Chirps from Center Ice

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God’s honest truth, I thought they were screwed.

And that’s not something that I often, if ever do when it comes to this team. I look at ways that they can play to a win and if they go down somehow come back and win in a way that stuns me.

But after witnessing, in person, the performances on Wednesday and Friday, I didn’t give the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins much of a shot tonight against the Syracuse Crunch.

Syracuse ranks Top 5 in the league in the following categories. In no particular order, they are, 1) goals for (1st), 2) goals against (2nd), power play overall (5th), penalty kill overall (3rd) and short handed goals (T-2nd).

A well oiled machine, for sure.

The first period went as you would expect.

Ross Colton scored his first goal of the contest at 3:27 when Andy Andreoff found him in the front of the net. Later, Cameron Gaunce scored on a power play and it was 2-0.

Not only that, but the Penguins got outshot 17-5 in the period.

The Syracuse Crunch were putting on a clinic in front of a big crowd in a game which was locally televised.

But then something happened in the second period.

Jimmy Hayes won a puck battle and found Linus Ölund at the front of the net and the Penguins all of a sudden, wouldn’t you know it, cut the lead to one.

Then, the Penguins found themselves on the wrong end of a two man advantage for 1:10. Go back up eight paragraphs. Their opponent tonight was number one in goals for and fifth overall on the power play.

The Penguins killed both penalties, rather academically.

Heading into the third, still trailing by one, the Penguins took two consecutive delay of game penalties. Hugely avoidable. What did they do? They got out of those too.

Ethan Prow let one rip on a power play and Joseph Blandisi tipped in the rebound to make it a tie game.

All the momentum was on the Penguins side. The script flipped, tables turned, whatever term you want to use.

Penguins nearly score to take the lead in a mad scramble, but Syracuse goes the other way and Ross Colton scores his second of the game and it’s 3-2 Crunch.

Bubble burst, right? We turn our clocks ahead an hour Saturday night so it’s midnight already for Cinderella, yeah?

Wrong.

The Penguins tie the game right back up on a Jimmy Hayes power play goal that forced overtime. There, Sam Miletic followed up on a rebound of a Joseph Blandisi shot and the Penguins defeat the Crunch, 4-3 in overtime.

Where to begin. Well, let’s start with what we said here last night in that the lack of success with this team is driven by the fact that they lack star power. Well tonight, the Penguins got star power in a big way from Jimmy Hayes. Hayes had a goal and an assist and it was one of his better games. I think Hayes plays better when the quality of competition is such that it raises his own game up some.

I am over 20 paragraphs in and haven’t mentioned Tristan Jarry yet. What an outstanding performance turned in from the Penguins net minder. If it’s John Muse (who backed up tonight) then we are all lauding the praises of the backup and demanding with torches and pitchforks on Monday morning that Muse is named starting goaltender for the remainder of the season and a statue be erected in his honor in the parking lot at the Arena.

Jarry was dialed in from the hop and was beat by a blown coverage on his first goal and a long shot through bodies on his second. He singlehandedly kept his team in the game and they did the rest to get him the win.

Oh, and coaching. There are a lot of people that want Head Coach Clark Donatelli drawn and quartered and sent out with yesterday’s newspaper. Those people are wrong, but that’s an argument to have and a case to make for another day. I don’t know what exactly was said in between periods but you need to have to at least give Donatelli some modicum of credit for saying the right things or adjusting to what the Crunch were throwing at the Penguins tonight.

No lineup changes for the Penguins tonight but for John Muse backing up. Tristan Jarry opposed Martin Ouellette.

No GIFs tonight again. When you rely on others and they don’t come through, you can’t complain.

Lehigh Valley was not in a action tonight. Sorry that I misled you in the Gameday setup, but they play Sunday against the Checkers.

Providence beat Hershey in overtime 4-3. Hartford did the same to Springfield, 3-2. Bridgeport also had the night off.

Penguins are a point off (65) the Phantoms (66) with Lehigh Valley four off of fourth place Hershey (70). All three teams have 60 games played.

Here are the video highlights for those of you who just like to click on the videos. You know who you are.

You want to hope that the performance tonight can carry over to Wednesday in Allentown and back here Saturday against Providence and beyond. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t but if anything it showed that the Penguins have it in them to stand up to the AHL’s great teams and knock them over every once in a while.

Hope. That’s all you can do.

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I deliberately didn’t finish the words in the headline tonight to keep with the theme I am going with for this game story.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins put up 41 shots on the last place Hartford Wolf Pack tonight and outshot the visitors 27-14 in the final two periods; 11-3 in the third and 6-2 in overtime.

The sense of desperation befell the team down 2-1 at some point when they just blitzkrieged the Wolf Pack with shots, shots and more shots.

The problem? They lack a finisher. Someone there to put the puck in the net at the time you need it the most. Teddy Blueger was that guy this year. Tom Kostopoulos last year. Jake Guentzel for a brief time, Dustin Jeffery, Joe Vitale, go back as far as you want. They don’t have a finisher on this team, just a group of supporting role AHLers and the Penguins are on the brink of missing out on playoffs for the first time in sixteen seasons.

It is what it is, however. It’s the price an AHL franchise pays when the NHL parent wins two Stanley Cups in the last three years. It’s the price of doing business. What you are left with here is some maybe prospects filled in with players in their twilight of their careers.

Penguins lose 3-2 in a shootout. No Penguin scored in the bonus round while Bobby Butler scored in the bottom of the second to give Hartford a point that the Penguins could have used. Providence and Lehigh Valley both won tonight.

Tristan Jarry opposed Brandon Halverson. Patrick McGrath drew in for the injured Ryan Scarfo, who left Wednesday with an injury. Chris Wideman is ill, so Jeff Taylor drew back in the lineup for the Penguins on defense.

Joseph Cramarossa scored in the first capitalizing on a bonehead Hartford line change.

Hartford would score two in the second when a Sean Day shot is deflected in by Drew Melanson that tied it, then a Ryan Gropp shot on a power play went in with Tim Gettinger screening that put the Wolf Pack out in front 2-1.

No GIFs of any goals tonight. They weren’t available.

After the Gropp goal, the Penguins took over the game with the multitude of shots but just were unable to get anything past Halverson before Ethan Prow finished off a shot from the point when the Penguins were on a two man advantage that tied the game at two a piece.

Frenetic, the Penguins pushed to end the game in regulation but the game would go to overtime.

Overtime was thrill a minute with both goalies coming up with huge stops, but it would end in a shootout with Hartford prevailing.

The Good: The point earned.

The Bad: Outside of what I mentioned above about the lack of a finisher, the Penguins are forced to scoreboard watch and cheer for two, maybe three different scenarios to play out in their favor. They didn’t get one with Hershey and Providence going to OT and the Bruins prevailing in a shootout, nor did they get it with Lehigh Valley beating Charlotte in regulation.

Turning Point: Prow’s goal on the two man advantage at least secured the point.

Around the Division: As mentioned, Lehigh Valley beat Charlotte 3-2 in regulation, Providence to Hershey 3-2 in a shootout. The other division games of no meaning were Bridgeport getting shutout 5-0 in Rochester and Springfield beating Binghamton on the Southern Tier 3-2.

Standings: Charlotte 83 — Bridgeport 77 — Hershey 69 — Providence 69 — Lehigh Valley 66 — Penguins 63 — Springfield 61 — Hartford 59

Wheeling wasn’t in action.

Here are highlights…

Hershey and Providence, Charlotte and Lehigh Valley all rematch tomorrow. Those are games you must watch.

Syracuse, fresh off of a 4-0 whitewash of rival Utica at home Friday, come in Saturday as the opponent. Gameday setup for that matchup hits the blog Saturday at 3.

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Apologies in advance for any editing / formatting errors, tonight was a work night home game and this game recap was done largely on my phone.

In a game of utmost importance for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, against an opponent they will see the most here as the regular season winds down, there was a sense of urgency on the ice.

It belonged to the visitors tonight.

A 3-1 Lehigh Valley win. The Phantoms came in 3-6-1 in their last ten games but you’d never know that by watching because they totally dominated pace of play. The Penguins were flat all night, played on their heels and looked either totally uninterested in competing tonight or wholly unprepared.

My opinion? A combination of both. No excuse to play like that against a Phantoms team who is the model of inconsistency this season.

There’s more to it, but it’s a work night game and I gotta hurry here.

Tristan Jarry opposed Alex Lyon.

Lines were:

Lineup Notes: D pairings shook up. The graphic is wrong, Ben Sexton was out and Linus Ölund was in.

First Period: Penguins were on their heels for a large part of the period. They had a goal called back when Kevin Czuczman was called for charging when he trucked Lyon in his crease:

Connor Bunnaman would score on the ensuing power play.

Quick shot beats Jarry after Bunnaman digs the puck out of his skates.

Penguins had some late pressure to close out the period, but didn’t score.

Second Period: Collateral damage for the Pens who lost a defenseman (Chris Wideman) and a forward (Ryan Scarfo) to injury at some point early in the period. Their goalie however, was sharp. This despite getting scored on when Pascal Laberge scored his first goal of the season to put the Phantoms back ahead after Adam Johnson scored to tie the game at one.

Here is Johnson’s goal. Phantoms got sloppy and the Pens made them pay.

And Laberge:

Despite the score line, Tristan Jarry was dialed in and the sole reason that the Penguins faced just a one goal deficit heading into the….

Third Period: Pens had a great power play to open the frame, had some looks but couldn’t score. Game went on, time came off the clock and Wilkes-Barre got caught standing around in their own end when Byron Froese tapped in a puck that made it 3-1 Phantoms.

Pens pulled Jarry for the extra attacker with two minutes left but it didn’t help – Kevin Czuczman took a tripping penalty.

Three Stars: 3) Alex Lyon (27 saves on 28 shots) 2) Mikhail Vorobyev (two assists) 1) Pascal Laberge (goal)

The Good: Adam Johnson has seven goals against the Phantoms.

The Bad: Power play failed them again and whether or not they were prepared leaves much to be answered.

Turning Point: Laberge’s goal right after Johnson’s game the Phantoms the edge in a game where the Penguins were flat out dull.

Tom found out information on Wideman and Scarfo postgame:

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Around the Division: They all watched us.

Standings: Charlotte 83 — Bridgeport — 77 — Hershey 68 — Providence 67 — Lehigh Valley 64 — Penguins 62 — Springfield 59 — Hartford 57

Wheeling Update: Nailers were in Fort Wayne and made a game of it with Trevor Yates’ hat trick, but lost 6-5.

If Coal Street runs a video highlight package, I will run it here.

Pens are back at it Friday at home against Hartford. Gameday setup runs here Friday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Things are getting tight around the cut line in the Atlantic and me, being ever the optimist, will feel good with taking three out of four points out of the weekend.

But the Hartford Wolf Pack are a last place team that had a lot of their regulars stripped away and sent to other teams at the trade deadline.

Hockey doesn’t work like that. The Wolf Pack are well coached by Keith McCambridge and had their butts handed to them Friday in Springfield against a slumping Thunderbirds team. Hartford was prepared against a team they play well against.

Penguins lose in overtime 4-3. Jimmy Hayes’ late power play goal, which was his 100th professional goal salvages a point and caps off a two goal third period comeback for the Penguins who were down 3-1 at the start of the third period.

Tristan Jarry opposed Brandon Halverson.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: There were none. They went with the same lineup they used Friday in Providence, only swapping John Muse who backed up with Anthony Peters.

First Period: Penguins would get out to an early lead, but something about the way that the Wolf Pack match up with Wilkes-Barre, it didn’t last long. Hartford would storm back and tie it, then take the lead.

Here are the goals, starting with Joseph Blandisi opening the scoring for the Pens.

Goal came less than :90 into the contest.

Ryan Gropp finished off a tic tac toe passing play in front of Jarry and the Wolf Pack drew even.

Unmarked in the slot. That’s a no no.

Hartford put a long shot on that Jarry made the save on, but Ty Ronning drove down the far side and scored on the rebound to give the Wolf Pack a 2-1 lead.

Penguins had two power plays that they never came close on in the period.

Second Period: Hartford added a third goal when John Gilmour scored.

I had a tweet that really summarized things so far that I thought played well with the fact that the Penguins were 0/3 on the power play so far.

Yet another microcosm of the season.

Shots were 27-23 Wolf Pack through 40. Halverson was stout.

Third Period: Penguins knew they had to press in the third, and press they did. Sharp at the off, Ben Sexton deflects this Chris Wideman shot and Wilkes-Barre is within one just a minute into the frame.

Wilkes-Barre would only allow Hartford just 4 shots on goal all period and played smart hockey throughout.

Jimmy Hayes scored his 100th professional goal at a time that the team needed most, on a power play late in the third period down one.

This would force overtime.

Wilkes-Barre would get another power play right after the Hayes goal, but couldn’t get that lucky to take all two points in regulation.

Overtime: Didn’t last long. Pens found themselves on a 2-on-1 against and Ryan Gropp scored just :22 in.

The Good: Third period comeback to salvage at least a point. The Hayes power play goal on the power play may have saved or at least extended, the Penguins playoff hopes.

The Bad: Hartford has the Penguins number it seems. Season series right now is 3-3. You could say that the Penguins have no business being in these close games with a team like Hartford and you’d get no argument from me.

Turning Point: Hayes’ power play goal salvaged a much needed point for Wilkes-Barre that could go a long way.

Three Stars: 

Around the Division: Scoreboard lined up nice for the Penguins tonight. Bridgeport beats Hershey 4-1, Springfield beats Providence 4-2. There was Charlotte crushing Binghamton 8-1 but the Checkers are going to win the division in a runaway. Lehigh Valley beat Utica 4-2.

Standings: Charlotte 83 — Bridgeport 75 — Hershey 68 — Providence 65 — Lehigh Valley 62 — Penguins 62 — Springfield 59 — Hartford 57

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 3-2 in overtime to Cincinnati.

Setting up Sunday: Bridgeport travels to Allentown to take on the Phantoms, Springfield and Providence rematch in Rhode Island. Hershey, the Pens and the rest of the Atlantic are off.

If I see Hartford post video highlights, I will run them here.

Pens bus home Saturday night, will get ready for a big Wednesday home game against the Phantoms. Bits and pieces for the blog if they warrant, if not, talk to you Wednesday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Playoff like intense hockey game played in Providence, Rhode Island between the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and the Providence Bruins. After a scoreless forty minutes, two defensemen trade goals about five minutes apart but that solved little, and the Penguins need a shootout to take down the Bruins 2-1 Friday night in Providence.

With the win and the Phantoms loss in Syracuse Friday, Wilkes-Barre jumps to fifth in the Atlantic and is four points out of a playoff spot on the Bruins, who occupy that spot.

Tristan Jarry opposed Zane McIntyre.

Lines were…

Lineup: Sam Lafferty centered the top line after J-S Dea departed this week. The third line remained the same. The defense pairing were all shook up with Tim Erixon returning and Chris Wideman debuting, taking the place of Jeff Taylor and the recalled Zach Trotman.

First Period: No scoring in the period. The Bruins were slightly better at even strength. Tristan Jarry was up to the task with the in close shots that the Bruins were throwing at him.

Second Period: Penguins found themselves on a power play to start the period and all of a sudden had a two man advantage for 1:25. They got the perfect setup with Sam Lafferty but Zane McIntyre was there to make the ridiculous save to keep the game scoreless.

Anton Blidh and Chris Wideman fought in the only action that would have brought the fans out of their seats.

Third Period: The goal less drought would finally end when Ethan Prow would score to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

Providence then proceeded to slow the game down and through a mass of bodies to the penalty box, would see Chris Breen score a power play goal to tie the game at one. A laser from the point.

Game flipped back into a defensive battle after that. Time ticked down and it was off to…

Overtime: Periscoped below, with the shootout as well. In it, you will see Ethan Prow break up a Bruins scoring bid and the Penguins on a power play to close out regulation. Tristan Jarry stops both shooters he faced, Ben Sexton scored in the second and Joseph Cramarossa with the hammer to win it in the third.

If you don’t want to sit through the entire ~11:30, here is Cramarossa’s game winner in the shootout.

The Good: Pens played a tight, playoff intense affair against a really good team in Providence.

The Bad: Special teams continues to be a concern. Pens couldn’t score on a long 5-on-3 in the second period on a fresh sheet of ice and couldn’t score in overtime.

Turning Point: Tristan Jarry stopping Lee Stempniak, he of 900+ NHL games in the top of the second followed by Joseph Cramarossa’s goal in the bottom of the second proved to be the most important set off events in an otherwise drab, defensively locked down hockey game.

Three Stars: 3) Chris Wideman (assist) 2) Chris Breen (goal) 1) Ben Sexton (goal in shootout)

Around the Division: Charlotte beats Binghamton 4-2….Hershey loses in overtime in Utica 3-2….Lehigh Valley is shutout in Syracuse 4-0 and Springfield beat Hartford 5-1. J-S Dea had a goal for his new team in his Thunderbirds debut. Bridgeport was off.

Standings: Charlotte 81 — Bridgeport 73 — Hershey 68 — Providence 65 — Penguins 61 — Lehigh Valley 60 — Springfield 57 — Hartford 55

Setting up Saturday: Providence travels to Springfield. Lehigh Valley heads to Utica. Hershey hosts a rested Bridgeport team.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers beat Toledo 5-2. Blake Siebenaler, assigned there this week by Wilkes-Barre (technically Pittsburgh) had an assist. Winston Day Chief had a hat trick.

If I see Coal Street put out a video highlight package, I will run it here.

Pens head to Hartford for a 7:30 start Saturday against the Wolf Pack. Gameday setup is yours Saturday at 3:30.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Quite frankly, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins needed this one. Badly.

A 4-1 win Sunday afternoon at home against the Rockford IceHogs where they got depth scoring, good defense and solid goaltending from Tristan Jarry who made 33 saves.

Two goals from Jimmy Hayes in the second period, who found out Saturday that he and his wife are having a baby boy, and it is a good afternoon for the Penguins who use their game in hand to their advantage on the division and get some help on the out of town scoreboard to keep themselves in the running in the Atlantic Division push for the playoffs.

Jarry opposed Kevin Lankinen.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: The Penguins recalled Cam Brown and Jeff Taylor from Wheeling Sunday morning. They both went right into the lineup. Taylor for Macoy Erkamps and Brown for Anthony Angello, who despite being listed above was indeed thescrtach. Jimmy Hayes was on the fourth line. Adam Johnson returned from his illness and replaced Linus Ölund.

Lines, from Friday, were all jumbled up. Even the D pairings.

First Period: Jeff Taylor pinches down, wheels around the net, throws a shot on and Ryan Scarfo is there near side to sweep the puck in for a 1-0 Penguins lead.

The Penguins played very well in the opening frame, probably the beneficiaries of having the night off Saturday, and controlled play. They lacked on special teams and gave up two quality chances that Tristan Jarry had to bail them out on. Here is one, on a breakaway.

Rockford tied it when Luke Johnson called for the puck mid slot and flicked one past Jarry low to tie the game at one.

First Intermission: One of the zambonis broke down. It took a team effort to get it off of the ice.

So, you want to work in pro sports?

Second Period: Jimmy Hayes scored the first of two two goals when he throws a puck at the net trying to find Ryan Scarfo parked in front when it goes off of Lucas Carlsson’s skate and in for a 2-1 Penguins lead.

Hayes added a second when he had a clap shot from the near dot with Joseph Cramarossa screening that gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead.

Penguins took a stand in the final thirty or so seconds of the period when Rockford pushed really hard for a goal but they got out of it with the two goal lead heading into the third.

Third Period: Wilkes-Barre was getting badly outshot in the period, but that is where Tristan Jarry went to work. Rockford came up empty with each passing attempt. Jerry attempted another goal at the empty net but his attempt sailed wide.

Adam Johnson beat out a Sam Lafferty bid from around the same area and the Penguins sealed it.

Three Stars:

The Good: I think I mentioned it in my open but I’ll mention it again here. Depth scoring, solid goaltending and defense. Put the three together like you did today and see how far this team can go in the 20 or so games left in the season.

The Bad: Week of practice coming up, I hope they work win special teams. They were a mess today. If not for Jarry being laser dialed in, who knows where this goes.

Turning Point: Jimmy Hayes’ second goal of the period gave the Penguins a two goal lead in the second period and a swagger that felt good for them and even in the stands. It’s a game that you go back and look at and say that they had all the way because of the full effort on display. Hayes goal that gave the Pens a two goal lead was the turning point.

Around the Division: Good afternoon on the out of town scoreboard. Hershey’s point streak is over, Bridgeport beats the Bears 5-1 to open up an eight point lead on Hershey for second place….Hartford beats Providence 4-1. The Bruins are the Penguins next opponent this Friday in Rhode Island in a game with huge playoff implications. Everyone else was off.

Standings: Charlotte 79 — Bridgeport 73 — Hershey 65 — Providence 64 — Lehigh Valley 60 — Penguins 59 — Springfield 55 — Hartford 55

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off all weekend, are back in action Tuesday.

Video Highlights: 

Trade Deadline is tomorrow. I don’t expect anything major to impact Wilkes-Barre here but have been wrong in the past. If there is anything of note to talk about, my Twitter will have it first followed by a blog probably Monday afternoon or evening. If not, look for news and notes this week if there are any and the Power Rankings on Thursday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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The other headline would have been, “Close Only Counts in Horseshoes and Hand Grenades.”

Ryan Haggerty’s two goal effort is bested by Hershey’s Riley Barber’s hat trick as the Hershey Bears win 4-2 in Wilkes-Barre to separate themselves from the Penguins by six points in the Atlantic Division race.

The Penguins for whatever reason could not break the press that the Bears had on them all night long. It was like a giant Chocolate and White blanket just covered the entire ice. You would swear that the Bears knew what the exit play before the Penguins even executed.

After a scoreless first period which felt like a chess match, Riley Barber deflected an Aaron Ness one time shot from the near side three seconds after a Hershey two man advantage power play expired in the second period.

Ryan Haggerty would provide all of Wilkes-Barre’s offense in the second period and the game when he made a move around a guy at the high slot and ripped a shot through bodies that found the back of the net to tie the game at one.

Joseph Cramarossa found a streaking Haggerty off of the bench on a cross ice pass that connected for a goal and the Penguins were up 2-1 heading into the third.

Those were my two tweets as the third period started.

No one helped out Zach Trotman and bang, Megna unabated and it’s a tie game.

And yes Joe, you do hate to see it.

Back to the chess match we saw in the first until Barber scored mid slot for his second of the game that gave Hershey a 3-2 lead with 3:41 left to play in regulation.

With Jarry pulled and a time out to set things up in the end, the Pens got close with J-S Dea getting robbed point blank, Barber sweeps clear a puck that travels in a straight line down the ice for an empty net goal from about 170′ away.

I mean that’s it. It wasn’t a game marred by penalties. Wilkes-Barre got in trouble in the second, but that was erased by Haggerty’s goals right after. The Pens could not score on the only power play that they were awarded.

The game lacked a true scorer from the Penguins in the first period. I keep saying it, but Teddy Blueger is missed in these parts. With what’s left, J-S Dea is in a slump, Joseph Blandisi’s new car smell has faded, and Ryan Haggerty remained hot with 9-3-12 in his last eleven games.

Tristan Jarry took the loss. It really can’t be pinned on him. A one time deflection on a power play, a man left unmarked streaking down the slot, same in the mid slot and the empty net goal doesn’t go against him.

Here’s how they lined up.

Lineup Notes: No Adam Johnson tonight. He’s been sick this week. Pat McGrath skated as the extra body. Linus Ölund drew in. Lines were shook up as a result. Flip Haggerty and Blandisi on top line wing. Hayes in Johnson’s spot, third line intact and Ölund on fourth line. On defense, Macoy Erkamps went in for Blake Siebenaler.

Three Stars: 

The Good: Ryan Haggerty should get the “C” pinned to his chest if Garrett Wilson remains up for the duration.

The Bad: Without looking, when was the last time the Penguins won at home? It was February 1 against Cleveland, a 7-2 throttling of the Monsters that night. If the Pens want an easy way into playoffs, it’s going to come at home where the Pens play nine times in the month of March. The Penguins are 10-13-2-0 at home. That is not good and downright unacceptable.

Turning Point: Barber’s second goal that gave the Bears the lead is the easy, obvious choice.

Around the Division: Charlotte beats Lehigh Valley 2-1….Bridgeport and Providence go to overtime and the Sound Tigers get the OT win 5-4….Hartford beat Springfield 3-2.

Standings: Charlotte 77 — Bridgeport 69 — Hershey 63 — Providence 62 — Lehigh Valley 60 — Penguins 57 — Springfield 54 — Hartford 52.

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Setting Up Saturday: Lehigh Valley and Charlotte rematch. Bridgeport hosts Springfield. Rockford visits Hershey. Providence travels to Hartford. You want a Checkers, Sound Tigers, IceHogs and Wolf Pack regulation win.

Video Highlights: 

Wilkes-Barre is off Saturday. They are back in action Sunday at 3 pm against Rockford. Gameday setup hits the blog here Sunday at 11 am.

Let’s Go Pens!