Chirps from Center Ice

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This one was a tough one to figure out on this Saturday afternoon. After an offensive explosion last week against Syracuse, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins go for 35 shots on goal against ECHL lifer Zach Fucale for the Bears and only come away with one goal to show. They only allow one player on the other team to score, but that player is quickly becoming the proverbial stone in the shoe for the Penguins.

A Connor McMichael hat trick, albeit on an empty net late, is all the Bears need Saturday afternoon as they beat the Penguins 3-1.

The aforementioned Fucale opposed Max Lagace.

Lineup:

Lineup Notes: Anthony Angello, Frederick Gaudreau and Max Lagace all made their WBS debuts. Angelo and Gaudreau went to the top line displacing Josh Currie (who was recalled) and Nick Schilkey. Schilkey dropped down to the second line. Chase Berger moved up to center the third line for Jordy Bellerive who was recalled. Jan Drozg down from the second line to this line. Nastasiuk slid over and centered the fourth line and Kyle Olson moved down from the third line to the fourth.

Defense pairs unchanged.

First Period: Teams trade power play goals. Zach Nastasiuk for the Pens to open the scoring:

Redirects for days on this shot. Nastasiuk was the last to touch it.

Hershey later responds on a give and go, shot, rebound score by Connor McMichael who scored his first of the contest.

Second Period: I think one of the keys to beating the Penguins this season is forcing the rookie defensemen to make mistakes.

😬💆‍♂️

Even game, tight contest, mistakes like these get magnified.

Third Period: Pens kill a penalty and then get two power plays late and can’t cash. With Lagace pulled for an extra attacker, they make a great play for Nick Schilkey who hits the post. An errant pass to no one is gobbled up by (who else) Connor McMichael who shoots from about 120 feet away and scores to complete his hat trick.

Three Stars: 3) Garrett Pilon (assist) 2) Zach Fucale (34 saves) 1) Connor McMichael (hat trick)

The Good: They scored one power play goal on six opportunities.

The Bad: They scored one power play goal on six opportunities.

Turning Point: Tight contest, McMichael’s goal 1:19 into the second period is enough for the Bears to ride out and grit out a win behind the rookies stellar play and the play in goal by Fucale who stopped 34.

Around the Division: I don’t know about you, but I kind of like these 1 pm away Saturday starts. Now I have the rest of the afternoon to myself. Anyway, Binghamton and Lehigh Valley play later at 7.

Video Highlights: 

Wilkes-Barre and Hershey rematch Wednesday evening at 5 in Wilkes-Barre. More then, if not sooner.

Let’s Go Pens!

Stay safe.

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Couple of first goals for a few guys, first assists, first win for J.D. Forrest behind the bench, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins win their first game of the 2021 season 5-4 up in Syracuse Saturday night.

It wasn’t without a few puff out your cheeks moments, most especially in the third, where they have struggled the most.

After controlling play for the first forty minutes, it was a frenetic, nearly goal a minute pace in the third.

Things settled though without much more incident and the Pens have their first win of the season.

Emil Larmi opposed Sam Montembeault.

Before the game, the Penguins tweeted this…

Don’t want to speculate. Times are weird. Family, always first.

Lineup:

Lineup Notes: Felix Robert and Luke Stevens made their AHL debuts. Robert took Jordan Nolan’s spot, Stevens was in Justin Almeida’s spot. D pairs shuffled, Dylan MacPherson for Josh Maniscalco. 300th AHL game for Josh Currie.

First Period: I liked the way they played in the period. Syracuse is a dangerously offensive team that like to run you and gun you.

40 seconds out of the gate, Radim Zohorna drives to the net and Jan Drozg sweeps the puck in to give the Penguins an early 1-0 lead.

Penguins would work out of a double minor penalty. They tiptoed in and out of trouble on the kill.

Emil Larmi continued with his on point play, stopping Gabriel Fortier point blank then Alex Barre-Boulet after this ridiculous pass which sprung him for a scoring opportunity.

Barre-Boulet finally got a goal to go when he picked a corner on Larmi and tied the game at one.

Second Period: They clamped down in the second, went on three power plays and scored two goals in the period.

Good to see Berger get going early.

They kept grinding away at Syracuse and got a late goal from Kyle Olson on this dart that gave Wilkes-Barre a two goal lead.

Play by play man Nick Hart mentioned it in the intermission, but Felix Robert was getting under the skin of the Crunch skaters.

Shots were 13-6 Wilkes-Barre in the period.

But the big test was navigating the third period, which hasn’t been kind to them in the first two games.

Third Period: Four goals in the first forty minutes, then four in the games first 4:40.

2:10 in, Grigori Denisenko scored to bring the Crunch to within one.

About 1:40 later, Gabriel Fortier scored to tie the game at three.

Not this again.

Will Reillly scored to push the Pens ahead again.

That was :16 later, by the way. A hell of a response.

But :29 after that…

Chaos indeed.

Wilkes-Barre goes on the first power play of the period.

They scored on it.

And they settled things down from there. No more scoring and the pace of the game stayed quick as the Crunch, with Montembeault pulled for an extra attacker, never found the equalizer.

Those firsts I mentioned at the open?

Three Stars: 3) Grigori Denisenko (goal) 2) Alex Barre-Boulet (two goals) 1) Kyle Olson (goal, assists)

The Good: They stayed step for step with an offensively gifted Syracuse Crunch team when they were running and gunning. They did, for large stretches, control the pace as well.

The Bad: Why all of a sudden after an overall quiet first forty minutes did we get four goals in the first 4:40 of the third?

Turning Point: That power play that they scored on after all of that scoring deflated the Crunch after the frenetic push they made. Penguins hung on from there.

Around the Division: Utica clips Binghamton 6-5 in a shootout.

They are off for a whole week before they meet up with Hershey again. More likely then, no Power Rankings this year or anything like that. News and notes as it warrants.

Video Highlights:

Let’s Go Pens!

Stay safe.

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Emil Larmi deserved better. He really did.

He had 33 saves in a very, very, strong game, but his teammates struggled on special teams, going 1 for 6 on the power play and only 5 for 7 on the penalty kill and its the special teams that let them down Thursday as Hershey takes this one 3-2.

Larmi opposed Pheonix Copley.

Lineup:

Lineup Notes: Essentially Jan Drozg for Michael Joly on the second line wing.

First Period: Emil Larmi had a strong period. He really did. He made one mistake. A big one, that cost his team a goal.

It happens.

Larmi was getting shelled, the Bears outshot the Penguins 12-6 in the period, but he was up to task after some very difficult saves.

Penguins get on the board when Tim Schaller, signed this week to an AHL contract, went bar down and in to tie the game at one.

So a mix of what you saw in the third period Monday, but with better puck luck and stellar goaltending play.

Second Period: Penguins open the period with a power play goal when Josh Currie shoots one in off a terrific play by Cam Lee to put the Penguins ahead 2-1.

But the Bears answer right back on a power play of their own, when Mike Sgarbossa sniped one past Larmi to bring the teams level at two.

They then went into a penalty fest, where the Penguins enjoyed a long stretch of two man advantage but were unable to score. There were a few chances at tap in goals but they were foiled for one reason or another by the Bears penalty kill or Pheonix Copley.

Late, this ten bell save by Larmi will go on his personal highlight reel.

Larmi stayed dialed in, the Penguins power play was a jumble and the teams were tied at two heading into the…

Third Period: They killed one penalty but then Chase Berger put a puck over glass and Connor McMichael scored to make it 3-2 and put the Bears in front for good.

Wilkes-Barre didn’t get a single power play in the third, Hershey got three and scored on that one there. In a game full of microcosms, that is what wins Hershey the game.

Three Stars: 3) Emil Larmi (33 saves) 2) Garrett Pilon (two assists) 1) Mike Sgarbossa (goal, assist)

The Good: I have a feeling they are going to ride Larmi for all he is worth in this shortened season, and he passed the test with flying colors tonight, just could not get any run support.

The Bad: Can’t really get on the power play tonight when they score one and two on Monday, but the lack of success and maybe the undisciplined play leading to them having to kill penalties does them in tonight.

Turning Point: Tyler with the foreshadowing:

This is after Wilkes-Barre failed to score on the two man advantage there in the second.

So far, I haven’t seen anything special out of Hershey, Lehigh Valley or Syracuse. Binghamton may be the best out of all four Penguins opponents this season, but there is time to get things shook out.

Around the Division and Standings: I don’t think I am going to update these, since the Penguins didn’t see anyone in the division play Thursday and standings may be useless because I honestly don’t think there will be a playoff this year.

Wheeling Update: Same goes here. Half of what was on Wheeling when they started the season are playing in Wilkes-Barre now anyway.

Video Highlights: 

Let’s Go Pens!

Stay safe.

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I knew they were young at the back, I didn’t think they were that young at the back.

The Penguins played five rookie defensemen in their opening contest against Binghamton, delayed 48 hours because of COVID and carried a 3-1 lead into the third period. That was where they were met with a Devils buzzsaw. Binghamton gets two in the third and the one in overtime to win 4-3 Monday evening.

Emil Larmi opposed Evan Cormier.

Here is how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: If you are wondering where Shane Starrett is, you aren’t the only one. Apparently he is still getting in shape and they have Brochu backing up. I guess that explains his horrible ECHL numbers….Jan Drozg was scratched because of COVID….earlier Monday the Pens signed Tim Schaller to an AHL contract.

First Period: They went back and forth for about fourteen minutes in a virtual deadlock and then Jordy Bellerive scored the first goal of the 2021 season (I am not calling it 2020-21) when he chipped a puck off of the wall and put the shot on Cormier which ricocheted off him to Devils defenseman Brandon Gignac and careened into the net for a goal.

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They closed the period a defense mess, which I suppose you will need to get used to dressing 5 of 6 rookie defenseman but Emil Larmi was up to task, stopping Tyler Irvine and then ex-Penguin Ben Street on separate chances.

Foreshadowing.

Second Period: I was ready to point out some more lax defending by the rookies, but then play by play man Nick Hart noted that Binghamton was without a shot with about six minutes left to play, then get a flurry of shots and one of them goes in, deflecting off of Nolan Foote’s foot and in.

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Matt Miller takes a puck off the helmet while the Penguins were on a penalty kill.

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It didn’t take long for the Penguins to regain the lead when Josh Currie scored his first as Penguins captain on a power play.

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Then, an absolute gaffe of epic proportions by the Binghamton Devils.

On a delayed penalty against the Penguins, Evan Cormier leaves his net. Binghamton plays the puck back and it eludes everyone, Cormier included, and rolls harmlessly into the net to give Wilkes-Barre a 3-1 lead.

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Sometimes you’re the hammer, sometimes you’re the nail.

Third Period: That slow start that I eluded to in the second period by the Devils was non-existent in the third. Binghamton peppers Larmi with shots and gets one to go when Danick Martel redirects a Tyler Irvine shot at the net which beats Larmi to cut the Penguins lead to just one.

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Devils continue to roll, outshooting the Penguins at a four to one pace and Ryan Schmelzer sees a shot hit the post then hits him in the chest, where he sweeps it in the net to tie the game at three.

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Penguins would get a late power play. Jon Gruden digs a puck off of the wall and tries to beat Cormier over the glove but the Binghamton goalie makes the save.

It was then off to…

Overtime: Reilly Walsh didn’t waste any time with all that open ice.

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Three Stars: 3) Cam Lee (two assists) 2) Danick Martel (goal, assist) 1) Reilly Walsh (overtime game winning goal)

The Good: Power play clicked at a 50% pace. Probably not sustainable in the long term, but good to see.

The Bad: That defense is green, man. No answer whatsoever for the blitzkrieg the Devils unloaded in the third period at a four to one pace. Got to tighten up.

Turning Point: Late power play, game on the line and the Penguins come up empty. Game heads to overtime. Binghamton wins it. It may be meaningless because I don’t think they are doing playoffs, but two points would have been nice in this shortened season versus just one.

 Around the Division: They all watched us.

Standings: I am not going to pay much attention to this until there is word on if there will be a playoff. Don’t bet on it.

Wheeling Feeling: The Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: Coal Street didn’t offer any.

Let’s Go Pens!

Stay safe.

The final dress rehearsal before they do this for real was held at the PPL Center Thursday night after a delay from snow pushed the game back a few days. Emil Larmi went the distance again for the Penguins in goal, stopping 29 shots in a 2-0 Phantoms win Thursday night. Some of Larmi’s saves were highlight reel saves. 

But the Penguins couldn’t get anything going offensively and would get shut out. 

Here’s how they lined up….

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Lineup Notes: Why don’t we just worry about this when the regular season starts for real, yeah?

First Period: Ten saves for Larmi in the period, teams trade power plays.

Second Period: Phantoms strike first after a penalty kill. Chris Bigras pounces on a rebound and scores to give the Phantoms a 1-0 lead. Penguins had two chances at a power play.

Third Period: Larmi gets screened and Tyler Wotherspoon shoots and scores to give the Phantoms a 2-0 lead. Seems like they stepped in something great in Newark a few nights ago against the Devils and no matter what they could do, tonight just wasn’t the Penguins night. 

Wilkes-Barre did kill a five on three against, so there is a bit of a silver lining. 

That’s pretty much it. Not really much to write home about for this one. They do it for real in some cities as early as Friday. 

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So that will do it for preseason. The Pens get going for real Saturday at 5 at home against Binghamton, who will have played the night before at home against Hershey. Gameday setup will be here at 1. I don’t have anything for you in the way of league previews because I really haven’t put too much effort into it if I am being honest. Binghamton will be looking to recapture the hot run they were on when last season got canned, Hershey got Pheonix Copley back from Washington to play goal. Lehigh Valley may be a bit of a mystery and Syracuse will contend. I’m not paying attention to Rochester or Utica because the Penguins don’t play them. So boom, there is your 30 second, four team preview. 

Let’s Go Pens!

Stay safe.

They were originally slated to play this game on Monday, but because of the snow, moved it to Sunday. Hey, at least it wasn’t because of a COVID related something.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins traveled to Newark, NJ where the Binghamton Devils will play their 2021 home campaign from this season and win 5-1. Not bad for a team together for about 72 hours, having opened training camp this past Friday.

Here’s how they lined up for the game, just their third game together as training camp started Friday:

Hashtag overload.

Devils didn’t post lines, or else I would have added them here. Evan Cormier started for Binghamton in goal. Both goalies played the entire game.

Again, with this being preseason, and the first one to boot, regular names like Jordan Nolan and others weren’t involved in the contest. Expect that to change when they do this for real, or as real as it can get in the middle of a pandemic, this Saturday.

First Period: They withstood an early push from the Devils to start, then Tim Schaller, in camp on a PTO, scored on the Penguins first shot of the game.

Thank you again to Taylor for allowing me to embed the goals and stuff in the blog pieces. It is appreciated.

Pens had a power play which looked about as good as you would expect from a team who are historically bad at them, just three days together as a unit.

Scare later in the period where Binghamton found itself on :31 of five on three. Emil Larmi made a save through a pile of bodies and the penalty killing unit made it out unscathed.

Second Period: Josh Maniscalco’s shot from the point beats Evan Cormier which extended the Penguins lead to two.

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Evan Cormier was really keeping his team in the game, stopping Justin Almeida and Michael Joly on breakaway attempts. The Penguins killed off two more penalties in the period.

Third Period: Chase Berger sets up Zach Nastasiuk who beats Cormier five hole and the Penguins went ahead 3-0.

Binghamton gets on the board when Riley Walsh picks off Emil Larmi out of his net and scores to make it 3-1.

Cormier vacated for the extra attacker and Tim Schaller hit a post but Jordy Bellerive was there to push the puck into the empty net.

Pens get a gaol from John Gruden who grinds one past Cormier to make it 5-1 Penguins for good measure.

Thoughts: The feed was horrible. They are playing in a practice rink so there are nets everywhere. They are not going to take the net down for games so expect that when you play Binghamton in Newark this year. Jon Lizotte played a solid game. They looked good, Larmi played well and Binghamton was chasing the game from the very beginning. Nice way to clamp down and not let the Devils back into the game, killing off those early penalties and the like.

They are back at it again Tuesday down in Allentown, suspect weather permitting. I did not see any place where the Phantoms would be doing a Facebook Live, so it will probably be radio only, so that means I will drop in and do my best to recap what I can for you here Tuesday. They get going for real on Saturday.

Let’s Go Pens!

Stay safe.

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In a bit of a surprise to Penguins fans on Wednesday night, the Wilkes-barre / Scranton Penguins tweeted their usual lineup graphic. It looked like this:

No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. That is indeed Riley Barber’s name in the lineup. Tyler had some more insight:

I had a whole paragraph I had to rip up criticizing the Penguins and the antiquated way that injuries are described in professional hockey. After Barber scored in overtime to give the Penguins a 2-1 overtime win in Allentown Wednesday night, it didn’t matter.

It was a goalie duel, and don’t look now but Dutsin Tokarski has quietly won some games for the Penguins where Casey DeSmith has faltered. Am I brewing up a goalie controversy? No, I am not. Just stating the facts. It will be very interesting to see who plays Saturday in Hershey. Not overlooking the rematch Friday against the Phantoms, but the Bears are a juggernaut and the Penguins need to be almost perfect to win games these days.

This was, by all accounts a better game for Wilkes-Barre, who were in a battle with the Phantoms all night and managed to find a way to win. Find a way to win, that has to be the mantra in this last month of the season.

Other lineup notes included Barber for Justin Almeida and Niclas Almari for David Warsofsky. Warsofsky was listed as injured. I honestly don’t mind, his even strength numbers are terrible and his +/- is a joke. He’s good on the power play and that’s all. Almari has been an abject disaster of late, but if he is going to develop as a pro over here, he learns from his errors and gets better the next time out.

First Period: Alex Lyon kind of stole the period for the Penguins, making stops on Adam Johnson on a breakaway, Kevin Roy on a redirect of a Cole Cassels shot and then Riley Barber twice in close in the periods final seconds. High degree of difficulty saves which he made look easy.

Second Period: The goaltender duel continued and the period zipped by. Kevin Roy got free, but hit a post. Seconds later on the same shift, this:

Amazing what happens when you take the goaltenders eyes away.

Penguins found themselves on some penalty trouble late, but the Penguins penalty kill was stout and held the Phantoms out of the net.

Third Period: Penguins killed off the remaining penalty kill time left over from the second, then had a power play of their own that they failed to score on then Kurtis Gabriel scored on a deflection in front that squeaked through Tokarski and in to tie the game at one.

The Phantoms didn’t GIF the goal.

Penguins had a late power play come and go and it was off to….

Overtime: It took Riley Barber :50 to end it.

On a nice feed by ex-Phantom Phil Varone, no less.

Three Stars: 3) Kurtis Gabriel (goal) 2) Alex Lyon (33 saves) 1) Riley Barber (overtime game winning goal)

The Good: Strong goaltending from Tokarski, defense looked good. Lehigh Valley has been a huge disappointment this season, so take this with a grain of salt.

The Bad: In games like this where the goalies steal the show, anything is a nitpick. They didn’t take any exorbitant penalties and found a way to win. Moving on…

Turning Point: Barber’s shot that ended it gets it here.

Around the Division: It’s a meaningless exercise if the Charlotte Checkers, who are in fourth place keep winning and oh, shucks, they did tonight against Cleveland 3-2 in overtime….Bridgeport beats Toronto 4-1….Providence wins their twelfth straight with a 3-1 win in Hartford and the Wolf Pack have lost five straight.

Standings: Providence 82 — Hershey 81 — Charlotte 73 — Hartford 73 — Penguins 66 — Springfield 65 — Lehigh Valley 58 — Bridgeport 53

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: If I see them I will edit them in.

Pens rematch Friday in Allentown. Gameday setup hits here Friday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!