Chirps from Center Ice

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If you have ever been to a Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins game at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, then you are familiar with the in between music bumps that they play during stoppages in play. Well, there was one with 27.9 left in a tight game in a third period that was predicated by this save by Tristan Jarry. Here it is…

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After the save, the Arena played Alien Ant Farm’s “Smooth Criminal” Here are some of the lyrics.

You’ve Been Hit By
You’ve Been Hit By
A Smooth Criminal

Apropos. That smooth criminal tonight was none other than goaltender Tristan Jarry, who stopped 34 of 35 shots sent his way in arguably his best game of the season for the Penguins. Since his reassignment by Pittsburgh, he’s 3-0 and has only allowed five goals during that time.

Tom with more from Donatelli post game…

Penguins win 2-1. Some breathing room on Lehigh Valley for the division lead, with three games in hand to boot.

Jarry opposed Dustin Tokarski

Lines were…

Thomas Di Pauli – J-S Dea – Reid Gardiner
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Daniel Sprong
Adam Johnson – Greg McKegg – Colin Smith
Jarrett Burton – Teddy Blueger – Patrick McGrath

Jarred Tinordi – Ethan Prow
Kevin Czuczman – Frank Corrado
Andrey Pedan – Chris Summers

Tristan Jarry – Anthony Peters

Lineup Notes: Zach Aston-Reese was recalled to Pittsburgh earlier in the day today when Patric Hornqvist was injured in last nights game. Conor Sheary was moved to IR. Tom Venesky highlighted Aston-Reese on the pay website The Athletic a couple of weeks ago for them. Now normally, I wouldn’t tell you to pay to read junk on the internet, but I researched them this week, and it’s a top quality website. This link explains more. If you don’t subscribe I suggest you at least check out the free seven day trial. No, I am not on their payroll, either. Tom is a quality guy, if he is going to churn out quality stuff featuring the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, the only AHL team I think that has someone dedicated on the beat on that website, it’s at least worth your time to check out.

Anyway. In the wake of the Aston-Reese recall and the injury to Ryan Haggerty last night, the Pens recalled Reid Gardiner, who was thrust right onto the top line for the Pens tonight and Troy Josephs, who had a hat trick for the Nailers Friday night.

First Period: :26 in, Phantoms killer J-S Dea wasted no time in establishing the lead for the home team.

Jarry was dialed in, denying a Mark Vecchione would be tap in.

Penguins double the lead, via this Daniel Sprong power play goal.

I love how when Sprong shoots, he knows it’s a goal. Goal scorers just have a feeling. More Tom with Clark on Sprong…

Second Period: No scoring in the period. Jarry continued to dial in. He had a certain swagger about him tonight and even I picked that up.

Period was really marred by a lot of penalties that didn’t amount to anything as it remained 2-0 Penguins heading into the…

Third Period: Jarred Tinordi was in the penalty box for a puck over gas delay of game and Chris Conner scored from the slot to bust up Jarry’s shutout bid.

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Time started to run out on the Phantoms and Jarry made the save with under :30 left after Lehigh Valley pulled Tokarski for the extra man. They never found the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) J-S Dea (goal, +1) 2) Daniel Sprong (gioal, even) 1) Tristan Jarry (34 saves on 35 shots)

Around the Division: Providence splits the home and home with Hartford, who beat the P-Bruins 3-1 at home tonight…Bridgeport beats Belleville at home 3-1 and Hershey finally is back in the win column in a wild game with Charlotte 6-5 in a shootout. Springfield was off.

Standings: Penguins (.682 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.638) — Providence (.609) — Bridgeport (.565) — Charlotte (.554) — Hartford (.510) — Springfield (.479) — Hershey (.457)

Wheeling Update: beats Wheeling in West Virginia 7-3.Fort Wayne Freddie Tiffels scored in the loss.

Video Highlights: 

AHL Power Rankings are Monday. Pens are back in action this Wednesday in Springfield.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Wilkes-Barre / Scranton uses two goals in the third period and a pair of goals from Andrey Pedan to skate past rival Hershey 4-1 tonight at home.

This win is significant for a number of reasons. First, it keeps the Penguins in first place in the Atlantic Division. Second, it improves the Penguins already league best home ice advantage and record to 18-6-0-1. Finally, the Penguins beat Hershey, which is always great and the Bears have lost nine straight games.

This news coms with collateral damage. Conor Sheary is week-to-week up top with a lower body injury. Carter Rowney was activated off of injured reserve today and J-S Dea was sent back down but Dea and likely another player may rubber band back to Pittsburgh tomorrow because Patric Hornqvist suffered a lower body injury in Pittsburgh’s 7-4 win over Washington tonight. That player should be Zach Aston-Reese, who has 20 points in his past 20 games.

Oh, and locally…

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Walking wounded is back again folks. What a time to be alive.

One other thing…

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Tristan Jarry opposed Pheonix Copley

Lines were…all messed up. Not because of Haggerty leaving the game with injury alone, but J-S Dea wasn’t part of this Obie tweet…

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Dea centered the top line and Patrick McGrath was a scratch.

Defense was Andrey Pedan – Ethan Prow; Kevin Czuczman – Frank Corrado; Kevin Spinozzi and Chris Summers. Anthony Peters backed up Jarry.

First Period: Tyler Graovac stripped Kevin Spinozzi, skated in, pumped faked and dished to Riley Barber, only the pass never made it to Barber. Gage Quinney was the sole Penguin back, made a good read on the pass that Graovac made, only to see it deflect off of his stick and into his own net and gave Hershey a 1-0 lead.

On a power play, Andrey Pedan would score his first of the game when a puck put on Copley by J-S Dea rebounded straight to Pedan who scored to tie the game at one…

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Majority of action felt like it was played in front of Jarry, yet the Penguins only trailed the Bears 10-8 in shots. Penguins shots came in rushes mostly.

Second Period: Tight checking. Ryan Haggerty never came out for the period and wasn’t seen the rest of the game. Both teams traded power plays.

Third Period: Wilkes-Barre breaks in on a three on one and Pedan scores his second of the game to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead. Nice dish by Greg McKegg, leading the rush, to Pedan for the score.

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Wilkes-Barre makes it 3-1 with a perfect screen set by Garrett Wilson on Copley that allowed Kevin Czuczman to score to make it 3-1 for the Penguins.

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Zach Aston-Reese had a secondary assist on that goal by Czuczman. That gives him 20 points in his last 20 games (7-13-20)

Hershey had a power play that lacked punch. They floated all night. They don’t look like the Bears team you would come to expect. I have people that some times tell me when things are going bad for the Penguins that they are, “not a team, just a collection of players.” I think that classification applies here regarding the way the Bears are playing right now.

With Copley pulled, Daniel Sprong set up Jarrett Burton for a doorstep tap in that iced the game away and made it 4-1 Penguins.

Three Stars: 3) Daniel Sprong (two assists, +1) 2) Tristan Jarry (25 saves on 26 shots) and 1) Andrey Pedan (two goals, +1)

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley scores a late goal to beat Charlotte 3-2 to keep the heat on the Penguins for tops in the Atlantic….Providence scores an overtime power play goal to beat Hartford 2-1…Springfield shuts out Bridgeport 1-0.

Standings: Penguins (.674 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.652) — Providence (.622) — Charlotte (.556) — Bridgeport (.556) — Hartford (.500) — Springfield (.479) — Hershey (.446)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers make it an organizational sweep night with a 7-3 win over the Indy Fuel. Troy Josephs had a hat trick.

Video Highlights: 

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Gameday setup for a big 1 vs. 2 matchup featuring the Penguins and Phantoms hits the blog Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I wasn’t around for the early to mid 2000’s when the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and Binghamton hockey teams used to beat the piss out of one another.

Comebacks in the playoffs and upset wins? Wasn’t there, wish I was.

Stolen whiteouts? Novel concept, but again, I wasn’t there but wish I was.

I am now, and this edition of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and Binghamton Devils putting on a showcase in front of a sellout crowd in Wilkes-Barre is high theater. Cast aside the records, when these two teams get together its a knockdown, drag out affair between two evenly matched teams that happen to hate each other.

Binghamton is the worst team in the AHL and the Penguins are in the top five, but styles make fights.

Wilkes-Barre wins 4-3 in overtime. Game had everything. Comebacks from Binghamton, fights and scrums after every whistle. Questionable officiating after that product has vastly improved. Pens take a lead, Binghamton ties it right back up. Tom Kostopoulos returned from injury.

Zach Aston-Reese’s overtime game winner seals it for the Pens, who hit the All-Star break at the top of the standings in the Atlantic Division and pushing to keep their consecutive playoff appearance streak alive and intact.

Nice game for Tristan Jarry, who made the saves when he needed to to push his team to overtime and the team took over from there. It’s been said that Casey DeSmith has outplayed and won spots over Jarry at every point imaginable when these two have been up for a spot. Getting this hard fought win to go in his favor is a step towards getting back to the NHL for Jarry.

Jarry opposed Mackenzie Blackwood.

Lines were…

Zach Aston-Reese — J-S Dea — Ryan Haggerty
Colin Wilson – Gage Quinney – Daniel Sprong
Adam Johnson – Greg McKegg – Jarrett Burton
Thomas Di Pauli – Teddy Blueger – Tom Kostopoulos

Jarred Tinordi – Ethan Prow
Kevin Czuczman – Frank Corrado
Andrey Pedan – Chris Summers

Tristan Jarry – Anthony Peters

Lineup Notes: 

Also, Prow for Zach Trotman. Colin Smith yielded to Kostopoulos, Dea was in for Thomas.

First Period: J-S Dea gets in behind everyone and scores to make it 1-0 Pens early on…

Penguins controlled long parts of the period, outshooting the guests 10-5, and lead after one. So just a carbon copy of the first in the second and it’s over right?

Wrong.

Second Period: After Kevin Czuczman dunked on Blackwood with this goal…..

…Binghamton responded and was on the Pens like a cheap suit the rest of the night. They were on the Pens at the drop of the puck, controlling offensive zone time.

On a power play, Nick Lappin scores his first of two power play goals for the Devils on this sequence:

Tim Kennedy puts one on the tape of Bracken Kearns who and dishes to Lappin for the near side slam dunk.

Physicality broke out after this. Every whistle was met with a shove or a fight. It was usually the Penguins on the short end of the whistles off of the fingers from referees Andy Wilk and Beau Halkidis, and Lappin made the Penguins pay on yet another power play the Devils had in the period, to tie it with 1:27 left in the second:

Same setup as the last power play goal. As if it were always this easy.

Third Period: Powder keg feeling was diffused a bit by long stretches of play between the two sides that made for a much quicker third period.

Garrett Wilson scored with 1:38 left in regulation to give the Penguins the lead on this snipe:

But Binghamton would get it back seconds later when Bracken Kearns scores on what looked like a high stick deflection that the officials discussed but confirmed and it was a 3-3 game with 63 seconds left to play.

No one scored in regulation so it was off to…

Overtime: Referees had a tough game. They missed a two many men on the ice call then a blatant slash on Gage Quinney in regulation. Then, in overtime, Ryan Haggerty was tripped and Nick Lappin had a name breakaway with the nearest player a good 10 feet behind him. For the hat trick and the game winner. he was turned away by Jarry as play continued.

Zach Aston-Reese….

Ballgame.

Three Stars: 3) Garrett Wilson (goal, +1) 2) Nick Lappin (two goals, even) 1) Zach Aston-Reese (overtime game winning goal, +2)

Around the Division: Losing streak is at eight for the Hershey Bears, who drop a 3-1 contest to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Connecticut….Utica ties it late with the extra attacker, then wins it in overtime against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms by a 3-2 score….Springfield beats Providence 5-2 and Hartford shuts out Charlotte 4-0.

Standings: Penguins (.667 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.644) — Providence (.614) — Charlotte (.568) — Bridgeport (.568) — Hartford (.500) — Springfield (.468) — Hershey (.456)

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 5-2 at home to the Manchester Monarchs. Cody Wydo and Nick Sorkin score for the Nailers in the loss.

Video Highlights: 

AHL is off now for the All-Star break. My AHL Power Rankings will be out sometime Sunday. Check in Sunday evening.

Let’s Go Pens!

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The top two teams in the Atlantic Division met Friday night in Allentown.

As it has been so far in the season series, it was a big bully beatdown. But, it’s not a one-sided affair, as both teams are really good and no team dominates the other all season. These two sides are evenly matched.

5-2 Phantoms win tonight. Alex Lyon is the difference in this one as the Penguins chase starter Dustin Tokarski less than ten minutes into the first period and Lyon stops all 26 shots faced the rest of the way. Nic Aube-Kubel scored a pair of goals and its again “those guys” that get us “this time.”

A hell of a series to watch if you don’t have a dog in the fight. I’m sensing a clash in the Calder Cup Playoffs between these two at some point down the line.

Lines were…

Zach Aston-Reese — Greg McKegg — Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Daniel Sprong
Adam Johnson – Jarrett Burton – Colin Smith
Thomas Di Pauli – Teddy Blueger – Christian Thomas

Andrey Pedan – Kevin Czuczman
Jarred Tinordi – Zach Trotman
Chris Summers – Frank Corrado

Anthony Peters – Tristan Jarry

Lineup Notes: J-S Dea was re-assigend by Pittsburgh earlier in the day but Dea did not dress. Neither did Tom Kostopoulos. Expect one, or both, Saturday at home against Binghamton. Clark Donatelli still has some bite on his curveball. He told WBS media yesterday that Tristan Jarry was starting both games but it was Anthony Peters that got the start tonight.

One other note which gets its own paragraph, radio mentioned during the game that tonight was the last game for Christian Thomas before he heads to Pyongyang, South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympics where he will represent Team Canada in Men’s Ice Hockey.

First Period: Really active period. Phantoms battled back from one goal deficits twice and starting goaltender Dustin Tokarski only lasted 6:26 into the game after giving up two goals on three shots. Here’s the first from Daniel Sprong…

That was :54 into the game.

Phantoms got one right back when Greg Carey scored here to make it 1-1.

Nice redirect there, but Zach Aston-Reese had a better one as he scored on a redirect of a shot from the point by Andrey Pedan that made it 2-1 and shared Tokarski.

Elite play by Aston-Reese. Phantoms defender draped all over him, cross checks him and he gets a stick on it falling down. Here’s another look…

Things settled for the Phantoms after that as Alex Lyon would enter the game.

Pens would lose Nic Aube-Kubel in the neutral zone, he would break in and score to make it 2-2 heading into the second. First, the goal…

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Second Period: Frank Corrado and Jarred Tinordi pinch on a play the sees TJ Brennan squirt through and score to make it 3-2 Lehigh Valley.

Just awful defending there that deep in your own zone and super quick transition by Lehigh Valley to edge ahead.

Lehigh Valley would pepper Anthony Peters with shots on a power play but Peters was up to the challenge and kept it a 3-2 game.

Daniel Sprong appeared to have scored on a play, but a disagreement between Andrey Pedan and the aforementioned Brennan in front of Peters crease nullified the would be tying goal for the Pens by Sprong.

Shots were 19-17 Phantoms heading into the…

Third Period: Back and forth to open, neither team scoring. TJ Brennan takes his third penalty of the game, and you could point to the Penguins lack of success on the power play tonight and all season really to help spring them in the right direction as one of the reasons they couldn’t build any momentum when they had the man advantage. Wilkes-Barre went 0-for-5 on the power play tonight.

Wilkes-Barre, after the power play expired, can’t score in a furious rush near Lyon and back the other way by Peters, Mike Vecchione pounds home a Peters rebound that makes it 4-2.

1:12 later, Aube-Kubel scores his second of the night to make it 5-2.

Wide open in the neutral zone, collects the puck, darts in and scores.

Pens couldn’t get anything going. On their fifth and final power play, Lehigh Valley had two good shorthanded tries.

Three Stars: 3) TJ Brennan (goal, +3) 2) Nic Aube-Kubel (two goals, assist, +3) and 1) Alex Lyon (26 saves on 26 shots)

Around the Division: Providence crushes Hershey 5-2. Seven losses in a row for Hershey and fading fast….Springfield hands on to beat Bridgeport in a fun one 5-3 and Hartford edges Charlotte 3-2 in a shootout.

Standings: Penguins (.675 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.640) — Providence (.619) — Charlotte (.583) — Bridgeport (.558) — Hartford (.477) — Hershey (.477) — Springfield (.457)

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 2-1 in overtime at home against Reading. Reid Gardiner had the goals for Wheeling. Adam Morrison takes the overtime loss, stopping 27 of 29.

If I see a highlight package out of Lehigh Valley, I will work an edit in here.

Pens host Binghamton in what will likely be a sellout crowd Saturday night. The game will be on TV if you can’t make it down. Gameday setup hits here Saturday afternoon at 3.

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Check this tweet out from Pens color man Nick Hart on Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins goaltender Anthony Peters.

A 4-0 win by the Penguins tonight. 18 save shutout for Peters, who finally gets his pound of flesh and wins when his team this past weekend lose on an overtime game winner in Hartford and a power play goal Saturday in Providence all while not allowing anything more than that as well as not scoring at all, getting shutout in the two games in Connecticut.

Wilkes-Barre has a problem on its hands. Anthony Peters is playing out of his mind right now while NHL contracted goaltenders Michael Leighton and Tristan Jarry are ready to go. Leighton is close to a return from injury and Jarry was reassigned today. More on that in a minute but how on earth do you, if you are Head Coach Clark Donatelli, take Peters out of the lineup if he hasn’t given up an even strength goal in over four games?

I tweeted this during the game tonight and it rings true…

Pens got to first place in the Atlantic with Peters in the drivers seat. AHL is a development league for the NHL and the NHL will always be the bigger picture and rightfully will call the shots, but I just don’t see how; 1) Peters ever goes back to the ECHL without at least first signing an AHL pact to Wilkes-Barre and 2) Clark Donatelli takes Peters out of the lineup.

And from what I have gathered, yes, Wilkes-Barre could sign Peters to an AHL deal and send him back to ECHL Cincinnati, which holds his rights at that level. He can’t go to Wheeling because at the ECHL level, he has an ECHL contract with the Cyclones.

Ah, it’s the old saying, “I don’t coach or manage the team, I just blog about them.” – Interesting days ahead for the braintrust at 40 Coal in Wilkes-Barre.

Lines were…

Zach Aston-Reese — Greg McKegg — Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Daniel Sprong
Adam Johnson – Jarrett Burton – Colin Smith
Thomas Di Pauli – Teddy Blueger – Christian Thomas

Andrey Pedan – Kevin Czuczman
Jarred Tinordi – Zach Trotman
Chris Summers – Frank Corrado

Anthony Peters – Charlie Williams

Peters opposed Pheonix Copley.

Lineup Notes: The Pittsburgh Penguins sent Tristan Jarry back to the AHL after the AHL announced earlier in the day that Bridgeport’s Christopher Gibson would replace Casey DeSmith at the All-Star Classic in Utica this coming weekend. The two weren’t directly related, but you knew with Matt Murray back in town after his father’s death coupled with the hot play of Casey DeSmith with Pittsburgh, that Jarry was going to be the odd man out.

First Period: On a delayed penalty, McKegg muscles a puck into the zone and centers to Zach Aston-Reese who scored the first goal in 127:27 of game action to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead…

Jarrett Burton would double the lead when he followed his own shot and threw a puck in on Copley from a tight angle.

Off of the ensuing face-off, Garrett Wilson skated in and  Anthony Peters straight up looked him in the eye and denied him with the pad.

Wilkes-Barre would get outshot 9-4 in the period but led where it counted heading into the…

Second Period: Sleepy period, with each team ending the period with 13 shots, but Anthony Peters stopped three two one ones and three power plays for the Bears.

Third Period: Pens tack on two more goals. Here’s the first from Christian Thomas. A knee drop one timer in the slot that made it 3-0.

Tyler Lewington and Garrett Mitchell fought after this sequence, for no apparent reason. Radio said it may have been something said to Liam O’Brien.

Pens didn’t waste any time in making it 4-0 when Daniel Sprong left a drop pass for a trailing Zach Trotman.

Bears tried to mix it up with the Penguins after every whistle, but with time dwindling, were not able to score. The Penguins didn’t get a single power play all night until the very end, and that iced things away for Peters.

Three Stars: 3) Zach Aston-Reese (game winning goal, +1) 2) Frank Corrado (two assists, +2) and 1) Anthony Peters (18 save shutout)

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley beats Providence 3-2 at home. Pens are there Friday….Bridgeport beats Springfield 3-1. Everyone else was off.

Standings: Penguins (.675 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.640) — Providence (.619) — Charlotte (.583) — Bridgeport (.571) — Hartford (.477) — Hershey (.477) — Springfield (.444)

Wheeling Update: Nailers win at home against Kalamazoo by a 6-2 score. Reid Gardiner had a pair of goals. Cody Wydo had a goal as well.

Video Highlights:

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No idea where Wilkes-Barre goes from here. Ride the hot hand of Peters against Lehigh Valley in Allentown or are the marching orders handed down from up top in Pittsburgh and it’s Tristan Jarry out first at 6:20 Friday night at PPL Center? Stay tuned, I guess.

But for anything breaking Thursday, check out the Gameday setup here on the blog at 3 p.m. Friday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Good Cop: The Penguins allow two goals all weekend.

Bad Cop: The Penguins fail to score a single goal this weekend.

Good Cop: Anthony Peters is settling in as a legit starting goaltender at the AHL level.

Bad Cop: The Penguins are missing a dynamic playmaker.

J-S Dea: Look at all this NHL money I am making.

(Daniel Sprong too, but he’s been scratched the last two games for Pittsburgh, don’t get me started)

A 1-0 overtime loss in Hartford this afternoon. Silver lining is the loser point, if you are looking for anything positive from a point perspective.

The penguins would outshoot the Hartford Wolf Pack 21-3 in the first period, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Hartford starting goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, but the rookie Russian netminder would be unfazed.

The trend continued. Hartford offered a little push back in the middle frame and Hartford would have more power plays (3) than the Penguins (2) in an excellently officiated game by referees Cameron Voss and Peter MacDougall.

The Penguins hit a lot of posts this afternoon too, I counted two on a breakaway, one on a turn around shot and I am sure I am forgetting some others, but sometimes you can be lucky and good, and Georgiev was both today.

Vince Pedrie scored at 2:25 of the overtime frame to give the Wolf Pack the extra point and that was the ballgame…

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Lines were…

Zach Aston-Reese — Gage Quinney — Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson – Greg McKegg – Christian Thomas
Adam Johnson – Jarrett Burton – Colin Smith
Thomas Di Pauli – Teddy Blueger

Andrey Pedan – Kevin Czuczman
Jarred Tinordi – Zach Trotman
Chris Summers – Frank Corrado
Ethan Prow

Anthony Peters – Charles Williams

Lineup Notes: First time this season that Wilkes-Barre / Scranton dresses seven defensemen, eleven forwards. Ethan Prow, a defenseman, slotted in for Patrick McGrath, the forward.

Three Stars: Wording this postgame recap a bit in reverse, but they were Anthony Peters stopping 21 of 22, Alexandar Georgiev stopping all 43, and Vince Pedrie with the game winning goal in that order.

Anthony Peters weekend…

Can’t really bark at that. He won’t be considered for AHL Player of the Week though, Zane McIntyre (who shutout the Penguins Friday) also shutout Springfield this afternoon. If the AHL decides to go goalie this week, McIntyre will be the guy.

Around the Division: Charlotte gets back in the win column with a 5-4 overtime decision against the Rochester Americans. Charlotte has been in the AHL for a while now and has played in both conferences and this weekend was the first time these two teams played (edit: first time these teams met in Charlotte, the two teams met in Rochester for the first time ever on October 20)…..The aforementioned Zane McIntyre’s Providence Bruins beat the Springfield Thunderbirds 2-0. Bridgeport beat Toronto 1-0 in a shootout.

Standings: Penguins (.667 percentage points) — Providence (.634) — Lehigh Valley (.631) — Charlotte (.583) — Bridgeport (.561) — Hershey (.488) — Hartford (.465) — Springfield (.455)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers beat Worcester 4-2. Cody Wydo and Jeff Taylor were among the goal scorers.

Penguins will bus home tonight, may have Monday off and then back to practice Tuesday before heading to Hershey Wednesday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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In part, I said this in the pregame Gameday setup about the Providence Bruins coming into Friday night’s affair with the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins…

The Bruins are 0-3-0-1 and 4-4-1-1 in their last ten games and are in a slump, much like the Penguins were. But both teams are good, and good teams don’t stay in slumps very long. Bruins are going to be up for this one against Wilkes-Barre.

Providence takes this one 1-0 tonight. They scored on a third period power play goal by Tommy Cross. The Bruins’ power play was 28th in the American Hockey League coming into tonight’s game, but with players like reigning MVP Kenny Agostino, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and Austin Czarnik on a power play, if you play with fire long enough you eventually get burned.

Anthony Peters was dialed in. No other way to put it. This is a guy that is in the AHL on a tryout contract, playing without an AHL deal anywhere. I will guarantee you that this will be rectified awful soon, either by the Penguins this season or by some other team next season.

Wilkes-Barre could have won this game, sure. But getting only seven shots in the third period to the Bruins sixteen and giving the Bruins power play after power play, eventually that good team I mentioned in my second paragraph will break through.

Eight game win streak ends. When you don’t score, you don’t win. However, I wouldn’t fret over this game. Two teams that are really good, well coached, battle to a 1-0 result. The Penguins, or any team really, win most of their games when they hold their opponent to only one goal. The Penguins just failed to score tonight and it bit them. Take solace in knowing that Anthony Peters is settling into a role of a legitimate AHL starter and the defense that the Penguins employ is one of the best in the AHL.

Lines were…

Zach Aston-Reese — Gage Quinney — Ryan Haggerty
Colin Wilson – Greg McKegg – Christian Thomas
Adam Johnson – Jarrett Burton – Colin Smith
Thomas Di Pauli – Teddy Blueger – Patrick McGrath

Andrey Pedan – Czuczman
Jarred Tinordi – Zach Trotman
Chris Summers – Frank Corrado

Anthony Peters – Charles Williams

Lineup Notes: Charles who? Charles Williams was signed by the Pens today to a PTO as Coal Street made a bevy of moves today. Williams comes to the Pens on a PTO from the Manchester Monarchs, who the Wheeling Nailers are playing today. Here were the transactions today…

Adam Morrison reported to Wheeling.

Nailers are in Manchester Friday, then Worcester Saturday and Sunday. They host Kalamazoo Wednesday, so those that were sent down may likely stay there for at least the week. I also believe that this means that Anthony Peters starts Sunday in Hartford.

Peters opposed Providence’s Zane McIntyre.

First Period: There are times in a players development when you determine whether or not that player will thrive in that role or not. There is only enough coaching that can be offered to a player; that player must go out on the ice and execute.

The player I am referring to in this instance is Anthony Peters.

The Providence Bruins put 13 shots at Peters in the first period and he denied them all. Every shot had purpose and Peters answered each. Example…

What I am getting at is that any stiff that knows how to play goal can thrive when the team beats a bunch of last place teams like Binghamton and Belleville. That is not Providence. You can rest assured that Anthony Peters can play at the AHL level, at least based off of this period. Wilkes-Barre had an early breakaway from Greg McKegg in the games first minute, but that was all the offense the Penguins could really muster, spending large chunks of play in their own end in front of Peters.

Second Period: The goaltender duel continued. Teddy Blueger was denied on a shorthanded breakaway as McIntyre stopped him with a two pad stack. Penguins would get a power play and unload a bevy of shots at McIntyre, but the Bruins netminder would deny them all. Game was a straight up goaltender duel in it’s purest form.

Third Period: Coal Street started sending GIFs out on Anthony Peters jaw dropping saves. Here are a few…

That was on Anders Bjork. Remember that one.

Another on Anders Bjork, who will most likely be having nightmares about Anthony Peters for a few days at least.

That was all of them.

Providence would score on a power play, their fifth of the game, when Tommy Cross scored to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.

Penguins could not get a clear there and Cross took advantage.

Wilkes-Barre took a time out, but with Peters vacated for the extra attacker, could never find the equalizer.

Three Stars: Pretty straightforward. Were Anthony Peters with 42 saves on 43 shots, Zane McIntyre with a 28 save shutout and Tommy Cross with his power play goal in that order.

Around the Division: Springfield coughs up a 3-0 lead in Binghamton and loses 5-3. Their five game winning streak is kaput. Hartford takes down Utica 3-2 in overtime. Wolf Pack had a 2-0 lead at the time, Comets battle back for the extra point but fall in the extra session. Everyone else was off.

Standings: Penguins (.671 percentage points) — Providence (.641) — Lehigh Valley (.622) — Charlotte (.588) — Bridgeport (.538) — Hershey (.500) — Springfield (.465) — Hartford (.452)

Bruins play tomorrow in Bridgeport while the Penguins are off.

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 3-2 in Manchester. Cam Brown and Reid Gardiner scored in the loss.

Pens are off Saturday, will remain in Providence tonight before bussing to Hartford Saturday afternoon. They play the Wolf Pack at 5 Sunday. Gameday setup will hit the blog Sunday at 1.

Let’s Go Pens!