Chirps from Center Ice

       vs.       

1                                          2

–

Wilkes-Barre showed a lot of resolve tonight against a rested Grand Rapids Griffins team. Penguins last night struggled at times last night against a Binghamton Devils team that isn’t going to make the Calder Cup Playoffs, most likely.

Bend but don’t break play and maintaining a perfect penalty kill which included a full two man disadvantage see the Penguins edge the Grand Rapids Griffins 2-1 tonight in Wilkes-Barre.

Grand Rapids came in with the third best overall power play in the American Hockey League. Penguins found themselves on the wrong end of the referees whistles a total of five times tonight and you could say that this is what won them the game tonight in this close affair.

Anthony Peters opposed Tom McCollum.

Lines were…

That is Sam Lafferty on the third line tonight. Lafferty carried himself well tonight and showed a lot of flash as well. He had this sequence here that really impressed and shows that he belonged in the game…

Etienne Marcoux backed up tonight. The plan going into to the weekend was to have Leighton start Friday and Peters to start Saturday with each player getting the night off entirely when they weren’t starting. Look for Marcoux to get released this weekend and Leighton to split a start this week in Charlotte with Peters.

First Period: Griffins found a lot of power plays in the first, three total, but Anthony Peters quickly established himself in net and let nothing by.

Adam Johnson scored shorthanded. He corralled a loose puck, fought it all the way down the ice really and fired one past McCollum to put the Pens on the board first.

Second Period: No scoring in this period but the story in the frame was the Griffins power play again and the lack of success. Penguins did no favors in a sequence that saw seven Penguins on the ice, then on the ensuing face-off they took a faceoff violation gift wrapping the visitors a full two minute 5-on-3 power play.

Through a time out called by Griffins head coach Todd Nelson, Grand Rapids were unable to solve Anthony Peters to this point.

Felt more like a battle against a rival like Hershey than it was against a team making its first visit to Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in nine years.

Third Period: You know if you watched the game tonight that the Griffins would not go away quietly. A shot bounced off of bodies at the net towards Peters where Street crashed the net and the ex-Penguin tied the game for his team.

Undeterred, Kevin Czuczman cashed with a shot from the point that went through bodies and got past McCollum to push the Penguins back ahead 2-1 a couple minutes later.

Penguins would get a power play with under five minutes to play and then time became the enemy for Grand Rapids. With McCollum pulled, the Griffins were never able to find the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Adam Johnson (goal, even) 2) Anthony Peters (32 saves on 33 shots) and  1) Kevin Czuczman (game winning goal, +1)

Around the Division: Toronto beats Providence 4-3 and are the first team in the AHL to punch a postseason ticket….Charlotte beats Hartford 7-3 where Checkers goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic scored a goal…Hershey is shutout 3-0 in Binghamton Springfield is back to .500 after shutting out Utica 4-0 and Lehigh Valley beats Bridgeport 4-1.

Standings: Lehigh Valley (.685 percentage points) — Penguins (.655) — Providence (.631) — Charlotte (.589) — Bridgeport (.550) — Springfield (.500) — Hartford (.476) — Hershey (.476)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers will split their series with the Reading Royals. Reading wins 6-3. Cody Wydo and Troy Josephs score for the Nailers in the loss.

Video Highlights: 

Power Rankings at 4 Monday. Check us out then.

Let’s Go Pens!

       @       

3                                          2

–

Wilkes-Barre / Scranton found themselves in a dogfight Friday night on the Southern Tier of New York.

After going up 2-0 in the first period, a Binghamton Devils team that has lost way more than they have won this season could have packed it in and accepted the loss to their I-81 rivals.

But that didn’t happen. The Devils battled back level with their visitors tonight and forced overtime.

That’s where Teddy Blueger, time and time again in these situations, stepped in.

Blueger’s fourth overtime game winning goal this season give the Penguins the win to start the weekend off the right win as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defeat the Binghamton Devils 3-2 in overtime.

I am not saying games are scripted, but this tweet from Nick Hart 45 minutes before puck drop tonight makes you wonder….

Michael Leighton opposed Eddie Lack.

Lines were…

Adam Johnson – J-S Dea – Christian Thomas
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Sestito – Jarrett Burton – Joseph Cramarossa
Thomas Di Pauli – Teddy Blueger – Daniel Sprong

Chris Summers – Ethan Prow
Kevin Schulze – Kevin Czuczman
Jeff Taylor – Jarred Tinordi

Michael Leighton – Etienne Marcoux

Lineup Notes: The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Sam Lafferty to an NHL contract that kicks in next season so in the meantime Lafferty reported to Wilkes-Barre on an amateur tryout contract….Kevin Spinozzi was assigned to Wheeling…Josh Jooris was recalled to Pittsburgh because Bryan Rust was diagnosed with a concussion, Dominik Simon is week to week with an upper body injury while Zach Aston-Reese and Matt Murray are progressing but not close to returning to the NHL Penguins. On the ice in Binghamton, Tom Sestito jumped in the third line after having Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee off. Marcoux was a surprise backup to Leighton tonight and not Peters, they didn’t say anything on radio eluding to a Peters injury, so it will be interesting to see the goaltender combos Saturday night back at home against Grand Rapids.

Also, Seth Rorabaugh from The Athletic wrote today that Frank Corrado is done for the year after season ending knee surgery.

A lot to digest there. I didn’t link in anything on the recalls / signings, assuming that if you read this blog you also read the official guys.

First Period: Penguins were off to a good start. In a low shot period, they led 2-1 after twenty minutes.

J-S Dea scored on a two on one shorthanded that broke open the scoring…

Then Gage Quinney scored a few minutes later from an odd angle to make it 2-0.

Michael Leighton was passing his tests, stopping a two on one for the Devils and a shot through traffic that led to an offensive zone face-off with under three seconds to play in the period.

This was important, because a face-off win by Michael Latta back to the best offensive defenseman in the AHL Jacob McDonald resulted in a goal that took all of one second that put the Devils on the board with literally 1.2 seconds to play in the period. McDonald paces all defensemen in the AHL in goals. This was his sixteenth of the season.

Second Period: Penguins couldn’t get anything past Lack off of a nice passing play then when the Devils were short some players during a busted line change. A two-on-one and a follow up rebound attempt weren’t enough for Wilkes-Barre to extend their lead to 3-1.

Instead, Josh Jacobs feathers a pass down low to Michael Latta who spins and puts a backhand shot on that Leighton can’t make a save on. Changeup setup, fastball finish.

Third Period: Lack continued to close the door on the Penguins. More two-on-one saves. Denies Sestito, Cramarossa and all follow up attempts. Just making saves he has no business making. Despite this, I felt that the majority of time was spent played in front of Leighton and the Penguins chances were too much one and done.

Overtime: After a period of organized confusion, J-S Dea walks in, fights off a hook and Teddy Blueger puts home the garbage to end it.

Ballgame.

Three Stars: 3) J-S Dea (goal, assist, +2) 2) Michael Latta (goal, assist, +1) and 1) Teddy Blueger (overtime game winning goal, +1)

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley loses at home to Bridgeport who have won five in a row. 3-2 is the final from Allentown. Penguins make up ground on first place Lehigh Valley but their magic number doesn’t dwindle any further tonight….Charlotte beats Hartford 4-3….Providence beats Rochester 2-1 in overtime….Utica gets past Springfield 3-2 in overtime….Hershey beats Syracuse 2-1.

Standings: Lehigh Valley (.680 percentage points) — Penguins (.649) — Providence (.642) — Charlotte (.582) — Bridgeport (.559) — Springfield (.492) — Hartford (.484) — Hershey (.484)

Wheeling Update: Nailers beat Reading at home in overtime on Troy Josephs’ overtime winner. 4-3 was the score. Here is the goal…

Man down!

If the Devils put up video highlights, I will run them here in this spot.

Pens travel home to take on a rested Grand Rapids Griffins team who did not play tonight. Gameday setup hits the blog Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

       @       

2                                          3

–

Penguins take 3 out of a possible 6 points out of the Midwest trip through Grand Rapids, Rockford and Milwaukee to kick off their meat grinder month of March that put them on the road all over the place. They still have to visit Charlotte later this month and have just played 3 of 16 games in this month.

A 3-2 shootout loss to the Milwaukee Admirals, who sweep the weekend. But that’s in the Western Conference and those points given away to the IceHogs and Admirals of the world are Iowa and Chicago’s problem.

Penguins comeback in Grand Rapids and win. They do the same late in the third period, late in the final minute with the goalie pulled to force overtime on a Sunday, to get these three points. Another step towards locking up a playoff spot but with Lehigh Valley on the tear that the Phantoms are on, Wilkes-Barre may be playing for second place.

Who knows. After getting points in 16 straight games, Utica has lost the last six in regulation. It’s a weird league. It’s not over till it’s over.

Anthony Peters opposed Anders Lindback.

Lines were…

Adam Johnson – J-S Dea – Christian Thomas
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Tom Kostopoulos
Jarrett Burton – Josh Jooris – Joseph Cramarossa
Thomas Di Pauli – Teddy Blueger – Daniel Sprong

Chris Summers – Ethan Prow
Kevin Schulze – Kevin Czuczman
Jeff Taylor – Jarred Tinordi

Anthony Peters – Etienne Marcoux

Lineup Notes: Jarrett Burton for Tom Sestito was the only change.

First Period: Penguins would outshoot the Admirals 20-5 in the period, but Milwaukee would strike first shorthanded after a bonehead pass by Daniel Sprong across his own blue line that created a turnover that saw Freddy Gaudreay score to give the Admirals a 1-0 lead.

But eventually with the amount of rubber Lindback was facing, one had to get in, right?

Ethan Prow made sure.

Nice setup here. Prow received a pass off the near wall, waited, waited and waited and sniped home a goal that pulled the Penguins even.

Second Period: Milwaukee outshoots the Penguins by a 2-to-1 margin this period despite the Penguins with a ton of offensive zone time. An Anthony Richard shot from the slot deflects off of Thomas DiPauli and into the top corner of the net that gives the Admirals the lead heading into the….

Third Period: Pens had an early power play. Kevin Czuczman missed an empty net wide. Milwaukee turned the tables on the Penguins. After getting outshot 20-5 in the first period, the Admirals were outshooting the Penguins 15-9.

Time dwindled, and this time with the net vacated, the Penguins were able to find the equalizer. This time Josh Jooris scored his first with the Penguins with this fine display of hand / eye coordination.

This came in the final minute.

Overtime: Peters made a big save second into overtime, then Wilkes-Barre came at Lindberg in waves.

A nice setup for Daniel Sprong, missed.

Josh Jooris with the same hack and whack that tied the game for his side, nope.

Shootout: Justin Kirkland and Christian Thomas scored in round one, no one scored in rounds two and three, and then Anthony Richard scored here to give the Admirals the extra point before Garrett Wilson couldn’t score to extend the round…

Three Stars: Frederick Gaudreau (goal, +1) 2) Anthony Richard (goal, shootout winning goal, assist, +2) and 1) Anders Lindback (38 saves on 40 shots)

Around the Division: Springfield shuts out Providence 2-0…Lehigh Valley beats Hershey in a shootout 3-2…Charlotte beats Hartford 4-3. Bridgeport was off.

Standings: Lehigh Valley (.692 percentage points) — Penguins (.643) — Providence (.629) — Charlotte (.575) — Bridgeport (.552) — Hartford (.492) — Springfield (.492) — Hershey (.475)

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: 

Pens are leaving Milwaukee tonight. I don’t know if they are flying back tonight or tomorrow. Next game is Friday in Binghamton.

Power Rankings Monday at 4. Check them out then.

Let’s Go Pens!

       @       

0                                          3

–

I owe Tyler a soda for this blog headline.

Check the timestamp on that one. If Tyler doesn’t make it in the newspaper business, he would make a hell of a soothsayer.

Don’t really know what to make of this one, a 3-0 Penguins shutout loss to the hands of the Rockford IceHogs and goaltender Colin Delia, a 34 save shutout. Rockford has speed, but you can match that if you are good enough. Wilkes-Barre got jumped early in the first when Teddy Blueger took a shot that knocked the wind out of him and again win the third, just ten seconds in when the IceHogs doubled what was going to end up being an insurmountable lead.

Scoreboard around the AHL’s Atlantic Division is of no help tonight as well, but we can get to that in a minute.

Etienne Marcoux opposed the aforementioned Colin Delia.

Lines were…

Adam Johnson – J-S Dea – Christian Thomas
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Sestito – Josh Jooris – Joseph Cramarossa
Thomas Di Pauli – Teddy Blueger – Daniel Sprong

Chris Summers – Ethan Prow
Kevin Schulze – Kevin Czuczman
Jeff Taylor – Jarred Tinordi

Etienne Marcoux – Anthony Peters

Lineup Notes: Only change was Marcoux for Peters, so out goes my theory that Micheal Leighton is anywhere close to returning to the lineup this weekend.

First Period: Anthony Louis redirected a pass of the wall about midway through to give the IceHogs a 1-0 lead…\

Pens had a double minor power play to play with that was snuffed out when Garrett Wilson took a penalty on the back end of the double minor.

Second Period: Colin Delia was dialed in and the story of the game through two periods was his play and Wilkes-Barre’s inability to score on Rockford’s league worst penalty kill.

Third Period: 10 seconds in, and Andreas Martinsen just powers through Kevin Czuczman and flips a one hand shot at Marcoux that finds its way in.

J-S Dea tried to spark his side with a fight with 6’9 behemoth Viktor Svedberg…

…but the Penguins couldn’t find anything that clicked, taking penalty after penalty. Garrett Wilson, Tom Sestito took three minors, Joseph Cramarossa took two. There were twelve total penalties assessed tonight by referees Shaun Davis and Jesse Gour. Six a side.

With Marcoux pulled for an extra attacker for Wilkes-Barre, Martinsen found the empty net for a 3-0 Rockford lead.

Three Stars: 3) Anthony Louis (goal, +1) 2) Andreas Martinsen (two goals, +2) 1) Colin Delia (34 save shutout)

Around the Division: Like I said at the top, a bad night for the Penguins on the scoreboard and elsewhere. Providence beats Hartford 6-2…Bridgeport beats Belleville 4-2…Hershey shuts out Utica 3-0…Lehigh Valley shuts out Binghamton 4-0…Charlotte clips Springfield 3-2 in overtime.

Standings: Lehigh Valley (.686 percentage points) — Penguins (.645) — Providence (.640) — Charlotte (.568) — Bridgeport (.552) — Hartford (.500) — Springfield (.483) — Hershey (.475)

Wheeling Update: Nailers lost in Worcester again tonight, but this time in a shootout, 3-2. Freddie Tiffels had a goal.

Video Highlights: 

–

Pens will bus up to Milwaukee for a 6 pm Wilkes-Barre start Sunday. Gameday setup hits the blog here Sunday at 2.

Let’s Go Pens!

       @       

4                                          2

–

Garrett Wilson scored a power play goal to tie the game in the third period in a close, hotly contested affair against the Grand Rapids Griffins in Michigan Friday night. He later added an empty net goal to ice the game away as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defeat the defending Calder Cup Champion Grand Rapids Griffins by a 4-2 score.

Great game to watch. Penguins trailed for the most part in the first and second but kept it close and pulled away in the third period and pick up an impressive win against the Griffins and get the weekend trips through the Central Division started off on the right foot.

Anthony Peters opposed Thomas McCollum.

Lines were…

Thomas Di Pauli – J-S Dea – Christian Thomas
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Sestito – Josh Jooris – Joseph Cramarossa
Adam Johnson – Teddy Blueger – Daniel Sprong

Chris Summers – Ethan Prow
Kevin Schulze – Kevin Czuczman
Jeff Taylor – Jarred Tinordi

Anthony Peters – Etienne Marcoux

Lineup Notes: Penguins signed Etienne Marcoux to a PTO for the trip. He’s from the Indy Fuel. Wheeling had injury problems and the Penguins don’t have another eligible contracted goaltender available, so Marcoux was it. Other lineup included Josh Jooris making his debut, Olympian Christian Thomas returning from the games in South Korea and Chris Summers returning to there lineup after missing five games with injury.

First Period: Griffins got on the board early when ex-Penguin Ben Street found Matt Puempel in the slot that put the defending Calder Cup Champions up 1-0. Penguins were getting run around a bit, saw what would have been another Grand Rapids goal get waved off on account of Eric Tangradi interfering with Peters in the crease.

Wilkes-Barre had one power play in the period and it looked improved with Thomas and Kostopolous out there on it.

Shots after one were 11-7 Penguins but Griffins carried large amounts of play during the period.

Second Period: Take of two halves really. Penguins came out with aplomb to open the period, scored here when they caught Grand Rapids with their pants down on a bad line change. Adam Johnson wheeled around the net and scored here to tie the game at one…

Four goals in five games for Johnson.

Period turned in favor of the Griffins when Wilkes-Barre had a power play, didn’t score then gave away a power play to Grand Rapids. To this point, the Griffins power play looked good.

They cashed. Eric Tangradi tipped in a Matt Puempel shot and it was 2-1 Griffins. Way too easy. Tangradi has carved out a niche in this league setting up in front of the goaltender and tipping pucks. No one was near him and he did what he had to do.

Shots were 17-12 Penguins after two periods. Penguins to this point did a terrific job of bottling up the Griffins but their top line of Puempel, Tangradi and Street were carrying the mail.

Third Period: Penguins had a power play to open the period, but failed to cash then the Griffins took a puck over glass delay of game penalty and the Penguins were headed right back to the power play. Angle on the story here was easy, if they Penguins don’t score and lose, you point back to this sequence here as to be of the reasons why.

We didn’t have to go there.

Kevin Czuczman puts it on net, Garrett Wilson gets the tip in. Power play goal, Wilkes-Barre.

Griffins didn’t counter this time, instead it was a big defensive gaffe that cost them.

Teddy Blueger takes advantage.

Follow your shot.

Time started to become the enemy of the Griffin, and with McCollum pulled, the Penguins defense held the Tangradi’s and Street’s at bay and then Gage Quinney connected with Garrett Wilson on the empty net to put a bow on this one.

Three Stars: 3) Matt Puempel (goal, assist, even) 2) Eric Tangradi (goal, assist, even) and 1) Teddy Blueger (goal, assist, +2)

Around the Division: Nutso results. Hershey was up 5-1 then lost 7-6 in Allentown. That, is not good…Providence beats Charlotte 6-3…Springfield clips Hartford 5-4 in overtime and Bridgeport beats Laval 4-2.

Standings: Lehigh  Valley (.681 percentage points) — Penguins (.651) — Providence (.627) — Charlotte (.570) — Bridgeport (.530) — Hartford (.509) — Springfield (.473) — Hershey (.466)

Wheeling Update: Nailers were shutout 5-0 up in Worcester.

If the Griffins put up video highlights I can find I will run them in this spot. I think the fact they didn’t GIF any goals means that probably won’t happen.

Pens are bussing four hours to the Central time zone to Rockford, Illinois for a 7 pm Wilkes-Barre time start with the IceHogs. Gameday setup hits the blog Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

       vs.       

2                                          3

–

Adam Johnson chipped in a pair of goals, Daniel Sprong also helped with two assists and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins take 4 of 6 points out of the weekend and defeat the Hershey Bears 3-2 Sunday afternoon in Wilkes-Barre.

These two players played on the fourth line for the Penguins. When you have your parent team acquiring throw ins in a blockbuster trade to help the NHL team and essentially decline or are in no need of the players that Pittsburgh acquired in Tobias Lindberg and Vincent Dunn, your Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are stacked.

Important, because the Penguins burned off a game in hand on Lehigh Valley, and also won with Providence also victor Sunday afternoon against Hartford.

It’s that time of year where every point counts.

Casey DeSmith opposed Pheonix Copley

Lines were…

Thomas Di Pauli – J-S Dea – Reid Gardiner
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Sestito – Jarrett Burton – Joseph Cramarossa
Adam Johnson – Teddy Blueger – Daniel Sprong

Kevin Spinozzi – Ethan Prow
Kevin Schulze – Kevin Czuczman
Jarred Tinordi – Jeff Taylor

Casey DeSmith – Anthony Peters

Lineup Notes: Greg McKegg was a scratch. He picked up a knock in the Syracuse game and is day to day. The Tom’s, Sestito and Kostopoulos, were back in after having Saturday off in Syracuse.

First Period: A no look pass from Travis Boyd to Riley Barber put the Bears on the board early on.

Immediately thereafter, Tom Kostopolous scored a one time from the mid-slot that tied the game.

It was one of those periods that everything notable happened in the first five minutes.

Second Period: Casey DeSmith made a ten bell save on a Hershey power play that kept the game tied at one.

Penguins scored on their first power play of the game when Adam Johnson deflected in an Ethan Prow shot from the point that put the Penguins ahead 2-1.

But then Tyler Graovac responded quickly thereafter on a tic tac toe play that DeSmith and the Penguins had zero chance on.

That angle didn’t give that play any justice, Graovac was wide, wide open.

Shots after two period was 16-14 in favor of the Bears. I don’t know if both teams were gassed at the tail end of their three in three weekends or if it was something else, but it was an even match heading into the…

Third Period: Daniel Spring was tripped entering the zone, on a delayed call he slid a pass to Teddy Blueger who put a shot on Copley and the rebound kicked straight to Johnson for the slam dunk for his second goal of the game and a Wilkes-Barre lead.

Hershey shot themselves in the foot with a late penalty that they were able to kill off, not before they had two great opportunities shorthanded.

With Copley pulled, the Bears were never able to find the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, +1) 2) Daniel Sprong (two assists, +1) and 1) Adam Johnson (two goals, +1)

Around the Division: Providence shutout Hartford 2-0 and Bridgeport did the same to Charlotte, 1-0. All other teams in the Atlantic were off.

Standings: Lehigh Valley (.675 percentage points) — Penguins (.651) — Providence (.627) — Charlotte (.570) — Bridgeport (.527) — Hartford (.509) — Hershey (.474) — Springfield (.473)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers received Cody Wydo, Troy Josephs and Freddie Tiffels and the impact was immediate, Freddie Tiffels scored twice but the Nailers fell 3-2 to the Adirondack Thunder.

https://www.echl.com/stats/game-center/15656

Injury updates: 

Pens have a light week practice wise…

AHL Power Rankings hit the blog Monday at 4. Trade deadline is Monday also. If anything affects Coal Street, then I will have a blog update Monday sometime.

Let’s Go Pens!

       @       

1                                          3

–

Syracuse wins 3-1 tonight against the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and take the season series 3-1.

Utica last week, Rochester the day before, the Penguins need to figure out the North Division if they want to have overall success this Spring, if they even get to that point.

The Crunch skated circles around the Penguins all night, heavily outshooting them through two periods. Syracuse finally blows up the dam and sinks the Penguins in the third period with a pair of goals to pull away.

Anthony Peters opposed Connor Ingram.

Lines were…

Thomas Di Pauli – J-S Dea – Reid Gardiner
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Jarrett Burton
Freddie Tiffels – Greg McKegg – Joseph Cramarossa
Adam Johnson – Teddy Blueger – Daniel Sprong

Kevin Spinozzi – Ethan Prow
Jeff Taylor – Kevin Czuczman
Jarred Tinordi – Kevin Schulze

Anthony Peters – Casey DeSmith

Lineup Notes: Planned nights off for Tom Kostopoulos and Tom Sestito, who will be back in tomorrow afternoon against Hershey. Jarrett Burton and Freddie Tiffels slotted in. No changes on defense for the Penguins.

First Period: It was a blitzkrieg of shots for the Syracuse Crunch Hockey Club. Seventeen in total. Anthony Peters was making saves like these…

Joseph Cramarossa was getting in fights like these trying to speak his team…

But they don’t judge games off of shots and fights, they score them on goals. The Penguins had the only goal in the period with this nice goal from Freddie Tiffels.

Wilkes-Barre had just four shots and one of them went in. Luck? Good goaltending?

Second Period: Syracuse scores shorthanded against the Penguins again, their third shorthanded goal of the season against Wilkes-Barre and eleventh overall. Gabriel Dumont with a great individual effort and in the process just embarrasses J-S Dea…

Penguins were still getting outshot by Syracuse, 11-8 in the period, and Anthony Peters continued to keep them in it heading into the…

Third Period: Crunch were knocking on the door for the first two period and got tired of waiting and just kicked the door in in the third period.

Board battle. Puck squirts out to Alex Volkov who was racing down the slot. Volkov wastes no time to make it 2-1 Syracuse.

Penguins take another penalty. Not doing themselves any favors in this situation, Anthony Cirelli tips in a shot from the point from Mathieu Joseph that makes it 3-1 Crunch and essentially puts the game out of reach.

Penguins could never find another goal even with Peters pulled with a late flurry at the end.

Three Stars: 3) Daniel Walcott (assist, +1) 2) Alex Volkov (goal, +1) and 1) gabriel Dumont (goal, assist, even)

Ingram really deserved a star in the game, getting beat on his first shot on goal, then buckling down and not allowing another goal from there.

Around the Division: Charlotte beats Bridgeport 2-1…Hartford beats Providence 2-1…Rockford clips Hershey 4-3 in overtime…Lehigh Valley beats Binghamton 2-1…Springfield holds off Utica 3-2.

Standings: Lehigh Valley (.675 percentage points) — Penguins (.644) — Providence (.620) — Charlotte (.580) — Bridgeport (.519) — Hartford (.518) — Hershey (.482) — Springfield (.473)

Wheeling Update: Nailers play Sunday vs. Adirondack.

Video Highlights: 

Gameday setup for Sunday afternoon’s game vs. Hershey hits the blog Sunday at 11.

Let’s Go Pens!