I want to get something out of the way real quick. I have been ragging on the Tyrell Goulbourne goal that should not have counted Wednesday when the Penguins hosted the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. I was told pregame tonight that replay in the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza was not working. Thus, no review.
But the Wolf Pack ran into a problem. His name being Daniel Sprong, who had a hat trick tonight, his second of the season.
A lot of chatter has been had on social media regarding the slump that the Pittsburgh Penguins are on and what might fix it. A name that has come up time after time is Daniel Sprong. Sprong, a highly touted prospect from the QMJHL, is still middling around here in Wilkes-Barre while the Pittsburgh Penguins lose game after game and are middling around in Metropolitan Division purgatory. “Bring up Sprong!” they say, “Call up Sprong!” they shout.
The issue here is not his offense. He’s an offensively gifted forward that can and will score at any level of hockey anywhere and will do so for years to come. The issue is his defense. His two-way game lacks in areas. It’s gotten better, but it lacks from time to time.
Pittsburgh wants to take their time with Sprong. The can do that and monitor him from Wilkes-Barre where every night there is a body in the box high above me watching down upon the action below.
Calling him up now could work. But calling him up now to stick him on the fourth line and bury him on the bench when a giveaway or a lax forecheck allows for an odd man rush the other way and a Grade A scoring attempt from the other team or a penalty taken isn’t going to do anything for him.
I know that fans want everything done in a microwave. They want to win every game 10-0 and have their favorite player get all the headlines. I’d be lying if I said that I am not in this group somewhat, but I like to look at everything from all sides.
It’s not a matter of if Daniel Sprong will be called up, it’s a matter of when.
Now, could the Penguins beaten the Hartford Wolf Pack tonight without Sprong? I think yes. Hartford was a mess tonight and it snowballed from there. Getting a four point night out of the opposing teams best prospect coupled with 27 saves out of the ECHL goaltender and you are going to have a rough night. The Pens, as a team, played a complete game. They insulated goaltender Anthony Peters, got the offense that they needed to win and Peters made the saves he needed to when called upon and that’s your ballgame.
Oh, it helps when you keep the AHL’s best road power play (25.7%) 0-6 on the night as well.
Geez, that was a long lede. Someone get me an editor!
Peters opposed Marek Mazanec.
Lines were…
Zach Aston-Reese — J-S Dea — Ryan Haggerty
Gage Quinney – Greg McKegg – Daniel Sprong
Adam Johnson – Teddy Blueger – Colin Smith
Freddie Tiffels – Jarrett Burton – Patrick McGrath
Jeff Taylor – Jarred Tinordi
Kevin Czuczman – Zach Trotman
Kevin Spinnozi – Chris Summers
Anthony Peters – Adam Morrisson
Lineup Notes: Jeff Taylor made his Wilkes-Barre debut for the Penguins in 2017-18…Kevin Spinozzi slotted in as well…Greg McKegg was in as well for the recently recalled Garrett Wilson. Ethan Prow skated the extra man in warmups.
First Period: On a delayed penalty, Daniel Sprong let one rip from the point that deflected off of bodies and Colin Smith got a stick on it to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Jeff Taylor picked up the secondary assist, his first AHL point.
🚨 GOAL! 🚨 Colin Smith puts the #WBSPens up 1-0! His fifth goal of the season.
Hartford would answer back a few minutes later when the Penguins overcommitted to one side, leaving Joe Whitney open with time and space, enough to beat Peters to make it a 1-1 game.
Second Period: Patrick McGrath would pick up 27 minutes in PIMs with a fight with Scott Kosmachuk, one that McGrath would win easy. Hopefully Coal Street has it in their video highlight package.
Anthony DeAngelo leaves a puck in his own zone for Adam Johnson, who pounced on it and then dropped it to Sprong who scored to make it 2-1 Penguins…
🚨 GOAL! 🚨 @sprong97 gives the #WBSPens a 2-1 lead! His 16th goal of the season.
Donatelli has been alternating the wing opposite Sprong all night. McKegg has been a constant down the middle, but Quinney, Blueger and Johnson have all seen time on that line.
Haven’t heard much from the, “Fire Donatelli” crowd in a while and I wonder why.
Third Period: Anthony Peters was dialing in. He stopped a centering bid on Vince Pedrie, limited rebounds and covered pucks. It helped that the Wolf Pack essentially were firing right at him or way past him or over him, but he was solid when he needed to be, including in one sequence a pad stop followed up by a glove save.
Then, with the game in the balance, Gage Quinney took a tripping penalty at 14:19. Hartford’s lethal road power play stepped over the boards and was looking to get on the board here down a pair.
:07 later, after Teddy Blueger won a defensive zone face-off, Zach Aston-Reese was sprung and scored on a breakaway that made it 4-1 Penguins. Ballgame.
Sprong got his third goal via empty net, with Mazanec vacated with his team down three late.
Three Stars: 3) Adam Johnson (two assists, +3) 2) Anthony Peters (27 saves on 28 shots) and 1) Daniel Sprong (hat trick, assist, +3)
Around the Division: Ex-Penguin assistant and one time head coach Jay Leach will be behind the Atlantic Division bench in a month’s time at the ALl-Star Classic in Utica, thanks to his Providence Bruins team winning 3-1 tonight in the very place he will be coaching in about a month, Utica, NY against the Comets….Lehigh Valley beats Charlotte 3-1 and Hershey beats Springfield 4-2. Bridgeport was off.
Standings: Providence (.710 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.676) — Charlotte (.621) — Penguins (.617) — Bridgeport (.550) — Hershey (.485) — Hartford (.485) — Springfield (.412)
Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 5-2 in Fort Wayne. Cam Brown and Reid Gardiner scored for the Nailers in the loss.
Video Highlights:
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Pens take on the Hershey Bears Saturday night and Anthony Peters will get the start, per Clark Donatelli to the Wilkes-Barre media. Gameday setup hits the blog here Saturday at 3.
Work night games are rough. I left my editing utensils home instead of in a cold vehicle in single digit temperatures, so it’s a stripped down version of the post game recap tonight. Apologies to those who get my post notifications via e-mail. You can check out the blog later when I get home for a more dressed up version of tonight’s game with links, and boldface type you have come to enjoy.
Tweet embeds need a computer to edit them in, so they too will be added in a bit here while I high tail it home to get in at a reasonable hour so I can get up and go back to my big boy job in the morning without dragging monsters you-know-what.
But enough about me, here’s what happened tonight.
Penguins lose 5-4. As the blog headline reads, when it rains it pours. It was probably the most unluckiest game that the Penguins played in some time based off of bounces and small snaps in luck that played in the Phantoms favor.
Lineup wise, no changes on defense. Casey DeSmith got the start. The Pens now switch to black uniforms at home the rest of the way. I would rather the rule be totally eradicated or just move the jersey switch ahead to the end of January. I’m getting off track. Freddie Tiffels was in for Patrick McGrath. Thomas DiPauli did not dress, neither did Greg McKegg.
In the first, the Phantoms scored two fluke goals. Nic Aube-Kubel cross checked Jarred Tinordi into Casey DeSmith, knocking him down. TJ Brennan knows how to skate with his head up, saw that sequence and shot the puck on net and with no goalie there to stop it, it went in.
Their second goal came on a power play. Referee Olivier Gouin set an inadvertent pick on J-S Dea, who lost Mike Vecchione. Vecchione then banked his shot off of Frank Corrado and in to make it 2-0.
Shots after one were 11-10 Penguins. It was about as hard luck a period for a team bit by hard luck of recent you could find.
In the second, Wilkes-Barre pulls within a goal when Daniel Sprong puts a shot on net that Garrett Wilson gets out of the pads of Tokarski and sweeps it over to a waiting Colin Smith. One goal game now.
Penguins later tie it when Gage Quinney plays a bank off the boards behind Tokarski and puts it behind him.
A few minutes later, Tyrell Goulbourne fights through a pair of players and a hook and muscles the puck past DeSmith as the players were crashing the net, which became dislodged in the process. Question was whether the puck crossed legally or under the net. Neither referee cared to look at replay, confident enough in their eyes. To say that the officiating was poor tonight would be a huge understatement.
From bad to worse, a linesman sets a pick on Kevin Czuczman and Chris Conner bats in a DeSmith rebound to make it a two goal Phantom lead. The wheels were coming off!
Hold up. :17 later, Garrett Wilson scores a goal scorers goal to make it a one goal Lehigh Valley game again.
Things would settle a bit from an official making a questionable call or a linesman running a pick on a Penguin; Wilkes-Barre would finish strong to end the period.
In the third, the Penguins pushed the Phantoms defense and forecheck for that tying goal, referees kept their whistles in their pockets and stayed out of the way but the Phantoms, to their credit, bended but never broke.
With DeSmith vacated for the extra attacker late, Lehigh Valley hit an empty net to make it 5-3. Adam Johnson scored a goal with 11 seconds left to make it a one goal game again and that was all for the scoring.
Three Stars: 3) Garrett Wilson (goal, assist, +2) 2) G. Quinney (goal, assist, +1) and Chris Conner (goal, -1)
Around the Division: Bridgeport scores three power play goals at home and down the Hershey Bears 3-1…Providence takes down Utica in a wild one, 5-4 in a shootout…Binghamton catches Charlotte on a bad night and crush the Checkers 6-2 on the Southern Tier.
Standings: Providence (.700 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.667) — Charlotte (.641) — Penguins (.603) — Bridgeport (.550) — Hartford (.500) — Hershey (.470) — Springfield (.424)
Goulbourne goal should not have counted. There is no reason why there should not have been a review of the goal. First, here it is with the benefit of slow motion.
VIDEO: Slow motion video of Tyrell Goulbourne’s goal yesterday being scored ✌️legally✌️ – you be the judge: pic.twitter.com/D4VwzphAhh
From the AHL Rulebook on video review… In part, Rule 79.3, subsection vii…
79.3 Situations Subject to Video Review – The following are the only situations subject to video review by the Referee:
…
(vii) To determine whether the puck entered the net from underneath the net frame.
I would be interested to know if Tom or Tyler asked Clark after the game what explanation he was given on that play.
Penguins practice Thursday for their meeting with Hartford Thursday. But for any news pieces, look for the next update to come Friday with the Wolf Pack setup at 3 p.m.
Comments Off on Death by Paper Cuts — Pens LOSE 3-2
Posted by nafsnep on December 23, 2017
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Blog headline was summarized by Penguins play-by-play man Mike O’Brien and his, “Obie’s Observations” that he has after each Penguins game on radio. He mentioned that the Penguins played a great, 60 minute hockey game, but still lost. They lost because of small, tiny mistakes that ultimately cost them goals. Death, by paper cuts. Perfect way to summarize the game by the Pens radio man.
Wilkes-Barre loses 3-2. Two third period goals by the Phantoms on funny bounces catch the Penguins, who put up 41 shots and still came up a goal short.
Tom had a post game quote tweet from Garrett Wilson that fits well here.
WBS is 4-7 in Dec and the power play is 4-40. Donatelli said they need to shoot more. Garrett Wilson said they need to do a better job of bearing down. Whatever the reason, it's clear the lack of PP prod is linked to the losses. Wilson put it bluntly: "It's killing us"
No lineup changes from last night’s win against Binghamton.
First Period: Game opened up quick and went end to end for pretty much all game. I cringed this week when I saw that David Banfield and Terry Koharski were scheduled to work the game but those two veteran referees stayed out of the way tonight and let the players dictate play and called what needed to be called.
Finally, Zach Aston-Reese put a shot on net that deflected off Teddy Blueger and in to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.
(Taylor wasn’t around tonight, so no GIFs, sorry)
Shots after one were 14-9 Penguins heading into the…
Second Period: Casey DeSmith deserved better in this game. This week, he sees future hall of famer Michael Leighton join the organization and his #1 starter role is all of a sudden in doubt after pretty much being the man in Wilkes-Barre for all of 2017. He was dialed in here, stopping a 2-on-1 and then lunging behind him to freeze a puck a few minutes later. After Chris Conner scored in transition on a shot that handcuffed Casey, he would respond in kind with a save on a breakaway, then the rebound attempt then a one time in a mad rush by the Phantoms to eke out a lead. DeSmith would have none of it.
Pens respond with the timely, big saves from their netminder as Ryan Haggerty would stuff in a backhand shot past Tokarski to make it 2-1 Penguins.
Third Period: Back to Tom’s tweet, the lack of power play production is killing this team right now. Pens get a power play but are not able to score. Phantoms kill it, then Nick Aube-Kubel somehow, someway, scores to tie the game. DeSmith was sealed off of on the post and the puck, to my amazement, makes it past him and find its way to the back of the net to make it a tie game.
4:03 later, Oskar Lindblom would score on a nice no look pass from Conner to push the Phantoms ahead 3-2 with just over six minutes left to play.
After that goal, the Penguins would go on to outshoot the Phantoms 7-1 but would never be able to find the equalizer with DeSmith vacated.
Three Stars: 3) Teddy Blueger (goal, even) 2) Chris Conner (goal, assist, even) and 1) Oskar Lindblom (goal, two assists, +2)
Standings: Providence (.690 percentage points) — Charlotte (.661) — Lehigh Valley (.656) — Penguins (.625) — Bridgeport (.534) — Hartford (.500) — Hershey (.484) — Springfield (.424)
Wheeling Update: Nailers exact revenge on the Brampton Beast who beat the Nailers yesterday. Wheeling wins 6-2. Hunter Fejes had two goals and an assist in the win. Nailers are off now until December 29, next Friday, when they meet up with the Fort Wayne Komets in Indiana.
Week 12 AHL Power Rankings will hit the blog Sunday, sometime. I don’t know when just yet. No later than 4, so check back here after then. Enjoy your holiday.
Comments Off on High Times — Pens WIN 4-3 (OT)
Posted by nafsnep on December 22, 2017
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Teddy Blueger scored two goals tonight, one at 4:19 of the first period and another at 4:19 of overtime. In case you didn’t get the rub of the blog headline.
Penguins win 4-3 in overtime in a hotly contested, physical affair, like the teams from Wilkes-Barre and Binghamton of yore. That’s a fun hockey game.
Wilkes-Barre looked like it was going on cruise control when Binghamton took over, outshooting the Penguins 11-0 and scoring two goals in the process to tie the game at 2-2, then got an ugly shorthanded goal to make it 3-2.
I’m not going to blow the whole story here in the lede, just know that it was a good game that the Penguins battled through and they should come out of it a better team for it.
Michael Leighton (making his Penguins season debut) opposed Ken Appleby.
Casey DeSmith will get the start Saturday against Lehigh Valley. Donatelli told the media Thursday that the two net minders would split the starts this weekend.
Lines were…
Zach Aston-Reese — J-S Dea — Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Daniel Sprong
Adam Johnson – Teddy Blueger – Colin Smith
Cody Wydo – Jarrett Burton – Patrick McGrath
Andrey Pedan – Kevin Czuczman
Jarred Tinordi – Zach Trotman
Chris Summers – Frank Corrado
Michael Leighton – Casey DeSmith
Lineup Notes: Third time this season that the Penguins ideal lineup on defense dress….Greg McKegg was a healthy scratch, Tom and Tyler reported after the game that he is away attending to a family matter and won’t be back until after Christmas. Jeff Taylor skated the extra in warmups.
First Period: Adam Johnson chases down a puck to beat out an icing, dishes to Teddy Blueger who scored to make it 1-0 Penguins…
🚨 GOAL! 🚨 Teddy Blueger's 7th goal of the season puts the #WBSPens up 1-0.
Leighton was making some good saves when called upon, but then John Quennville ripped a shot over Leighton’s glove to get Binghamton on the board and made it a 2-1 game.
Binghamton scored again on a goofy play where there was a lucky Devil bounce on a wraparound play. Leighton was caught looking the other way and Nick Lappin put it in to make it 2-2.
Penguins got a power play late in the period then give up a goal to Michael Latta on a 2-on-1 that no goalie in the world would stop. Take a look…
Things got physical. Zach Aston-Reese hit Nick Lappin which put Lappin out off the game. He fought Michael Latta who fought McGrath in the second.
Right after, Garrett Wilson laid a hit on a Devil which set off a mini brawl which put the Devils on the power play to close out the third as we headed to…
Overtime: Penguins killed the Devils power play easily. There was a stoppage and the teams when back to three on three. J-S Dea to Teddy Blueger at 4:19 of overtime…
Game. Set. Match. Maybe it takes a greasy win like this to break the Penguins out of the funk that they are in.
Three Stars: 3) Michael Leighton (28 saves on 31 shots) 2) Jarrett Burton (two goals, +2) and 1) Teddy Blueger (two goals, overtime game winner, +2)
Around the Division: The Hartford Wolf Pack may be the best team in the Atlantic Division at present. They methodically take down the Providence Bruins 6-4 at home. Springfield jumped out on Bridgeport and didn’t look back and won 5-2. Lehigh Valley, Hershey and Charlotte were all off.
Standings: Providence (.679 percentage points) — Charlotte (.661) — Penguins (.648) — Lehigh Valley (.645) — Bridgeport (.518) — Hartford (.516) — Hershey (.468) — Springfield (.422)
Wheeling Update: The Nailers hosted the Brampton Beast tonight and lost 3-1. Garrett Meurs scored for the Nailers. These two teams rematch tomorrow in West Virginia.
Video Highlights:
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Don’t forget that Saturday’s game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms starts at 5:05, to get it out of the way so teams and their families can make it home in time fro Christmas on Monday. With no games on Sunday, look for the Week 12 AHL Power Rankings some time on Christmas Eve then. I will probably mention it again Saturday after the Phantoms game as well.
Comments Off on Surrounded by Aho’s — Pens LOSE 3-2 (OT)
Posted by nafsnep on December 16, 2017
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The Bridgeport Sound Tigers came into the game tonight on a 0-4-0-1 streak.
They lost starting goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis to a non-contact lower body injury in the second period and Christopher Gibson, who let five goals in last night in a losing effort in Springfield, was called into duty.
Gibson and the Sound Tigers rally from a 1-0 deficit to beat the Penguins 3-2 in overtime off of a power play goal by Sebastian Aho.
Fun game otherwise, with two teams looking evenly matched in the game, but a stinger for Pens fans knowing the history of recent where Wilkes-Barre came in 3-6-1-0 in their last ten games.
Casey DeSmith opposed the aforementioned Kristers Gudlevskis
Lines were…
Zach Aston-Reese — Greg McKegg — Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson – Colin Smith – Daniel Sprong
Christian Thomas – J-S Dea – Patrick McGrath
Adam Johnson – Teddy Blueger – Thomas DiPauli
Jarred Tinordi – Zach Trotman
Andrey Pedan – Chris Summers
Kevin Spinnozi – Frank Corrado
Casey DeSmith – Sean Maguire
Lineup Notes: Earlier in the day, Kevin Spinozzi was signed by the Penguins to an AHL contract for the remainder of the season with his PTO expiring this weekend. The Pens could have re-signed Spinozzi to another 25 game tryout agreement, but rather opted for the standard player contract. Jarred Tinordi returned from injury and replaced Ethan Prow and Patrick McGrath swapped up front with Gage Quinney.
Personally, I think Prow would have been taken out of the lineup regardless, since Tinordi was ready to return, so we will have to watch this week of practice report to get an update on Ethan.
First Period: Pens came out of the period with a 1-0 lead on a Greg McKegg wraparound goal and traded power plays with the Sound Tigers. Last night in Hartford, solo referee Corey Syvret didn’t call a single penalty on the Wolf Pack thus not allowing the Penguins a power play opportunity. Tonight, referee Stephen Reneau was the only man in orange stripes tonight and missed a slash on Garrett Wilson and then an interference call on Zach Trotman. So when you don’t have the officials out there policing play, you leave it to the players.
That’s my only gripe in the period. But it’s a double edged sword. I complain when there are 57 penalties in a period and complain when there aren’t enough.
Second Period: Story of this period was the goaltenders. Kristers Gudlevskis left the game with a lower body injury for the Sound Tigers. Enter Christoper Gibson, who let in five goals Friday in Springfield and was pulled. Gibson nailed things down for the Sound Tigers and denied Christian Thomas and Colin Smith on Grade A chances.
Casey DeSmith was dialed in, making some good saves of his own, including one on John Stevens in the slot and then another on Stephen Gionta.
Bridgeport finally beat DeSmith on a shot by Devon Toews, through a heavy screen that tied the game at one.
Third Period: Wilkes-Barre has been bitten by slow starts which have doomed them. Charlotte comes to mind. Springfield too. Well, in the third period, the Penguin didn’t put a lot of shots on Gudlevskis and kept the Sound Tigers in the game.
Scott Eansor beats Casey DeSmith on a power play when an initial shot was stopped by the Penguins netminder where Eansor swooped in and backhanded it in to give the Sound Tigers the lead with 7:14 to play in the period.
But then Zach Aston-Reese tied the game when Christian Thomas led a rush, dropped a pass to Aston-Reese, then was tripped up by two Sound Tigers. In the commotion, Aston-Reese snapped off a quick shot that beat Gibson and tied the game.
But then Frank Corrado would be called for boarding with a minute left to play in regulation, putting the Sound Tigers on the power play for the rest of regulation and then…
Overtime: Shane Prince puts a shot on goal that is partially blocked, then hits Sebastian Aho’s leg and then into the net to win it for the Sound Tigers just :26 into overtime…
Around the Division: At the time this post went live on the blog, the boxscores on the AHL site were all frozen in time. I can tell you, based off of what I read on Twitter that Providence beat Hershey 6-2, Lehigh Valley ends the Syracuse Crunch 10 game win streak with a 4-2 win, the Charlotte Checkers beat the Laval Rocket 3-1 and Springfield beats Hartford 2-1 in a shootout.
Standings: Providence will remain first, Charlotte with remain second, Lehigh Valley will bump to third, Pens will drop to fourth, Bridgeport will stay fifth, Hartford and Hershey will flip fifth and sixth respectively and Springfield will stay in last. I’m not messing with math at this late hour. Check back in for a later edit if you care to.
Wheeling Update: Wheeling beats Reading 4-2 to split the weekend series with the Royals. Troy Josephs, Reid Gardiner, Kevin Schulze and Cody Wydo scored for the Nailers. Will King picked up the win for Wheeling.
If Bridgeport puts out a highlight package that I see and can edit in, I will do so here.
Pend are off Sunday. AHL Power Rankings hit the blog Monday at 4. Check us out then. Wilkes-Barre is back in action this Friday at home agains the Binghamton Devils.
Comments Off on Wolf Bitten — Pens LOSE 7-3
Posted by nafsnep on December 15, 2017
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I am not going to call this game an anomaly for the Hartford Wolf Pack. If you follow and read my Weekly AHL Power Rankings, you know that Hartford is currently punching above its weight and have been winning a lot more than they have been losing of recent.
So for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, a team that is punching under it’s weight and the exact opposite of the Wolf Pack right now, a tough game was going to be expected tonight.
What I wasn’t expecting was a blowout and a systematic breakdown of everything that comes with this team.
You will see as you read the recap here, but the Penguins would get caught in a lapses that had them in a 2-1 hole at the end of the first, then Hartford blew the game wide open in a span of 2:48 to open the second period. Couple this with Wilkes-Barre not getting a single power play awarded by referee Corey Syvret and the apparent loss of Ethan Prow to an injury suffered in the first period and the result is a 7-3 Wolf Pack throttling.
Casey DeSmith opposed Marek Mazanek.
Lines were…
Christian Thomas – J-S Dea – Colin Smith
Zach Aston-Reese — Greg McKegg — Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Daniel Sprong
Adam Johnson – Teddy Blueger – Thomas Di Pauli
Andrey Pedan – Zach Trotman
Chris Summers – Ethan Prow
Kevin Spinnozi – Frank Corrado
Casey DeSmith – Sean Maguire
Lineup Notes: One change from Wednesday, Adam Johnson in for Patrick McGrath.
First Period: Pens caught in lapses that bit them hard in the first period by Hartford. Ryan Graves scored on a rush out of a media break that game the Wolf Pack a 1-0 lead.
It was the same start that the Penguins had Wednesday at home against Springfield. Only this time, their opponent continued to run away from them unlike the Thunderbirds midweek.
Second Period: Three goals in 2:48 by the Wolf Pack blew the doors wide open for the home team.
John Gilmour at 1:05. Pens had a bad line change here….
Even the defensemen are in on it. Here's a look at @johngilmour93's 3rd of the season 🚨 pic.twitter.com/sop70wi88A
After the fourth goal, Sean Maguire relieved Casey DeSmith. On the fifth goal, Maguire stopped the initial shot but the rebound got by him.
Teddy Blueger would play a puck nicely off of the back wall and banked his offering off of Mazanec during a delayed penalty call against the Wolf Pack that pulled the Penguins back to within three.
Despite outshooting the opponent 28-19, the Penguins trailed by three heading into the…
Third Period: Penguins can’t clear then Gabriel Fontaine scores on a shot that may have deflected off of a Penguin on the way in past Maguire that made it 6-2.
1:11 later, Anthony DeAngelo scored to make it 7-2.
Sorry, but we just can't keep up with all these goals 🤷♂️ But here's #6 and #7! pic.twitter.com/NfXsxNeM47
…but the Penguins couldn’t muster any more offense and that was all.
Three Stars: 3) Scott Kosmachuk (goal, two assists, +2) 2) Gabriel Fontaine (two goals, +2) and 1) John Gilmour (two goals, assist, +1)
Around the Division: Providence, the division leader, also lost, their eight game winning streak comes to a close in Syracuse 5-3. The Crunch have won 10 straight…Springfield beat Bridgeport 5-4. Lehigh Valley, Charlotte and Hershey were off.
Standings: Providence (.692 percentage points) — Charlotte (.648) — Penguins (.640) — Lehigh Valley (.625) — Bridgeport (.520) — Hershey (.482) — Hartford (.482) — Springfield (.383)
I don’t know if Hartford will do a highlight package. If I see one, I will edit one in, you probably wouldn’t watch anyway and I can’t blame you. I know I probably won’t.
Pens will bus down to Bridgeport for a 7 p.m. Saturday start. Gameday setup will hit the blog Saturday at 3.
Comments Off on A Lesson in Chain of Command — Pens WIN 6-3
Posted by nafsnep on December 13, 2017
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Tonight was a tale of a good team beating a not too good team.
After falling behind 3-1 which was three consecutive goals for the opponent, the better team battled back tonight. Pens win this one 6-3 over Springfield.
Work night veteran option on the lines tonight. They were:
Lineup Notes: Josh Archibald was recalled after his rehab stint and Tom Sestito was out, so Ryan Haggerty and Gage Quinney swapped in.
First Period: Another good start by the Penguins who established a lot of offensive zone time which later paid off by this goal from Andrey Pedan on an absolute snipe:
🚨 GOAL! 🚨 @AndreyPedan gets the #WBSPens on the board first! His second goal of the season.
Nice backhand pass from Ryan Haggerty to find Pedan there all alone in the slot for the goal.
Then, the Penguins let off and in a span of 1:29, the Thunderbirds scored twice.
A shot by Max Fortunus deflected off of a Penguin and past DeSmith to put the Thunderbirds on the board.
Then Maxim Mamin scored in close and high and tight on DeSmith to push Springfield ahead 2-1 heading into the…
Second Period: It was appearing that young goaltender Samuel Montembeault was dialing in and working on a upset. He had the run support coming into the period, and just denied the Penguins a bunch of times on their power play.
He got even more run support when Chase Balisy shot a puck that deflected off of a Penguins defenseman skate and into the net.
If you are keeping score, that’s two defected off of a teammate goals that Casey DeSmith had given up to this point.
Penguins could have tucked their tails in here, but the two goal deficit seemed to anger them.
They re-established offensive zone time and got a rebound goal from ex-Thunderbird Greg McKegg that pulled the Penguins to within one.
.@gmckegg14's second-period goal, his first of the season.
About two and a half minutes later, seconds after a power play expired just like the McKegg goal, Daniel Sprong from the far dot zipped in a one timer that went so fast in and out of the goal if you blinked you missed it.
🚨 GOAL! 🚨 @sprong97's 13th goal of the season ties it up in the 2nd period.
Pens had battled back, stuck to the game plan if you want to call it, and tied the game at three heading into the….
Third Period: Pens came in on a 2-on-1 with Garrett Wilson and Daniel Sprong and Sprong scored his second of the night that pushed the Penguins ahead 4-3. He scooped up the loose puck and put it in.
🚨 GOAL! 🚨 @sprong97's 2nd goal of the game gives the #WBSPens a 4-3 lead.
Pens made it 5-3 when Ryan Haggerty scored to make it a two goal lead on a dart. A nice shift and o-zone time by Pedan and Aston-Reese set this goal up and for Aston-Reese it was his third assist of the game.
🚨 GOAL! 🚨 @Haggerty39's 10th goal of the season puts the #WBSPens ahead 5-3.
Standings: Providence (.720 percentage points) — Penguins (.667) — Charlotte (.648) — Lehigh Valley (.625) — Bridgeport (.542) — Hershey (.482) — Hartford (.463) — Springfield (.362)
Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.
If Coal Street adds a video highlight package later I will edit it in this space.
Pens hit the road for a pair of games in Connecticut against the Hartford Wolf Pack Friday and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Saturday. But for any news Thursday, I’ll have the Gameday setup for you here Friday at 3 for the game against the Wolf Pack.
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WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 