Chirps from Center Ice

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Despite 44 shots on goal and two power play goals as well as goals in the span of :20, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins lose 4-3 in a shootout up in Springfield. The Thunderbirds are on a bit of a roll, this is their fifth straight win.

I feel as though this is a game that, if you run through a simulator, the Penguins win more than 70% of the time. It was a close game, a competitive game, and three out of four points on the road this weekend is not bad.

Phillippe Desrosiers sort of stole the show in net for the Thunderbirds with his performance tonight, but it was Owen Tippet’s goal in the third period that got the game to overtime for Springfield and his goal in the top of the sixth in the shootout that won it.

Lines were…

And for Springfield:

Lowry-Toninato-Greco
Saarela-Borgstrom-Thompson
Roy-Audette-Tippett
Heponiemi-Ang-Repo

Cross-Schemitsch
Massie-Keeper
Lochead-Mangene

Desrosiers

Lineup Notes: Joseph Cramarossa for Andreas Martinsen was the vet-for-vet swap up front. All other pairings were the same from Friday. Jon Lizotte came out of the lineup for Michael Kim. Dustin Tokarski debuted in net.

First Period: Not the best start as the Thunderbirds struck first when a failed breakout bye Joseph Cramarossa was picked off and Daniel Audette scored to make it 1-0 Thunderbirds.

Yikes.

The Penguins would score a 4-on-3 power play goal when Joseph Blandisi tipped in a David Warsofsky shot from the point that tied the game for the Penguins.

Another look…

Shots were 11-11 through the first. A bad start evened up by special teams and two teams stayed step for step with one another.

Second Period: Pretty quiet overall. Pens had a load of shots in the period, but weren’t able to crack Desrosiers despite outshooting the Thunderbirds 14-3.

Wilkes-Barre killed off a long 1:25 of a two-man advantage for Springfield, but got caught late by Aleksi Saarela for a power play goal for Springfield that gave the Thunderbirds a 2-1 lead heading to the room to start the third.

Third Period: Penguins score in a span of :20 when Sam Miletic had a deflection of a shot which Stefan Noesen took credit for and it was a tie game at two again:

Then, just like that, Joseph Blandisi scored his second of the night with this goal that gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead.

Finally, it would appear that the offensive avalanche that the Penguins were putting on Desrosiers and the Thunderbirds was finally leaking through.

You’d be wrong.

Methodically, Springfield kept coming and coming and they finally got even when Aleksi Heponiemi drew Tokarski over before dishing to a streaking Tippett for a goal.

Overtime: Periscoped here.

If you don’t want to sit in for the full fourteen minutes, Jospeh Blandisi had a chance to finish his hat trick but was denied by Desrosiers. The audio cuts out at the end of the overtime.

Shootout: Stefan Noesen scored in the top of the first, and that was it. Blandisi, Cramarossa, Sam Lafferty, Oula Palve and Anthony Angello followed but missed on their chances. Henrik Borgstrom scored in the top of the first, Daniel Audette, Aleksi Saarela, Kevin Roy and Anthony Greco missed on their attempts. Owen Tippett did not on his.

Three Stars: Aleksi Heponiemi (two assists) 2) Owen Tippett (goal in regulation and in shootout) 1) Phillippe Desrosiers (41 saves on 44 shots)

The Good: The two goals :20 apart to give them the lead in the third.

The Bad: They really couldn’t protect the lead despite the large what ended up being a 44-23 shot advantage. It’s developing into a problem.

Turning Point: Owen Tippett’s goal to tie the game would get the Thunderbirds to overtime and secure the point. His goal in the shootout gave team the extra one.

Around the Division: Hartford keeps collecting points, they lose in another shootout this weekend this time in Belleville 5-4….Lehigh Valley beats a hapless Sound Tigers team 4-3….Hershey gets two late goals in the third to down Providence 5-3….Charlotte was off.

Standings: Hartford 19 — Springfield and Providence 16 — Lehigh Valley, Hershey and the Penguins 12 — Charlotte 9 — Bridgeport 5

Wheeling Update: Nailers get pushed around in Kalamazoo, losing 7-2. Renars Krastenbergs and Marc-Olivier Duquette scored in the losing effort for the Nailers.

Video Highlights: Springfield usually has em and when they cut them up and I see them and can work an edit in, it’ll go here.

But for anything breaking between now and Wednesday, talk to you then. The Mailbag returns next Monday, later than usual, so start thinking about those questions.

Let’s Go Pens!

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4                                        3

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Man, the Phantoms never give up.

After going down 3-0 and looking slow and lethargic at times, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms battle back at home to force overtime but ultimately fall in a shootout. Penguins win via shootout 4-3 on Friday night.

The game can best be defined in number of chapters.

1) The Penguins raced out to a 3-0 lead early in the second period after a dynamite first period.
2) Then, the Phantoms started to block shots and got one back at the conclusion of the second.
3) They scored a power play goal early on in the third, then with starting goalie Alex Lyon pulled for an extra attacker, tied the game at 3.

Wilkes-Barre / Scranton could have packed it in, buried under the avalanche of pressure that the Phantoms hit them with. The intensity was ramped upon even more when, in overtime…

4) The Penguins would kill off a penalty.

Stefan Noesen and Joseph Blandisi score in the shootout rounds and Lehigh Valley, with all that offense, lose their third shootout of the still very young season.

Casey DeSmith opposed the aforementioned Alex Lyon.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: A ton. Sam Lafferty, Joseph Blandisi and Adam Johnson all returned from Pittsburgh this week. As a result of these lineup changes, Brandon Hawkins was sent back to Wheeling and Reid McNeill was released from his PTO. So for the lineup, we had Joseph Cramarossa and Ryan Haggerty come out of the lineup as victims of the veteran rule. Andreas Martinsen made his Penguins debut. On the back end, Zach Trotman debuted and Kevin Czuczman returned from injury replacing the departed Reid McNeill and Michael Kim, who was a regular scratch.

Oh, and Dustin Tokarski backed up Casey DeSmith.

The strongest the lineup has been all season and a sign that the organization from Pittsburgh to here is healthy.

Kind of. Nick Hart announced on the pregame that Kasper Bjorkqvist had knee surgery this week and is out for at least six months, effectively ending his season. If the Pens go deep in playoffs you may see him again, but it’s an unfortunate end to a promising rookie year for Bjorkqvist that sadly, never got off the ground.

First Period: Penguins survived an early rush by the Phantoms to open the scoring but DeSmith was up to task, making an odd save with his back. Adam Johnson was inadvertently cut after he tripped Nicolas Aube-Kubel and went off to the room for repairs, missing about seven minutes of action. When he returned, he put a shot on net that caromed around and found its way to Sam Lafferty who scored to give the Pens an early 1-0 lead.

That was a power play goal.

Late, Stefan Noesen scored his 10th goal of the season, tying him for the AHL lead when Jon Lizotte blacked a shot. Noesen was off to the races and scored this nice goal on the breakaway.

Period ended 2-0 in favor of the Penguins, the first time all season they blanked the opponent in the first period.

Second Period: Anthony Angello scored this goal which hit a post and trickled across for a 3-0 Wilkes-Barre lead.

(they later changed that secondary assist to Jon Lizotte, Martinsen has to wait for his first WBS assist)

Then the shots were all blocked or hard to come by, kind of like the last time that the Penguins were in this building but with the roles reversed.

David Kase scored to end the DeSmith shutout bid when an Andy Welinski shot from the point caromed off of bodies and to Kase for the goal.

Shots were a scant 4-4 in the second period.

Third Period: Lehigh Valley would cash on a power play when Andy Andreoff would be left unmarked in the slot to put home a power play goal and suddenly the Penguins were nursing a one goal lead.

Wilkes-Barre / Scranton  would have two back to back power plays but never were able to score and play continued.

Casey DeSmith had a ton of top saves to keep the Penguins ahead by one.

But, with Lyon vacated for the extra man, Lehigh Valley would find the equalizer when T.J. Brennan would shoot from the point and Greg Carey would deflect the shot in for a tie game.

It was off to…

Overtime: Periscoped, as all road contests are, here:

If you don’t want to sit through it all, you’ll see that the Penguins found themselves on a penalty kill when Zach Trotman placed a Phantom on his wallet when for taking too many liberties with Casey DeSmith. Wilkes-Barre came away unscathed.

No scoring in overtime, so it was off to a shootout where Stefan Noesen and Joseph Blandisi scored. Morgan Frost scored in the top of the first, but then DeSmith stopped Mikhail Vorobyev and Maxim Sushko right after.

Three Stars: 3) David Kase (goal) 2) Greg Carey (goal, assist) 1) Joseph Blandisi (shootout winning goal)

The Good: The start was fine, but the team needs to learn how to string a full sixty together in 10 minute or less increments. The penalty kill in overtime also gets a mention here. Tenacity was shown by Wilkes-Barre for not packing it in and losing on a power platy goal in overtime.

The Bad: The Phantoms ate the elephant one bite at a time and didn’t erase a 3-0 deficit all at once, they took what Wilkes-Barre gave them and slowly got back into the swing and ultimately got a point.

Turning Point: Those two power play chances right after the Andreoff goal were golden opportunities missed for the Pens and the Phantoms ultimately stole a point they had no business anywhere near. Wilkes-Barre was really lucky to get out of Allentown with a full two points.

Around the Division: Cleveland beats Charlotte 2-1 in overtime….Syracuse rolls Bridgeport 5-1….Providence beats the last undefeated team in the AHL in Utica 2-0. Manny Lagace has an AHL leading three shutouts for the Bruins….Springfield blitzkriegs Hershey 8-1….Hartford lost in a shootout up in Laval 2-1.

Standings: Hartford 18 — Providence 16 — Springfield 14 — Penguins 11 — Lehigh Valley and Hershey 10 — Charlotte 9 — Bridgeport 5

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: 

Gameday setup for Saturday’s contest in Springfield hits the blog Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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4                                           5

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The last time Joseph Cramarossa was in Wilkes-Barre on his birthday he left with a broken nose.

Cramarossa had himself quite the game for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, winners 5-4 in overtime over the San Antonio Rampage Saturday night with a goal and an assist and first star honors.

Wilkes-Barre connected for three power play goals Saturday, the Rampage scored two of their own as the clown show known as Mathieu Menniti and Rob Hennessy rolled into town with court jesters Julien Fournier and Pat Dapuzzo. The officiating sucked tonight, top to bottom. I get trying to fast track guys through, but you have lower levels of hockey for that. I noticed that the game was really quick tonight, the officials struggled, at times, to keep up.

Casey DeSmith opposed Adam Wilcox.

Lineup: Wait, where is Dustin Tokarski? Apparently still hurt despite the assurances from Mike Vellucci last night when Larmi went down that he would be, “ready to go” if called upon. Wilkes-Barre went back to their past and signed Sebastien Caron to backup tonight because they either forgot that they have an ECHL affiliate in Wheeling or didn’t want to pay the gas money to get a guy here. Look, Casey DeSmith was always going to start the game Saturday, but enough is enough with the lies and misdirection from the coaching staff. Emil Larmi didn’t “fall ill” last night, he got hit in the head and probably has a concussion and is sidelined. Now, per a report by Tyler postgame, Tokarski has lingering concussion symptoms and isn’t cleared.

Again, what the hell are they doing? Why not call Alex D’Orio up from Wheeling? It’s Anthony Peters redux. I am starting to, as the days go on fall out of trust with everything Head Coach Mike Vellucci has to say. You may have won a Calder Cup and Coach of the Year in Charlotte last year, but you haven’t accomplished a thing yet here in Wilkes-Barre other than smoke and mirrors and a league worst penalty kill unit.

Justin Almeida for Ryan Scarfo, Reid McNeill for Matt Abt, Jon Lizotte with Michael Kim. Zach Trotman cleared waivers and was assigned officially to the team. Apparently, going on waivers usurps a conditioning loan, hockey is stupid and its rules are too.

First Period: Cramarossa got his night started off right with a great setup to Ryan Haggerty for a goal that gave the Penguins an early 1-0 lead:

San Antonio would be the beneficiary of four power plays in the period. They cashed on two of them.

Nick Lappin first and formally all over a rebound…

And then Nathan Walker with three swipes at the puck off of DeSmith’s pads for a 2-1 Rampage lead.

Second Period: The Penguins would finally be on the right end of a referee’s call and seven seconds in Stefan Noesen did what Stefan Noesen does and that’s score goals for the Penguins.

But wait, Noesen wasn’t done quite yet.

Quite the momentum shift, with the Rampage on full tilt and taking all the penalties.

Late, Mike Vecchione would backhand in a shot to tie the game at three.

Just a ridiculous pass by Nathan Walker to Vecchione for the goal.

Third Period: :31 in, a bouncing puck beat DeSmith for another Vecchione goal on a backhand for a 4-3 San Antonio lead.

(no GIF of this one, sorry)

Casey DeSmith led a penalty killing charge on a Reid McNeill holding call that kept it a one goal deficit.

Jordy Bellerive connected with Jon Lizotte for his first professional goal that tied the game at four on the power play, the Penguins third of the night.

The Penguins had a chance with Jake Dotchin in the box for a head butting penalty, an automatic double minor, to connect for some more power play goals but never got the setup they intended.

It was off to…

Overtime: The setup was a two on none led by Sam Miletic. Miletic dished to a cutting Joseph Cramarossa for the goal, win and two points.

Three Stars: Mike Vecchione (two goals) 2) Stefan Noesen (two goals, assist) 1) Jospeh Cramarossa (overtime game winning goal, assist)

The Good: Macoy Erkamps is playing like he never wants to go back to Wheeling. I thought he played like a bright spot on the Penguins defense all weekend, arguably the best of the defensive corps. Props to the power play unit too. San Antonio was top five in the AHL on penalty kill, connecting for one would have been good, two would have been something but three? That’s what got them to overtime before Cramarossa’s heroics.

The Bad: Besides the officiating and the fact that the head coach is a liar, the penalty killing in the first about near cost the Penguins the game but as we learned in Friday, you don’t win a game in the first period.

Turning Point: Jordy Bellerive’s first professional goal came at an opportune time because it was on the power play and tied the game and got it to overtime.

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley beats Charlotte 3-2….Hartford stays hot and beats Bridgeport 4-1….Utica takes down Hershey 2-1 in a shootout to stay undefeated….Laval beats Providence 3-2 in a shootout and Springfield beats Belleville 5-3.

Standings: Hartford 15 – Providence 12 – Springfield and Hershey 10 – Lehigh Valley and the Penguins 9 – Charlotte 8 – Bridgeport 4

Wheeling Update: Nailers go 4-0 in their home stand, defeating Reading by a score of 3-1. Cam Brown had two assists. Alex D’Orio stopped 35 shots to pick up the win.

Video Highlights: 

Pens get a week of practice before heading to Allentown next Friday. Power Rankings Thursday. News and notes as it comes before then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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It’s not really how you start, it’s how you finish.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins finally scored first in a regular season game; twice actually, and went up 3-1 at the end of the first period and looked great.

But in the end, they would lose 5-3 to the San Antonio Rampage. I thought it was more of Rampage goaltender Ville Husso adjusting to the new arena; San Antonio hasn’t been here in ten years, vs. the Penguins dominating and controlling the play. The Rampage heavily outshot the Penguins and their lethal power play struck three times to essentially carry the day for the Rampage in a game that was otherwise even.

There was some earlier news to report Friday morning as it was announced that the Penguins signed Reid McNeil to a PTO. McNeill you’ll recall was with the Penguins until 2016-17 when he was dealt for, at the time, offensive threat Danny Kristo. That trade ended up being a disaster as Kristo never caught on and was later traded in the Spring of 2017.

Further, Zach Trotman’s conditioning assignment may end up being more than just that as he was placed on waivers Friday. You’ll know after noon Saturday if someone puts a claim in on him.

Later, Pittsburgh traded Erik Gudbranson to Anaheim for Andreas Martinsen. Martinsen will report to Wilkes-Barre. A big power forward with some international experience. If the name is faintly familiar to you, you will remember him with his time with the Rockford IceHogs in the past two seasons.

Hell, the last we haven’t even gotten to the game story yet.

Emil Larmi opposed Ville Husso.

Lineup: Essentially Macoy Erkamps for Kevin Czuczman. Head Coach Mike Vellucci told Tyler after the game that there isn’t an update on Czuczman yet, he’s doing well but they don’t want to rush him. He also said that Reid McNeill will report Saturday and Martinsen will be here Monday.

First Period: A hot start by the Penguins if there ever was one. The very first shift, three good quality shots on Husso that needed to be saved. Stefan Noesen later scored this highlight reel goal to make it 1-0 Penguins.

Joseph Cramarossa banged home a rebound and it was 2-0.

Second assist of the night for Macoy Erkamps who acquitted himself well in my opinion.

Nathan Walker, yes the Australian who scored all those points with Hershey these past few seasons, was the bur in the saddle of the Penguins all night and scored on a nifty deflection to cut the Penguins lead to one.

A puck deflects off of a linesman to Andrew Agozzino who scored against his former team to make it a two goal lead for Wilkes-Barre and it was 3-1.

False sense of security for the Penguins,. because it was all downhill from there.

Second Period: Nathan Walker scored :13 into the period on a carryover power play that made it 3-2.

You could feel the momentum going from a ripple to a tidal wave. San Antonio scored another power play goal when Klim Kostin tapped in a feed from, who else, Nathan Walker and it was tied.

Oh, they weren’t done. A Mitch Reinke knuckler from the point found its way in and the Rampage led 4-3.

Rampage outshot the Penguins 29-17 to this point. They were the better team all night, Husso just had a nightmare start and the Pens had a few early shots go in.

Third Period: Emil Larmi did not come out for the third period, instead being replaced by Casey DeSmith.

No penalty on the play. Vellucci told Tyler after the game that Larmi fell ill and was not injured but doesn’t anticipate him being available Saturday. Dustin Tokarski will most likely either start or back up DeSmith at that time.

I don’t know if I buy Vellucci’s explanation at all, by the way. Time will tell.

Wilkes-Barre had the brighter start, but San Antonio scored their third power play goal of the game when Nick Lappin scored to make it 5-3.

(no GIF here, sorry)

Vellucci pulled DeSmith with about four minutes remaining. San Antonio, despite controlling the possession of the puck for a good majority of the time DeSmith was vacated, was unable to score on the empty net. Impressive.

Three Stars: Macoy Erkamps (two assists) 2) Nathan Walker (two goals, assist) 1) Klim Kostin (goal, assist)

The Good: The start was good but in the end, not sustainable.

The Bad: Can’t win a game in the first period. San Antonio kept picking themselves off the mat and kept firing, the Penguins now 30th out of 31 AHL teams penalty kill didn’t stand a chance.

Turning Point: Going to give it to the start that the Pens had in the third and the momentum which was flushed away when Lappin connected for the third power play goal of the night. There is no coming back from that.

Around the Division: Thunderbirds trounce Bridgeport 7-4….Charlotte beats Lehigh Valley in a shootout 3-2….Hartford still hasn’t lost in regulation, they beat Laval 2-1 in overtime. Everyone else was off.

Standings: Hartford 13 – Providence 11 – Hershey 9 – Charlotte and Springfield 8 – Lehigh Valley and the Penguins 7 – Bridgeport 4.

Wheeling Update: As fate would have it the Penguins ECHL affiliate hosted the St. Louis Blues ECHL affiliate Tulsa Friday night and…. The San Antonio Rampage are the AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues. Nailers win 6-4. Jan Drozg had a pair of goals and an assist.

Highlights: 

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The two teams rematch Saturday at 7:05. Gameday setup is here Saturday afternoon at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Seemed that whenever the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins needed a jolt of good luck to happen to them, on comes the Binghamton Devils and the luck would turn.

You see, the Binghamton Devils had never beaten the Penguins, 0-11 coming in to Wednesday nights contest.

Until now.

A 4-1 win for the Devils and a loss for the Penguins which felt like a flat, lifeless, flaccid, dead effort from Wilkes-Barre in a game they couldn’t get out of second gear on.

I don’t know what it is about the start for the Penguins, but they got scored on first again. The Penguins have yet to score first this season. They fell into a 2-0 hole in the first, didn’t do anything in the second except take two penalties, got one back in the third, but Binghamton’s first shot on goal in the third goes in and the Devils add an empty net goal for good measure. Casey DeSmith took the loss. He opposed Gilles Senn.

Lines were….

And for Binghamton…

Lineup: Essentially the Wheeling recalls Ryan Scarfo and Brandon Hawkins up front for Justin Almeida and Kasper Bjorkqvist and Michael Kim for P-O Joseph on defense. No Thomas DiPauli or Zach Trotman.

First Period: Penguins found themselves in familiar territory again as par for the course this young season, down two goals.

Brett Seney struck twice, his first coming just :39 into the period.

And then a few seconds into a power play that made it 2-0.

Too much standing around there on both goals.

The rest of the period was quiet. Penguins had a late power play where B-Devils Gilles Senn made a spectacular save on his side without his stuck that denied a few chances by the Penguins.

Highlight reel stuff.

Second Period: No scoring in the second. The only real activity happened here:

Penguins couldn’t get themselves out of second gear, taking two penalties in the period and not really calling Senn into heavy duty work.

Worth mentioning was the absence of defenseman Kevin Czuczman, who took a shot off the side of the head / ear area late in the first period, shook it off initially but was not seen at all for the second period.

Third Period: Binghamton has blown four two goal leads in the third period. They made sure that that didn’t happen tonight.

Andrew Agozzino busts up the Senn shutout bid with this nice connection with Niclas Almari that cut the Devils lead to one.

Oula Palve hit a post, but then Michael McLeod powers through Niclas Almari and reestablishes the two goal Devils lead on their first shot of the period.

The Penguins, needing anything to get something going and a bit of a Hail Mary, pull DeSmith with around three and a half minutes to play and ex-Penguin Ben Street, who was just named Captain of the Devils Wednesday, hits the empty net to secure the win for the home side.

Three Stars: 3) Joey Anderson (two assists) 2) Gilles Senn (20 saves) 1) Brett Seney (two goals)

The Good: Really a struggle here. I thought Oula Palve individually had more good than bad in a game that had a lot more bad than good.

The Bad: The starts. Going down 2-0 on the road is rough no matter who the opponent is and how much success you’ve had against them.

Turning Point: McLeod’s goal that re-established the Binghamton two goal lead took all the air out of the sails for the Penguins and sadly that was all she wrote.

Around the Division: North Division Rules tonight. Rochester crushes Hershey 5-1 in the only other game in the division Wednesday.

Standings: Hartford and Providence 11 – Hershey 9 – Penguins 7 – Lehigh Valley, Charlotte and Springfield 6 – Bridgeport 4.

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights:

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San Antonio stops by for the first time in a decade. But for anything breaking between now and then, Gameday setup is yours on the blog Friday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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3                                 2

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This was a fun game to watch Saturday night.

An offensive explosion in the first period by both teams quickly turned into a defensive and special teams battle. Overtime doesn’t solve anything and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins score in all three rounds of the shootout and defeat the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3-2 in a shootout.

Casey DeSmith opposed Christopher Gibson.

Lines were…

Lineup: Matt Abt for Michael Kim. I saw a tweet from the Pens practice the other day that didn’t show Thomas DiPauli in a red no contact and Tyler reported after the game Wednesday that DiPauli is not seriously injured and they don’t want to rush him back. Better safe than sorry, I suppose, but it’s Beau Bennett redux, the guy just cannot stay healthy.

First Period: Felt like a slow rock fight. Pens jumped to a 2-1 after falling into a 1-0 hole, but the pair of goals that bookended the start and finish of the period saw the sides skate to the locker room at 2-2. Each team scored a power play goal in the period also.

The Sound Tigers jumped to a 1-0 lead when Ryan Bourque tipped in a Ryan MacKinnon shot that gave Bridgeport a 1-0 lead.

The Penguins responded quickly, in bang bang fashion in a span of :57 when Andrew Agozzino scored his first Penguin goal when Jake Lucchini came screaming down the far wall and intended pass for Kevin Czuczman that nutmegged the Pens defender but the trailing Agozzino was there to bring the Penguins even.

(no GIFs of the Bridgeport goals tonight if you were wondering)

With Travis St. Denis in the box for a high stick, :16 later Sam Miletic scored to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead on the power play.

Joseph Cramarossa had a shorthanded breakaway but was denied by Gibson. Late, an Andrew Agozzino sucker punch to Arnaud Durandeau saw the Sound Tigers on a late power play. A Sebastian Aho shot hit the post, died in the crease and was swept in by Nick Schilkey to even the score at two. It’s the sixth straight games where the Penguins allowed two goals in the first period.

Second Period: Less of a rock fight in comparison from the first, teams traded a couple of power plays, but DeSmith and Gibson kept the second period scoreless.

Third Period: Penguins had a 1:50ish of two man advantage and were not able to score. Less so of a lack of offense as there were a lot of shots and more so a hell of a job by Christopher Gibson in goal, blocking all the shots and making the saves necessary to keep his team level with the Penguins.

Overtime: Periscoped here for you.

Highlights:

– Matt Lorito and Kieffer Bellows had a rush up ice, made contact with DeSmith and the puck went in but the referee (I didn’t catch who as I was Periscoping) washed out the goal immediately for contact with DeSmith.

– Joseph Cramarossa led P-O Joseph and fed him a pass that Joseph sailed wide. Why that combination was out there on a three-on-three overtime baffles me, but then I’m reminded that DiPauli is hurt and a trio of players are in Pittsburgh.

Shootout: It’s in the Periscope above. Noesen, Cramarossa and Haggerty all scored. Matt Lorito scored in the bottom of the first and DeSmith stopped Keiffer Bellows in the bottom of the second. Here’s all three Penguins goals…

–

The Good: Looks like we have a good shootout lineup.

The Bad: The two man advantage power play unit needs work, but credit Gibson for standing tall.

Turning Point: That :57 sequence in the first was good to get the Penguins the goals needed to get it to the shootout round, where all three players scored quite easily on Gibson, who looked like an impenetrable wall in regulation.

Three Stars: 3) Joseph Cramarossa (game winning shootout goal) 2) Casey DeSmith (23 saves on 25 shots) 1) Andrew Agozzino (goal, assist)

Around the Division: Charlotte, who I think is this seasons Lehigh Valley with how inconsistent they are from night to night, throttle the Syracuse Crunch 7-3….Springfield beats Lehigh Valley in an eight round shootout 4-3…Providence scores a touchdown in Belleville 7-4….Hershey doubles up Laval 4-2 and Hartford stays unbeaten in regulation with a 4-3 overtime win in Binghamton.

Standings: Hartford 11 – Providence and Hershey 9 – Penguins 7 – Lehigh Valley, Springfield and Charlotte 6 – Bridgeport 4

Wheeling Update: Alec Butcher scores twice, Jordan Ruby stops 26 shots and the Nailers take down the Indy Fuel 4-3. Blake Siebenhaler scored with 23.7 seconds left in regulation.

Video Highlights:

Pens will bus home and get ready for their Wednesday road game in Binghamton. I’ll have the first look at the expanded stats charts for you Monday. Look for that then.

Let’s Go Pens!

       vs.       

3                                     5

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You can’t win a game in the first period but you can give it away.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins were outshot 20-10 in the first period and were down 2-1 and at one point went down 3-1 but then rattled off four straight and win 5-3 behind a solid effort in goal by Emil Larmi and a late game winner by Stefan Noesen. Noesen ended with two goals (an empty netter at the end of the game) he also leads the AHL in goals scored.

Binghamton was a quick team in the first and came at Wilkes-Barre from all angles and the Penguins looked shellshocked. Credit to Mike Vellucci for righting the ship as the Penguins locked it down from there. I wonder what the message was in the room.

Emil Larmi opposed Evan Cormier.

Lineup: Essentially Michael Kim for Matt Abt and Justin Almeida for Thomas DiPauli.

And for Binghamton…

First Period: Binghamton connected on a tic tac toe power play goal started by all ex-Penguin players consisting of Joe Morrow, Ben Street and Chris Conner. Conner connected off a nice tic tac toe play that gave the Devils a very early lead.

Conner’s 200th AHL goal.

32 seconds later, Jake Lucchini walked through a defenseman like grass through a goose and scored this pretty goal that brought the sides level at one.

The Devils would continue to bombard the Penguins with speed and shots, twenty in total in the first period and took a lead with 1:38 to play when Ben Street came in hot off the bench on a delayed Penguins penalty and connected for a goal through a screened Larmi which made it 2-1.

Second Period: The Pens outshot the Devils 16-4 in the middle frame but made a terrible mistake when Michael Kim misplayed a puck by Larmi’s net that ended up inside of it for a 3-1 Devils lead.

Yikes.

The Penguins did manage to break through for a goal when Justin Almeida sniped home his first pro goal with this effort in the final minute of the period that got the Penguins to within one.

That was confidence boost / builder for Almeida, playing in just his second game of the season.

Third Period: Jake Lucchini had a hell of a game. He had a chance early in the third but was denied. Later, Kasper Bjorkqvist scores his first pro goal that tied to game at three.

Wilkes-Barre kept coming and coming and finally broke through with 2:14 left in regulation.

Devils called time out and eventually pulled Cormier, but Noesen scored from about Public Square to ice the game away and give the Penguins the win.

The Good: The smothering defense from Wilkes-Barre after the first period and the no nonsense goaltending from Emil Larmi to lock down the Devils and deny any more goals.

The Bad: That Michael Kim giveaway was bad, bad, bad. If you’re in between him and Matt Abt, you’ve got a problem. It’s just one game though.

Turning Point: This happened in the second period with the Penguins down 3-1:

Around the Division: Providence was in Laval and came back from four goals only to lose in a shootout 5-4…. Hershey was in Toronto and lost 4-3.

Standings: Hartford and Providence with 7, Hershey and Wilkes-Barre with 5, Charlotte and Springfield with 4, Lehigh Valley and Bridgeport with 3.

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off. They are in Fort Wayne on Friday.

Video Highlights: 

Pens are off Friday, the only Friday off all season (that mid-December meeting with Cleveland got bumped from that Sunday to Friday) so enjoy the night off. I know I will. Power Rankings will be here Thursday morning at 11. Gameday setup for Bridgeport will be here Saturday afternoon at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!