Chirps from Center Ice

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Who: Lehigh Valley Phantoms

 Where: PPL Center

When: 7:05 p.m.

Last Game / Last Meeting: Last night in Wilkes-Barre, the Pens lost 3-2. Ryan Haggerty had both goals. Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored a pair also, one was the game winner just :28 intro the third period.

Record: For WBS: 30-25-7-3 (70 pts., 6th place Atlantic Division) // For LV: 32-27-3-3 (70 pts., 5th place Atlantic Division)

Referees: Kenny Anderson / Stephen Reneau

Linesmen: Jud Ritter / Jason Mandroc

Why You Should Care: Essentially must win for the Penguins tonight to maintain any iota of hope of catching Providence who leads these teams playing tonight in Allentown by seven points. Winning tonight doesn’t guarantee anything, but losing all but writes off the Penguins chances, barring a miracle, of a very late season charge at the four seed in the Atlantic.

Listen: Nick Hart on the call on WILK.

Watch: AHLTV is new and improved and a lot cheaper.

Other Game to Watch: Providence hosts the listless Binghamton Devils, who have lost nine straight.

Next Five Games: vs. SPR 3/24, vs. PRO 3/27, vs. SPR 3/30, vs. BRI 4/2, vs. BNG 4/5

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It is probably all moot anyway, since Providence keeps winning. The Bruins control their own destiny at this point and have seven point leads on both the Penguins and Phantoms tonight, eight if you consider the tie breaker.

The Bruins shutout the Belleville Senators tonight 2-0. Troy Mann, coach of the Senators, should probably get AHL Coach of the Year for the turnaround in Belleville this season. Mann has the Senators primed as a playoff team in the North Division.

His Senators were completely shut down tonight and had just 14 shots on goal.. This after the Bruins traveled to and from Laval, Quebec to play a midweek game against the Rocket, one that they lost in a shootout.

So it’s message sent and delivered by Jay Leach’s Providence Bruins, who are seven clear of Lehigh Valley and Wilkes-Barre with ten games left.

Penguins lose 3-2 Friday night in Wilkes-Barre. Saturday is essentially must win to just to hope to maintain a seven point deficit over Providence, who plays at home again against Binghamton team who have lost nine straight.

Tristan Jarry opposed Alex Lyon.

Here is how they lined up:

Pittsburgh recalled Adam Johnson Thursday and returned Adam Johnson and Just Riikola came with him. Linus Ölund and Tim Erixon yielded for them from Tuesday in Hershey.

Pens jumped out to a 1-0 lead courtesy of a Ryan Haggerty goal where he stole a puck at center ice, skated in and scored.

Shots were 8-6 Penguins after one. Tristan Jarry was dialed in.

Phantoms score twice to go ahead 2-1 when Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored on a nice feed from Philip Sameulsson and then Chris Conner completely walked past Jeff Taylor and stuffed the puck under the pad of Jarry to give the Phantoms a 2-1 lead.

Ryan Haggerty scored at the end of the period when Lyon tried to home run a pass out of his zone which was intercepted.

Phantoms score :28 into the third period when Aube-Kubel scored again to make it 3-2.

Wilkes-Barre had two opportunities on the power play to tie the game back up, but failed. There is your turning point.

Alex Lyon locked things down from there and the Penguins ran out of time.

Here are your three stars:

Here are the video highlights:

These teams rematch Saturday in Allentown. Gameday setup hits the blog here Saturday at 3.

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Tristan Jarry and Vitek Vanecek turned in a goaltenders clinic Tuesday night in Hershey.

Scoreless after three periods, the 39th shot off of a Bears shooter beats Tristan Jarry in overtime off of the stick of Garrett Pilon and Hershey wins 1-0.

A point gained on idle Providence. It’s a four point deficit to the fourth place Bruins. Each team has a dozen games left.

Wilkes-Barre had only 17 shots. Hershey did the same thing to Bridgeport last Saturday, holding the Sound Tigers to just 19 shots on goal and scoring five of their own.

Lines were…

Adam Johnson – Jarrett Burton – Jimmy Hayes
Sam Lafferty – Ryan Haggerty – Sam Miletic
Anthony Angello – Jake Lucchini – Joseph Cramarossa
Trevor Yates – Cam Brown – Linus Ölund

Ethan Prow – Kevin Czuczman
Jeff Taylor – Chris Summers
Matt Abt – Tim Erixon

Tristan Jarry – John Muse

Lineup Notes: The Cramarossa – Lucchini – Hayes line was broken up. Forward lines shuffled up off of that with Hayes up with Burton and Johnson and Angello with Lucchini and Cramarossa. Jeff Taylor went in for Macoy Erkamps on defense.

First Period: Largely uneventful but for an 11-4 Hershey shot advantage thanks to the only power play awarded in the period which Hershey was on the man advantage. Tristan Jarry looked great and any ills that you thought were bugging him after Sunday’s performance against the Marlies were a distant memory.

Second Period: Two more power plays for the Bears, two more fine kills by the Penguins. Tristan Jarry continued to excel. Pens had a good chance when a Bears defender fell down springing Ryan Haggerty but Vitek Vanecek made the stop.

Third Period: Both teams traded power play chances. The Penguins looked great on their first and only power play of the game but couldn’t get anything past Vanecek.

Overtime: Periscoped here. Mind the high angle, Hershey didn’t bother to activate the lower angle camera.

Here is the goal GIFed for you.

The Good: Penguins bottled up the high powered Bears offense up for 60 full minutes and the play of Tristan Jarry. If Wilkes-Barre does manage to make it into the playoffs, it will be on the back of Jarry who will virtually carry them there.

The Bad: Lack of a scorer in regulation. Pens were perfect defensively (didn’t allow a goal) perfect on special teams and their goaltender plays out of his mind. All the Penguins needed was one goal in regulation and the game, barring anything funny, was theirs.

Turning Point: Garrett Pilon’s seemingly harmless shot at 1:14 in overtime is the easy, obvious choice.

Three Stars: 

Around the Division: Syracuse beat Charlotte in overtime 2-1 on this otherwise busy for a Tuesday night.

Standings: Charlotte 90 — Bridgeport 81 — Hershey 77 — Providence 74 — Penguins 70 — Lehigh Valley 68 — Springfield 66 — Hartford 65

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Setting Up Wednesday: Providence is in Laval Wednesday against the Rocket. Laval doesn’t really have anything left to play for. You would like a Rocket win. Pens will get that game in hand back Sunday when they host Springfield. Ideally, the deficit at the end of this weekends action should be where it is currently or lower. Time will tell.

Video Highlights:

But for anything else breaking, check out the Power Rankings on Thursday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Tyler had a tweet right after a 4-2 Penguins loss to the Toronto Marlies on Sunday afternoon which summed up the game perfectly I thought.

Now, it was a bit of a different game in stark comparison to a few weeks ago against Syracuse. The Crunch were tops in the AHL in just about every category, but the Penguins bottled up the Crunch (after an awful first period) and were able to beat the Crunch. Use the boiling a frog technique.

But Sunday against Toronto, it was an avalanche that the Penguins got buried in and never dug out of.

Toronto scored at the expiry of a five on three power play when Chris Mueller finally banged home a back door pass in the first period that gave the Marlies a 1-0 lead.

But then Adam Brooks cleaned up a rebound of a Jeremy Bracco shot that gave the Marlies a 2-0 lead in the second period.

Jimmy Hayes finished off a loooooong pass by Tristan Jarry that made it a 2-1 game. The Penguins had the Marlies right where they wanted them, a goal away and a new period to play in the third.

Only Toronto scored two goals in :19 in the periods final minute to extend the lead to 4-1. A Jarrett Burton shot off of a long rebound left by Marlies starter Michael Hutchinson made it 4-2, but the Penguins would get no closer.

That’s basically it. There weren’t any GIFs of the Penguins goals and while Toronto did GIF theirs, I doubt there are many Marlies fans living in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Tristan Jarry opposed the aforementioned Hutchinson. Jarry started his tenth straight. I don’t think he was the reason the Pens lost the game today. It’s his job to stop the puck yes, but when your team takes a two man disadvantage and then falls asleep in the final minute of the second period, no goaltender, I don’t care if he is as fresh as a daisy, is going to be successful.

Wasted opportunity for the Penguins who burn a game in hand on the Bruins and stay five off of the fourth place and idle Bruins. They will burn off that game in hand on Providence Tuesday when they head to Hershey.

Gameday setup hits the blog for that matchup against the Bears, last of the regular season, Tuesday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I don’t know if this game tonight, a 2-1 Penguins overtime win over the Providence Bruins, classifies as an instant classic, but if it didn’t it would awfully be close.

Playoff like intensity on the ice with neither team giving the other an inch and the Penguins scrap and claw two points away from the Bruins who get the loser point. Wilkes-Barre stays five back of the Bruins with two games in hand on Providence. They don’t control their own destiny yet, but if they keep on this winning way, they will soon.

Tristan Jarry opposed Zane McIntyre.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Ryan Scarfo returned from injury and replaced Anthony Angello on the second line, who bumped to the fourth line. Trevor Yates took warmups but was the scratch. No changes on defense.

First Period: Penguins and Bruins played a careful period of hockey I thought. Both teams traded power play chances but neither team scored.

Second Period: Jimmy Hayes picked off a Bruin at center ice, skated in and put a shot on McIntyre which was stopped but Jake Lucchini was there to put the rebound in for his first goal as a professional.

Penguins outshot the Bruins 14-5 in the second period.

Third Period: The Bruins would flip the script on the Penguins, outshooting Wilkes-Barre 21-7. Tristan Jarry stopped 20 of t hem, getting beat on this shot for a goal by Ryan Fitzgerald. Karson Kuhlman put the shot on initially, Fitzgerald was there to sweep in the wreckage.

Tristan Jarry made some goo saves, none better than this windmill save…

Penguins killed two Providence power plays rather easily, but were on their heels the entire period and weren’t able to muster much in the way of offense.

So it was off to…

Overtime: Had the feeling that if the Bruins didn’t score another goal in the third, they weren’t scoring one in overtime. Adam Johnson saw to it that it didn’t happen.

Nice backhander in a tight area for the goal.

Three Stars: 

Around the Division: Hershey throttled Bridgeport 5-1…Lehigh Valley gets a Chris Conner goal with 0.5 seconds left in regulation to stun Toronto 4-3….Charlotte sweeps Rochester with a 3-1 win in North Carolina…Hartford beats Utica 5-3. Springfield was off.

Standings: Charlotte 89 — Bridgeport 79 — Hershey 77 — Providence 74 — Penguins 69 — Lehigh Valley 68 — Springfield 66 — Hartford 65

Wheeling Update: The Nailers lost to Toledo 3-2. Renars Krastenbergs scored for Wheeling.

Setting up Sunday: Pens will burn off one of their two games in hand on Providence, Hershey and Lehigh Valley who are all off Sunday. Expect a pissed off Marlies club here Sunday at 3.

Video Highlights: 

Gameday setup vs. Toronto hits the blog here Sunday at 11 am.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I am not a parent, so I have no idea about what it is like to have children.

A few weeks ago, Jimmy Hayes and his wife learned that they will be having a baby boy later this year. Since learning of the news, Hayes has seven goals and two assists in seven games. Hayes had a hat trick in a 4-1 Wilkes-Barre win in rather impressive fashion over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Wednesday night.

Dad power indeed.

I don’t know about Tristan Jarry’s plans on parenthood, but the Penguins net minder was on point in a place where he normally is solid. He stopped 38 Phantoms shots and was beat on a fluke of a shot in the third period which spoiled his shutout bid.

He opposed Alex Lyon.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Jake Lucchini replaced Joseph Blandisi and Trevor Yates replaced Patrick McGrath up front as the lineup changes from Saturday. On defense, Macoy Erkamps went in for Jeff Taylor.

First Period: Jimmy Hayes swept in his twelfth goal of the season on this rebound of a Joseph Cramarossa shot that gave the Pens a 1-0 lead.

Tristan Jarry was dialed in for Wilkes-Barre on the penalty kill stopping these two attempts on two separate penalty kills.

That save was on Mike Vecchione.

And this one was on Zach Palmquist.

Lively period otherwise with the shots being 14-13 in favor of the Penguins.

Second Period: Nothing really happened in the period where there were no penalties and no scoring but what became apparent in the contest was how well Jake Lucchini fit in with Jimmy Hayes and Joseph Cramarossa. Nick Hart on radio stated that Lucchini few into town late Tuesday night and joined the team for morning skate Wednesday.

Third Period: :19 in, Ryan Haggerty scored to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead.

Big goal at the time. Nothing happened at all in the second period worth noting, so the next action was going to change the complexity of the game in some form of fashion. Haggerty’s goal tightened the grip that the Penguins had on the game to this point.

Jimmy Hayes scored his second of the game on this nice pass by Jarrett Burton which set the Pens off on a 2-on-1 that Hayes took himself.

Bryon Froese busted up the Jarry shutout with this goal.

Let me state for the record that those Phantoms jerseys are putrid. If my memory serves, Lehigh Valley debuted these in an outdoor game a few years back against Hershey I think. They should have left them there. Terrible.

Hayes completed his hat trick via empty net that made it 4-1.

Three Stars: 

The Good: Jimmy Hayes is heating up at the right time. You want scoring depth out of all three of your lines. Anthony Angello has hit a bit of a rookie wall, Adam Johnson and Ryan Haggerty can drop a goal at anytime. With Joseph Blandisi in Pittsburgh, the Penguins have no other players in double digit goals that play forward (Ethan Prow has 17 goals) so getting goals from Hayes at a time like this where the Pens are battling for a playoff spot is a sight to see.

I had a tweet at the beginning of the game that the debuts of Yates and Lucchini can be either really, really good or really, really bad. It’s a small sample size, but so far, so good.

The Bad: Can’t think of anything. No penalties after the first period. Maybe the goal that Froese scored that broke up the shutout?

Turning Point: Haggerty’s goal :19 into the third deflated the Phantoms and any comeback that they had hopes on was extinguished with that goal, coupled with Hayes’ performance and Jarry’s.

Around the Division: Hershey beats Springfield 5-3. Hartford beats Binghamton 4-3 in overtime.

Standings: Charlotte 85 — Bridgeport — 79 — Hershey 74 — Providence 71 — Penguins 67 — Lehigh Valley 66 — Springfield 64 — Hartford 63

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

If Coal Street runs a video highlight package it will run in this spot.

Pens are off Friday but the games to watch are Hershey hosting Toronto and Lehigh Valley hosting Providence.

Week 23 AHL Power Rankings are here Thursday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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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.