenter is your friend here. I am traveling for Thanksgiving and won’t be behind this keyboard until I open it from down there Friday afternoon.

Happy Thanksgiving. Let’s Go Pens!

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I said about a week ago that Joel Blomqvist may be the best goaltender in the Penguins organization. He will be in the NHL one day, probably sooner rather than later, and my suspicions as to why were on full display in the third period in Providence on Saturday.

Bruins fire thirteen shots at the Penguins goaltender, thirty in total but fall 2-1 to the Penguins. Justin Addamo and Alex Nylander scored for Wilkes-Barre / Scranton.

They need all the points they can amass, and this week they got five out of a possible six. They have a road game in Hershey on Wednesday followed by a travel day on Thanksgiving then a 4 p.m. Friday start in Charlotte then again on Saturday. That’s a hellacious road trip against a pair of teams that the Penguins are battling with in the beehive known as the AHL’s Atlantic Division.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Jansen Harkins got the Jonathan Gruden treatment today, getting recalled and sent back all within two hours. So he was unavailable for the Penguins Saturday. Lineup was otherwise as the team noted above.

First Period: Besides Having to kill four penalties in the period, they got a goal from the returning Alex Nylander…

Immediately after, or :57, Providence ket the press in their zone and Reilly Walsh scored to tie the score at one.

Again, having to kill four penalties was less than ideal. Not only because it increases the chance of the other team to score, it kills whatever momentum you are building towards to get a goal for yourself.

Second Period: Two teams trade power play opportunities but the Penguins are the ones to nudge ahead by a goal thanks to Justin Addamo.

First point as a Penguin for Matt Filipe. Jagger Joshua is making a case for player of the week with his fourth point in as many games.

Solid period for the Penguins because I got the sense that the Bruins were going to throw the sink at them. It didn’t happen.

Third Period: Providence’s power play sucks, in the bottom third in the AHL, and they could have used a couple of goals but came up empty. Blomqvist stopped all thirteen shots put in his direction. He’s good.

Three Stars: 3) Joel Blomqvist (29 saves) 2) Alex Nylander (goal) 1) Justin Addamo (goal)

The Good: Good to see Addamo jump in there and score a big goal. They were good as a team this weekend and swept a team who looked like they were turning the corner and, at times, made it look easy. Have the Penguins turned the corner?

The Bad: Another one of those games when I am struggling to come up with something. Let’s just move on.

Turning Point: The Addamo goal gets the two points. but there were saves in the final five minutes that I thought were ticketed for the back of Blomqvist’s net that never made it there. Team effort.

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley demolishes Belleville 8-1….Hershey shuts out Bridgeport 4-0….Hartford beats Syracuse 5-2.

Standings: Hershey 24 – Hartford 20 – Penguins 18 – Charlotte 18 – Springfield 17 – Providence 15 – Lehigh Valley 14 – Bridgeport 9

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off. Nailers are in Fort Wayne on Sunday.

Video Highlights: Bookmark the AHL’s Video Center if you come here looking for the highlights. Looks like there are highlights for every AHL game which is nice to see.

Weekend Preview will be up likely Tuesday. Talk to you then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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You have heard me say recently that the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are consistently inconsistent.

Tonight was a perfect example.

Wilkes-Barre and Providence are scoreless through two periods. Providence put 13 shots on starting goaltender and down on conditioning Alex Nedeljkovic but just two (one in the second, one thus far in the third) and then the Penguins find themselves up 3-0. They were on cruise control.

Until they weren’t.

Bruins score two goals :22 apart to make it a one goal game.

But, the Penguins goaltender came to the rescue. No, it wasn’t a timely save or a jaw dropping post to post dive on a one time laser.

It was this:

Wilkes-Barre wins 4-2. Nedeljkovic becomes the first goaltender in AHL history to score two career goals.

Penguins stop the Bruins three game winning streak. With how consistently inconsistent this team is, look for Brandon Bussi to shut the Penguins out, Providence wins 8-0, J.D. Forrest can’t stop pulling the goaltender and Bussi scores a hat trick.

I digress.

Solid game played by Wilkes-Barre who withstood the Bruins assault in the first period, locked down the Bruins in the second period while Providence had a 4:00 power play. Penguins replicated it again in the third, holding the Bruins to just one shot and got three goals from Jagger Joshua, Ty Smith on a power play and Valtteri Puustinen. Here are those goals…

Second goal in as many games for Joshua.

Power play goals in 10 of the last 11 games for the Penguins.

Long pass from Jack Rathbone which connected with Puustinen for the breakaway goal. Nice play, great vision by Rathbone and excellent finish by Puustinen to put the game seemingly out of reach.

Bruins pulled starting goaltender Brandon Bussi and get two goals in :22 from Georgii Merkulov and Justin Brazeau.

(Providence didn’t post videos)

Nedeljkovic had enough of getting scored on and decided to score one himself. See video above.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Matt Filipe was out, as was Jack St. Ivany. The Pittsburgh Penguins sent Alex Nedeljkovic and John Ludvig down for conditioning so J.D. Forrest so Ludvig jumped in the lineup with Ty Smith.

Injured are Sam Poulin, Sam Houde, Avery Hayes and Colin White week to week. Alex Nylander is still ill.

Three Stars: Ty Smith (goal, assist) 2) Valtteri Puustinen (goal, assist) 1) Alex Nedeljkovic (17 saves, goal)

The Good: Holding the Bruins to essentially two shots before a furious rally after the first period is pretty, pretty good.

The Bad: You just know they lose 5-1 tomorrow. Consistent inconsistency! It’s the Penguins way!

Turning Point: Nedejkovic’s marching orders when he was sent down for conditioning was probably just get reps in, try to put the AHL squad in a position to win, see you in a week. His goal put it away for the Penguins tonight and shows that he’s just playing with his opponents at the AHL level.

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley wins 3-2 in Laval…Hershey survives a late rush from Bridgeport to win 5-4….Syracuse drops Hartford 5-3 and Springfield beats Utica 2-1 in overtime. Charlotte is still out on the West Coast and play the San Diego Gulls late. Box on that here.

Standings: Again because Charlotte is late Friday can’t post these with accuracy. Penguins are on 16 points. Things are tight. It’s a good division.

Wheeling Update: Nailers fall in Indianapolis 4-1 to the Indy Fuel.

Video Highlights: Assume they will be up soon and if I can get back around will edit them in.

Back at it again Saturday for the rematch. More then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Better effort. You don’t want to get into a fire fight with the reigning, defending, undisputed Calder Cup Champions.

Penguins lose 5-4 in overtime. Game felt like a rock fight in the first two periods, with the third giving a vibe that the last shot would win. Then the third came and no team scored.

Work night, school night, so let’s move it along.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Changes: Sam Houde (injured) Alex Nylander (ill) Colin White (no idea) were out for Justin Addamo, Jordan Frasca and Matt Filipe. On defense, Libor Hajek was in for Ty Smith.

Can’t fault J.D. Forrest for at least holding guys accountable and shaking things up.

First Period: Joe Snively reaps the rewards of a Valtteri Puustinen turnover and it’s 1-0 Bears less than 90 seconds into the game.

Snively loves playing against the Pens, it would seem.

Puustinen atones for his earlier boffo and scores to make it 1-1.

It was off to the races from there.

Jimmy Huntingdon scores from the slot to make it 2-1.

I wanted to rip the defense here and rightly should, but I’m along for the joyride this week man.

Second Period: Jansen Harkins skates in with Rem Pitlick. Harkins passes to Pitlick. Pitlick misses the net entirely! But wait the puck caroms off the wall right to Harkins who puts it into an empty net!

Momma, there goes that man again.

Jansen Harkins scores again, this time on the power play and the Penguins take the lead for the first time.

But then Jimmy Huntingdon gets his second of the game off of Mark Pysyk’s skate to make it 3-3.

Mark Pysyk isn’t it man. If you are going to stand around and watch the action around you, come up and sit next to me in Section 104.

Like I don’t even know what this was. Pysyk ain’t it.

But again, it’s all about the ride this week, and one hell of a ride it was because Corey Andonovski sets up Jagger Joshua at the net front and Joshua scores to make it 4-4.

Third Period: So after all that scoring, all that action, there was no scoring?

That’s what I am saying.

Give me a chance here to applaud referees Graedy Hamilton and Andrew Bell. They stayed out of the way and only called what they had to. I thought they were fantastic, and caught some serious Jeff Smith vibes off the two of them. Fans paid to see Penguins and Bears and not those two. They got the message and refereed a hell of a game.

Overtime: Alex Limoges scores to give the Bears the extra point.

Three Stars: 3) Alex Limoges (game winning goal, assist) 2) Jansen Harkins (two goals) 1) Jimmy Huntingdon (two goals)

The Good: They play their best when they play Hershey. The rest of their opponent matrix? So-so. Competitive game that they are good to get a point out of, especially with this hellacious stretch of five road games beginning in Providence Friday.

The Bad: This defense corps sucks.

Turning Point: Joshua’s goal gets them the point, but it’s Limoges’ overtime game winner that gets it here.

Around the Division: Hartford beats Springfield 5-1 in a kids day game …. Charlotte is out in San Diego, where the high today was 70 degrees, and that game is still going on when I hit “Publish” on this blog post. Box here.

Standings: I can’t complete this because Charlotte’s score isn’t factored in. The Penguins have 14 points and are in fifth, tied with Charlotte right now. We are all Gulls fans tonight!

Wheeling Update: Nailers played a kids day game also in Toledo and won in a shootout 6-5. Lukas Svejkovsky had a goal and an assist. One of the refs in that game, Liam Maaskant, will be one of the refs Friday in Providence (the AHL posted the weekend refs sometime Wednesday night)

Video Highlights: Are not available and I won’t be able to edit them in because I am in meetings all day Thursday with the big boy job. Better luck next time.

Back at it Friday in Providence. Talk to you then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Mitchell Chaffee’s two goals and assist get him first star honors in this game, a 6-3 Syracuse blowout Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre, in case you are wondering about the headline.

But the game really did chafe me, in all the wrong ways. I’ll explain.

Syracuse rolled out AHL journeyman Brandon Halverson in net, who hasn’t played in the AHL since the 2019-20 season (two games) and hasn’t played a full AHL seasons since the 2018-19 season. He doesn’t know what a goals against average below three is, had one season where he had a .906 save percentage and hasn’t won in the AHL since 2019.

Syracuse insulated him, and the Penguins only had 13 shots through two periods and one goal, an Austin Rueschhoff power play goal.

Halverson was far from the reason why the Crunch blew out the Penguins Saturday.

Wilkes-Barre finally came alive in the third period, already down 5-1, to the tune of 16 shots for and only 4 against (one of those was an empty net goal scored by the Crunch) and a 2-1 goal advantage. Two of those goals were scored by Jack Rathbone.

If Marc Johnstone is my favorite player on the team then Rathbone is my least favorite followed by Dmitri Samorukov and Taylor Fedun. Fedun was scratched Saturday, so I can’t pin tonight’s loss on him.

It was back to the bad Penguins Saturday. This team is consistently inconsistent, and it is something we will just have to get used to.

But tonight was extraordinarily bad.

Look I don’t mind if you lose. But it’s how you lose that gets me.

Innocuous start for the Crunch, it happens.

I mean giving the guy a wide open lane to shoot and skate into is a bit cringe, but what can you do?

Then a dart by Chaffee and it’s 2-0 and starting to get out of control.

Here’s where I started to get upset, missing summers, my pool and sunsets after 8.

Absolutely COOKING Dmitri Samorukov for a goal there. The Penguins needed a response of any kind against a literal sieve of a goaltender playing for their opponent, and they go out and do that. Just mind boggling.

Oh and on top of that, the Penguins went about eight minutes of game time between their shots in the second. In between that time frame, the Crunch score three goals.

Here’s the third.

Just a snipe by Gage Goncalves, with Samorukov and Mark Pysyk standing around and watching.

Here’s the Rueschhoff power play tally.

But then Syracuse proceeds to kick the teeth of the Penguins in again on this goal by Chaffee again to make it 5-1.

Jack Rathbone had a particularly awful game for himself, but some of that stink got washed off by two goals, his first as a Penguin.

Max Groshev scored his second of the game on an empty net when J.D. Forrest decided to pull Garret Sparks, who was in on relief of Taylor Gauthier.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Libor Hajek and Taylor Fedun were out for Rathbone and Xavier Ouellet on defense and Avery Hayes was out with an upper body injury that needs to be evaluated so Dakota Joshua took his place.

Three Stars: 3) Jack Rtahbone (two goals) 2) Gage Goncalves (goal, two assists) 1) Mitchell Chaffee (two goals, assist)

The Good: 😳

The Bad: 🤐

Turning Point: Chaffee’s first goal that turned Samorukov inside out. How do you say, you play like a dog Dmitri in Russian?

Around the Division: I don’t feel like linking the other boxes. Head here if you don’t believe me.

Providence shuts out Hartford 2-0….Bridgeport beats Springfield 2-1 in overtime….Hershey shuts out Lehigh Valley 2-0.

Standings: Hershey 18 – Hartford and Springfield 15 – Charlotte 14 – Penguins 13 – Providence 11 – Lehigh Valley 10 – Bridgeport 9

Wheeling Update: Nailers play role reversal and beat Idaho 5-2. The Steelheads beat the Nailers by the same score Friday. Jordan Frasca had a goal and an assist.

Video Highlights: Click at your own peril.

More midweek when Hershey comes calling Wednesday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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There was some concern this week when Tristan Jarry went down with injury and Joel Blomqvist went up to Pittsburgh.

I think you can put those concerns to bed.

Taylor Gauthier makes 34 saves and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins shutout the Syracuse Crunch 4-0 in Syracuse Friday night.

Some of Gauthier’s saves were highlight reel, as detailed below. He stopped a penalty shot in the first period which I think is the turning point in the contest, based off of the way things were going at that point.

I don’t think the plan is to go back to Gauthier Saturday, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him back in net again for the Penguins when these two teams rematch Saturday.

Here’s how they lined up on Friday:

Lineup Notes: They didn’t need goaltender recall from Wheeling as Garret Sparks backed up. Corey Andonovski and Valtteri Puustinen were in for Dakota Joshua and Matt Filipe up front. Mark Pysyk made his WBS debut and Libor Hajek was back in on defense for Jack Rathbone and Xavier Ouellet.

First Period: Pretty inert period, felt more like a feeling out period. Tame, but for a Libor Hajek stick lift that got too aggressive for referee Austin O’Rourke’s liking on Gabriel Fortier, which Taylor Gauthier made a right pad save on.

Second Period: No power plays in the first, referee O’Rouke and his running buddy Jordan Samuels-Thomas gave each team three in the second period. Its was hard to get rolling when every five minutes you were killing a penalty. Pens did a good  job killing off a 4-on-3 against. Taylor Gauthier continued to dazzle in net for the Penguins, and Alex Nylander scored just :37 into the frame.

Third Period: Penguins rip the game open with three goals. First one was scored by Ty Smith about three minutes into the third period.

This was followed by a Jansen Harkins power play goal 2:03 later that made it 3-0.

I think the Penguins iced the game away here, but in case there was any doubt Puustinen netted his second of the game right around halfway and the Pens were on cruise control.

This goal chased Hugo Alnefelt and entered Brandon Halverson. I think Alnefelt goes again for the Crunch Saturday, so he may be out for revenge.

Gauthier locked things down from there.

At no point during the contest did things get out of control for the Penguins. You could argue during the tense moments in the second when killing the 9,000 penalties awarded, but they navigated through it all and asserted control and never looked back.

Three Stars: 3) Ty Smith (goal, assist) 2) Alex Nylander (two goals, assist) 1) Taylor Gauthier (34 saves)

The Good: Seemed like an easy night at the office for the team. Syracuse is a really good team, the Penguins made them look like pikers Friday.

The Bad: I’m a bad person if I pick out something bad when the team wins by four goals and the goaltender gets a 34 save shutout.

Turning Point: Spoiled it in the lede, but the penalty shot save that Gauthier made on Gabriel Fortier set up his night as well as the night of the team playing in front of him.

Around the Division: Hartford shuts out Bridgeport 3-0, Providence beats Springfield 5-4. Charlotte is out west against San Jose.

Standings: The fact that Charlotte has that late game in San Jose later means I can’t really give this to you for accuracy sake. The Penguins have 13 points. If Charlotte wins or gets a point, they will leapfrog the points and be fourth in the Atlantic.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers hosted the Idaho Steelheads and the Steelheads, who are a hell of an ECHL team, drubbed the Nailers 5-2. They rematch Saturday.

Video Highlights: If I can work an edit in I will, provided I work my way around back to the computer between the next time I do this, which is Saturday after the rematch between the Pens and Crunch.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Taylor Gauthier and Colin White deserved better.

With about 40 seconds left to play, Colin White blocks his second shot of the night, is hobbled again and goes back down the tunnel. Seconds later the Belleville Senators score to even the game at two.

In overtime Belleville scores to steal the extra point. Penguins lose 3-2 in overtime.

Taylor Gauthier was shelled in the third period by the B-Sens when it was 1-1. He singlehandedly kept the Penguins in the contest and was stellar.

3 points out of a possible 6 this week. They were tracking to 4. That lost point is going to come in handy come April I fear.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Forward lines unchanged from Friday. Jack St. Ivany for Libor Hajek on defense.

First Period: Austin Rueschhoff scores a power play goal on a deflection of a Xavier Ouellet shot through traffic to put the Pens on the board.

Belleville was held to not many shots on goal then started to turn it on. Foreshadowing.

Second Period: Colin White blocks a shot and goes to the locker room. He returns, then goes back to the locker room. He got beat up pretty bad in the game.

Meanwhile, Angus Crookshank scores a goal off of a face-off to make it 1-1.

Problem here is that the B-Sens weren’t getting a ton of shots, but were living in the offensive zone for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, you wear down your opponent enough and get a greasy goal.

Third Period: As I mentioned in the open, Taylor Gauthier was under bombardment.

His finest save of the period, right there.

Also, Belleville scored two other times in the game but they were waved off. First was on a high stick, second was on a tripping call.

Colin White scored a power play goal which was fitting, considering the absolute beating he took Friday.

Time dwindling, Belleville head coach David Bell pulls goaltender Leevi Merilainen for an extra attacker, uses his time out, and finds the equalizer.

Always has to be an ex-Hershey Bear.

It was then onto….

Overtime: Jack Rathbone gets caught on a two on one, tries to direct Marc Johnstone to cover Angus Crookshank, Crookshank gets the puck, shoots, shot blocked back to Jacob Larsson who scores.

Three Stars: 3) Colin White (goal) 2) Garrett Pilon (goal, assist) 1) Jacob Larsson (game winning goal)

The Good: They scored two power play goals, which you never say no to.

The Bad: I don’t want to start getting into the practice of having to learn how to close out games. They straight lost Wednesday against Providence. They scored with .5 seconds left Friday against Hershey and coughed up a lead with :34 to play Saturday against Belleville. Gotta finish!

Turning Point: Inevitably the Pilon goal which forced overtime gets it here because Belleville winning seemed like a formality after that and it was.

Around the Division: Cleveland exacts some revenge on Providence, beating them 5-4…Springfield wins in OT against Lehigh Valley 3-2….Charlotte wins 5-4 in overtime against San Diego…Hershey beats Bridgeport 3-1 and Hartford beats Utica 3-2.

Standings: Hershey 16 / Hartford 13 / Charlotte and Springfield 12 / Penguins 11 / Lehigh Valley 10 / Providence 9 / Bridgeport 5

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 3-2 in their home opener over the Reading Royals. Justin Addamo two assists.

Video Highlights: 

Home and home with Syracuse next week. Look for the Weekend Preview sometime Thursday or Friday.

Let’s Go Pens!