Chirps from Center Ice

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4                                          3

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Hat tricks are a rare thing. Back to back hat tricks are extremely rare. But that is what happened Saturday afternoon in Laval, QC as Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defensemen Andrey Pedan scored a hat trick, his first of his professional career. Last night, Ryan Haggerty scored his first professional hat trick last night in Belleville.

Wilkes-Barre wins 4-3. Seven straight for the Penguins, their longest winning streak of the season.

Had the conversation on here a week ago whether the Penguins are, “back” after their horrific December. I think so. Today’s game was a terrific, physical and exciting affair between two teams that knocked the snot out of each other. It was a game that could have went either way, and Pedan and his heroics are enough to lift the Penguins past the Rocket today in Quebec.

Anthony Peters opposed Michael McNiven.

Lines were…

Zach Aston-Reese — J-S Dea — Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson – Greg McKegg – Christian Thomas
Adam Johnson – Teddy Blueger – Thomas DiPauli
Freddie Tiffels – Jarrett Burton – Patrick McGrath

Andrey Pedan – Kevin Czuczman
Jarred Tinordi – Ethan Prow
Chris Summers – Kevin Spinozzi

Anthony Peters – Adam Morrison

Lineup Notes: Freddie Tiffels, Jarrett Burton and Patrick McGrath replaced the fourth line from last night. Ethan Prow, Kevin Spinozzi and Chris Summers were in on the blue line. Thomas DiPauli bumped up to the third line, replacing Colin Smith.

First Period: :32 in, Eric Gelinas puts a shot on net that through a heavy screen to put the Rocket on the board first. Later, Andrey Pedan carried the puck through the neutral zone, unleashed a shot from high slot that McNiven got a piece of with his glove, but it went over the glove and in his net.

Christian Thomas assisted here, extending his point streak to four games.

Physicality picked up, as both teams were throwing big time hits.

Second Period: 1:03 in, the Rocket would jump out to another lead. A shot from the point was put in by Adam Cracknell. A Penguin lost his stick.

:23 later, Teddy Blueger scored. A great rush by Adam Johnson set the whole thing up…

Peters was keeping his team in the game, with this nice save here…

That was Noah Juulsen off a nice pass from Nikita Scherbak being denied by the Penguins netminder.

Andrey Pedan would add his second goal of the game while the Penguins were on a power play with this snapper of a shot that gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead…

Physicality was picking up huge. Neither team was backing down.

Laval drew even again on a power play goal. Wilkes-Barre found themselves in some penalty trouble and this one bit them. Adam Cracknell again, and it was tied again at three.

Pedan would complete his hat trick with four minutes to play in the second period exactly on a power play.

That’s Garrett Wilson down there setting the screen.

Penguins defensemen just don’t score hat tricks that often. Here is the last time that it happened…

Oh, and Ryan Haggerty assisted on that Pedan goal, giving him six points on the weekend. Give him AHL Player of the Week honors immediately.

Third Period: No scoring here, but it was a period highlighted by lots of fantastic saves from McNiven and Peters. McNiven with the toe denying Zach Aston-Reese and Peters here in a pile of bodies with time ticking down…

This time it was Laval that found themselves in penalty trouble late in the period, nullifying any attempted comeback that the home team would have planned.

Three Stars: 3) Ryan Haggerty (two assists, -1) 2) Adam Cracknell (two goals, +2) and 1) Andrey Pedan (hat trick, +1)

Around the Division: Toronto sweeps Charlotte 3-1. Checkers are in a free fall, out of a playoff spot and 3-7 in their last ten….Belleville beats Hartford 4-2…Bridgeport beats Providence and sweeps the P-Bruins this weekend beating them 2-1 in a shootout. The Sound Tigers take the fourth spot in the Atlantic….Lehigh Valley beats Hershey 2-1, the Bears five game point streak ends. These two teams rematch tomorrow in Hershey. Springfield had the night off.

Standings: Penguins (.681 percentage points) — Providence (.649) — Lehigh Valley (.628) — Bridgeport (.568) — Charlotte (.556) — Hershey (.500) — Hartford (.450) — Springfield (.436)

Wheeling Update: Nailers beat Norfolk 4-2. J.C. Campagna had a pair of goals.

Video Highlights:

Pens will travel home Sunday.

Week 15 AHL Power Rankings are yours Monday at 4 but for anything breaking between now and then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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6                                          2

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Wlkes-Barre / Scranton uses six goals tonight in Belleville, Ontario to extend their winning streak to six wins with a 6-2 win in Canada tonight.

Ryan Haggerty had three goals, his first ever hat trick as a professional. Anthony Peters picked up his fourth win as a Penguins goaltender since coming in on his second PTO and coupled with a Providence loss, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are once again atop the Atlantic Division.

Another methodical win by the Penguins, who seemed numb to a better Belleville team tonight in my opinion. The Pens have been using the KISS method to win them hockey games recently and it’s been working. Anthony Peters is more than capable enough to win games for the Penguins in goal. The defense remains intact for Wilkes-Barre and the Penguins are getting scoring from the likes of Haggerty, Christian Thomas, J-S Dea, Teddy Blueger and others and it’s turned their season around.

Anthony Peters opposed Marcus Hogberg.

Lines were…

Zach Aston-Reese — J-S Dea — Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson – Greg McKegg – Christian Thomas
Adam Johnson – Teddy Blueger – Colin Smith
Cody Wydo – Gage Quinney – Thomas Di Pauli

Pedan-Czuczman Tinordi-Trotman Taylor-Corrado

Anthony Peters – Adam Morrison

Lineup Notes: Casey DeSmith was recalled to Pittsburgh earlier in the day today because Matt Murray is away on a personal matter. For the Penguins in Belleville, Gage Quinney was back in for Wilkes-Barre along with Cody Wydo on the fourth line. On defense, Frank Corrado and Jeff Taylor were in for Chris Summers and Ethan Prow. On Thursday, Christian Thomas was selected for the mens hockey team for Team Canada. That’s Olympian Christian Thomas to you.

First Period: Ryan Haggerty got the Penguins on the board early when he unleashed this shot that eluded Hogberg that gave the Pens a 1-0 lead…

That’s a five game point streak for Haggerty and a six game point streak for Zach Aston-Reese, who picked up an assist on the goal. He’s assisted on nine of fourteen goals by Haggerty this season.

Pens had to kill a Jeff Taylor penalty and had a few shorthanded rushes but couldn’t add another goal.

Later, Max McCormick wheeled around the net of Peters and dished a pass to Colin Smith on the far post that Smith pounded home make it a 1-1 game.

Pens had a late power play, and assistant coach Tim Army put five forwards out for it, something that I have noticed the Penguins do recently, but there was no scoring with that man advantage.

Wilkes-Barre ended the period on a 7-0 shot run.

Second Period: Momma, there’s that man again…

Haggerty’s modus operandi coming over from Rockford when the Penguins signed him two years ago was that he had a great shot. He never used it as much last year as he is this year.

1:15 later, Olympian Christian Thomas scores to make it 3-1 for the Penguins.

That was Thomas’ fourth goal in his last three games.

Kurt Klinendorst replaced Hogberg with Danny Taylor in goal. It worked, to some extent, as Belleville would get one back :06 into an Andrey Pedan interference call. Ben Harpur got the Senators back to within one with his quick goal off of the Senators face-off win.

Third Period: Haggerty completes his hat trick here with this firecracker…

Pens made it 5-2 when Garrett Wilson got in on the scoring by finding daylight from a low angle on a power play…

With time dwindling, Belleville pulled Taylor for the extra man. But then Frank Corrado iced a puck down ice that J-S Dea beat everyone to and he scored an empty netter to salt the game away for Wilkes-Barre…

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Three Stars: 3) Christian Thomas (goal, +2) 2) Colin White (two goals, +1) and 1) Ryan Haggerty (hat trick, assist, +2)

Around the Division: Bridgeport edges Providence 3-2. This Bruins loss catapults the Penguins to first in the division….Toronto defeats Charlotte 4-1. These two teams rematch tomorrow in North Carolina…Springfield smokes Lehigh Valley in Allentown 6-2…Hartford loses to the Penguins Saturday opponent, Laval by a 4-2 score.

Standings: Penguins (.671 percentage points) — Providence (.653) — Lehigh Valley (.618) — Charlotte (.581) — Bridgeport (.543) — Hershey (.513) — Hartford (.462) — Springfield (.436)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers come back from a 3-0 deficit to stun the Norfolk Admirals 4-3 in overtime at WesBanco tonight. Riley Bourbonnais scored the overtime game winning goal 2:19 into overtime to give the Nailers the win.

Remember that Saturday’s game from Laval starts at 4. Don’t be late! Gameday setup will hit the blog here Saturday at noon.

Let’s Go Pens!

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0                                          6

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The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins needed a game like this.

The Belleville Senators have been bad all season, their 6th place showing in the North Division is only bested by last place Binghamton, who the Penguins have struggled with.

So the Penguins rightfully should crush a young, inexperienced Belleville team.

It’s exactly how the outcome turned out tonight.

A 6-0 win. Casey DeSmith was marvelous in goal tonight for the Penguins, stopping all 24 shots sent his way. The game had some lulls to it as any game would, but when called upon DeSmith was there to preserve his clean sheet. Now five wins in a row for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

Two goals from J-S Dea tonight and two more from Christian Thomas who must be pushing hard to get noticed for Team Canada and the Olympics. Secondary scoring from defensemen in Ethan Prow and Zach Trotman and that’s your ballgame.

DeSmith opposed Chris Driedger.

Lines were…

Zach Aston-Reese — J-S Dea — Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson – Greg McKegg – Christian Thomas
Adam Johnson – Teddy Blueger – Colin Smith
Freddie Tiffels – Jarrett Burton – Thomas Di Pauli

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

Casey DeSmith – Anthony Peters

Lineup Notes: Earlier in the day, the Pittsburgh Penguins placed defenseman Frank Corrado on waivers. Lineup wise tonight, Patrick McGrath was out for Freddie Tiffels.

First Period: Christian Thomas used a Belleville defenseman with a screen and ripped home a shot from the high slot that went in to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

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Zach Trotman a few minutes later doubles the Penguins lead to 2-0 with this shot from the point that makes it way past Driedger for a 2-0 Penguins lead…

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Despite the fact that it was a low shot period for the Belleville Senators, Casey DeSmith was dialed in, stopping a deflected puck from the point then the rebound attempt.

Second Period: Belleville tried to push back with a lot more offensive zone time then they had in the first period, but the Penguins played a bend but not break style of hockey that preserved the 2-0 lead when J-S Dea scored to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead. Dea had to be called back onto the ice by referee David Banfield after an icing call, won the face-off that ensured in his own zone, then skated the length of the ice and scored to give the Pens the 3-0 lead.

It was Dea’s first goal in 15 games, so he took the proverbial monkey on his back and threw it into Section 102.

Third Period: J-S Dea again, this time off of Driedger and in. Check this out…

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Power play goal by Dea made it 4-0 Penguins. Dea’s first multi-goal game of the season, his last coming March 5, 2017. Oh, and also…

Ethan Prow fired and scored his first goal of the season to make it 5-0.

Christian Thomas scored his second of the night that made it 6-0.

Twelve Penguins recorded at least a point and four of them had multi point nights.

It was the definition of a great team tearing apart a bad team.

Three Stars: 3) J-S Dea (two goals, +1) 2) Casey DeSmith (24 save shutout) and 1) Christian Thomas (two goals, assist, +4)

Around the Division: Really good results here if you are a Penguin fan. Providence beat Springfield 6-2…Rochester beat Lehigh Valley 3-1…Hershey crushed Charlotte 5-1…Syracuse beats Hartford 3-2…Toronto steamrolls Bridgeport 6-1.

Standings: Providence (.691 percentage points) — Penguins (.662) — Lehigh Valley (.635) — Charlotte (.614) — Bridgeport (.544) — Hershey (.500) — Hartford (.472) — Springfield (.405)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were in Cincinnati and lost to the Cyclones 4-2. Kevin Schulze and Cam Brown scored for the Nailers in the loss.

Video Highlights:

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I’m not really convinced that the Penguins are back, so to speak, rather than just playing out of their terrible December by getting pieces back together and beating some really bad teams. That week where Wilkes-Barre hosts Lehigh Valley on January 17 and then travels to Providence on the 19th is circled on my calendar as the true tests for this team.

If Frank Corrado is claimed on waivers, I’ll put a blog post up Sunday noting same. If not, Week 14 AHL Power Rankings will hit the blog Monday back on their regular time Monday at 4.

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2                                          4

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Fourth win in a row for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins tonight, a 4-2 win over a pesky Springfield Thunderbirds team that were with the Penguins step or step for 59:58 tonight. It was Adam Johnson’s empty net goal with 1.7 seconds left in regulation that ultimately put the Thunderbirds away.

Casey DeSmith picked up the win tonight for the Pens, who again have won four in a row. It sure has hell doesn’t feel like a four game winning streak with the tumultuous times that Wilkes-Barre has been in and battling out of.

I said in my Rapid Recap of this one earlier that this is a game a few weeks ago that the Penguins probably lose. They didn’t, of course, because of heady defense and pack mentality offensively. No scoring in the first period, Pens outshoot Springfield by a wide margin for a time then Greg McKegg breaks the deadlock and gets the Penguins on the board. A wild third period that saw both teams score four times, is probably one that the Penguins of three weeks ago manage to overthink and let get away from them. Not tonight.

Are the Penguins back? I think yes, but I am not sure yet. Bridgeport was the biggest test of the week and the Penguins passed with flying colors. Springfield is last in the division and Belleville, Saturday’s opponent, is playing awful hockey right now and got smoked by Binghamton on the Southern Tier 6-1 last night. I don’t make the schedule and a win is a win, but come see me when the Penguins meet up with the Providence Bruins and Lehigh Valley Phantoms later down the schedule before you start asking me if they Pens are back.

Casey DeSmith opposed Samuel Montembeault.

Lines were…

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

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

Casey DeSmith – Anthony Peters

Lineup Notes: Adam Johnson was back in, replacing Cody Wydo and Zach Trotman was in for Jeff Taylor.

First Period: No scoring here but the Penguins largely dominated offensive zone time and outshot the Thunderbirds 8-5.

Second Period: Greg McKegg would sweep in a doubled deflected shot from the point on the near side to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

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Jarred Tinordi swept away a Curtis Valk shot that slipped in between DeSmith that was reviewed on replay (nice to see it’s operable again) and then later murdered Ed Wittchow in this fight…

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I have not seen a Penguins player manhandle an opponent in a fight like that in some timer. Tinordi stung Wittchow with many stiff shots, I counted nine straight at one point, full credit to the Thunderbirds defenseman for staying on his feet and not going down.

Third Period: 1:03 in, Mark Fayne scored to get the Thunderbirds on the board. He was there to poke home a rebound off of DeSmith’s pads to tie the game and make it a tie and new game again.

Christian Thomas scored on this snipe to re-establish the Penguins lead.

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Man down!

Later, Ryan Haggerty swept in a puck that the Thunderbirds did not clean up in front of Montembeault to give the Penguins a 3-1 lead.

I thought at that point it was the kill shot the Penguins finally were able to find.

:21 later, Dryden Hunt and other plans. Springfield established time in the offensive zone and Hunt scored to make it a one goal game again for the Thunderbirds.

But Springfield, with time becoming their enemy, were not able to find the equalizer and with Montembeault pulled saw Adam Johnson score on the empty net with 1.7 seconds left to ice it away for the Penguins.

Three Stars: 3) Greg McKegg (goal, +1) 2) Christian Thomas (goal, even) and 1) Ryan Haggerty (goal, +1)

Around the Division: Toronto takes down Lehigh Valley in a shootout 3-2….Hartford jumped out to a 3-0 lead and preserved it to hold on for a 3-2 win over Providence….Bridgeport scrapped with Rochester in Western New York and lost 3-2 in overtime. Charlotte was off.

Standings: Providence (.652 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.653) — Penguins (.652) — Charlotte (.632) — Bridgeport (.561) — Hershey (.486) — Hartford (.486) — Springfield (.417)

Pens are .001 percentage point behind the Lehigh Valley Phantoms with three games in hand.

Wheeling Update: Nailers score a touchdown and extra point on division leader Manchester, winning 7-4 at home. Riley Bourbonnais had a hat trick.

Video Highlights…

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Belleville is in tomorrow night for their only stop down of the year. Pens Head Coach Clark Donatelli didn’t tip his hand as to who is starting in goal against the Senators Saturday. I’ll answer for him. Casey DeSmith hasn’t seen a ton of game action, he’s the guy on the NHL contract vs. the backup on PTO, DeSmith heads out of the tunnel first Saturday night for warmups.

Gameday setup hits the blog Saturday afternoon at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

       vs.       

2                                          3

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In case you don’t get the headline, Teddy Blueger is from Latvia. As I was walking into the game tonight a Pens promo person asked me if I wanted to participate in a Pens trivia game, the subject being Teddy Blueger. I politely turned the guy down. The question ended up being what country Teddy Blueger is from.

Blueger’s overtime game winning goal caps off a tumultuous game for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. More on that in a minute.

The big news before the game was the announcement by the team that they signed Sebastian Caron to a PTO. Tristan Jarry left the game Tuesday night against Philly with an apparent injury. Casey DeSmith was not recalled today, but held out of the game likely at the request of the NHL team.

So why not recall the recently released Adam Morrison? Not that easy. Wheeling is down in Norfolk, who is in the direct path of that winter storm you may have heard of and most likely wasn’t available to be returned safely to Wilkes-Barre. Pens went the nostalgia route and signed a blast from the past to backup Anthony Peters in Sebastian Caron.

Extremely cheap move, in my opinion. There are 27 ECHL teams and all day to sign a guy who actively plays, get him in on a PTO and sit him down to watch an AHL game. Thankfully, Peters didn’t get injured tonight, because that would have been a disaster against a fifth place team hot on the Penguins tails. You may think it’s fun to see a guy you cheered for 12 years ago skate for your present day Penguins, but people pay money to watch this product. If the team isn’t putting forth the best possible product on the ice regardless of backup, that’s troubling.

Anyway. Pens win 3-2 in overtime against Bridgeport. Third win in a row for the Penguins, second in overtime.

Sound Tigers weren’t slouches tonight and weren’t slouches coming in. They hadn’t given up a power play goal in some time and have not allowed their opponents to have 10 or more shots in a period in some time either.

That all changed in the third period, however.

Anthony Peters opposed Christopher Gibson.

Lines were…

Zach Aston-Reese — J-S Dea — Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson – Greg McKegg – Christian Thomas
Thomas Di Pauli – Teddy Blueger – Colin Smith
Cody Wydo – Jarrett Burton – Patrick McGrath

Andrey Pedan – Kevin Czuczman
Jeff Taylor – Jarred Tinordi
Chris Summers – Ethan Prow

Anthony Peters – Sebastian Caron

First Period: Bridgeport scored on their first power play of the night. Travis St. Denis from the near dot on a one timer that gave the Sound Tigers a 1-0 lead.

Later, Sound Tigers doubled their lead when a Kyle Burroughs shot rebounded to Michael Dal Colle.

Wilkes-Barre settled a bit, got a power play that they got close on a few times but didn’t score. They killed a late Garrett Wilson penalty.

Second Period: Penguins only muster four shots at Gibson in the period that featured no scoring. Couple power plays for each side but nothing to write home about.

Third Period: Thomas DiPauli appears to have scored a goal on the backhand to break the Gibson shutout, but referee Furman South washed the goal out immediately because Colin Smith was standing in the blue paint. South applied rule 69.3 from the AHL Rulebook.

In part, from the rule book,

69.3 Contact Inside the Goal Crease – If an attacking player initiates contact with a goalkeeper, incidental or otherwise, while the goalkeeper is in his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.

If a goalkeeper, in the act of establishing his position within his goal crease, initiates contact with an attacking player who is in the goal crease, and this results in an impairment of the goalkeeper’s ability to defend his goal, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.

If, after any contact by a goalkeeper who is attempting to establish position in his goal crease, the attacking player does not immediately vacate his current position in the goal crease (i.e. give ground to the goalkeeper), and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed. In all such cases, whether or not a goal is scored, the attacking player will receive a minor penalty for goalkeeper interference.

If an attacking player establishes a significant position within the goal crease, so as to obstruct the goalkeeper’s vision and impair his ability to defend his goal, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.

For this purpose, a player “establishes a significant position within the crease” when, in the Referee’s judgment, his body, or a substantial portion thereof, is within the goal crease for more than an instantaneous period of time.

For what it’s worth, I didn’t see any of those parameters applied there. Donatelli told media post game that it wasn’t a play that could be reviewed and he’s right, it can’t be because that is in the rule book.

That controversial call seemed to light a fire under the Penguins.

The Penguins finally do score a clean goal when Ryan Haggerty scored off of an initial shot from Zach Aston-Reese that knuckled and handcuffed Gibson to put the Penguins on the board legally, and it was a 2-1 game.

Penguins on a last minute power play with Peters pulled score to tie the game when Garrett Wilson fed Greg McKegg in the slot to tie the game. That was the first power play Wilkes-Barre has scored in eight games, breaking Bridgeport’s streak of 33 straight kills in the process.

Overtime: In overtime and the momentum flowing, Pens capitalize on a turnover and Teddy Blueger scores through the five hole of Gibson to end it.

Hell of a way to battle back. Credit the Penguins for sticking around with Bridgeport and quickly erasing a two goal deficit.

Three Stars: 3) Zach Aston-Reese (credited with the initial goal which was later switched to Haggerty, Aston-Reese had an assist and was +1) 2) Greg McKegg (power lay goal, even) and 1) Teddy Blueger (overtime game winning goal, +1)

In the division, they all watched us.

Standings: Providence (.703 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.657) — Penguins (.641) — Charlotte (.632) — Bridgeport (.563) — Hershey (.486) — Hartford (.471) — Springfield (.429)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers are in Norfolk tonight and lost in overtime 3-2. Christian Horn had a hat trick for the Admirals, Riley Bourbonnais and Kevin Schulze scored for the Nailers in the loss. Colin Stevens took the overtime loss for Wheeling.

Video Highlights: 

Wilkes-Barre hosts Springfield Friday. I may come here to mention the recalls (if any) made by Pittsburgh Thursday. If not, check out the Gameday setup with the Thunderbirds Friday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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The big news in the organization today was the recall of Daniel Sprong to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sprong, coming off of his second hat trick of the season last night, earns his first recall of the season. Pittsburgh sent Dominik Simon back in the transaction. In an unrelated move, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins recalled Cody Wydo and Reid Gardiner from Wheeling about an hour after the Sprong news.

I wrote that paragraph at around 6:10 p.m. Saturday night. Fast forward about three hours and it’s the aforementioned Simon that completely asserts himself in the contest with the Hershey Bears tonight, scoring the game winning goal in overtime to propel the Penguins past their I-81 rivals by a score of 2-1.

So the Penguins sweep the weekend and close out 2017 on a winning note.

Here’s how they lined up tonight…

Zach Aston-Reese — J-S Dea — Ryan Haggerty
Thomas Di Pauli – Greg McKegg – Dominik Simon
Adma Johnson – Teddy Blueger – Colin Smith
Cody Wydo – Jarrett Burton – Freddie Tiffels

Jarred Tinordi – Ethan Prow
Kevin Czuczman – Zach Trotman
Kevin Spinozzi – Chris Summers

Anthony Peters – Adam Morrison

Lineup Notes: Thomas DiPauli returned from his four game absence and Dominik Simon made it in time from North Carolina last night and those two were in for Gage Quinney and Daniel Sprong. Ethan Prow replaced Jeff Taylor on defense. Cody Wydo was in for Patrick McGrath on the fourth line. Reid Gardiner joined Taylor, McGrath and Quinney on the healthy scratch list.

First Period: No scoring in the period, but the Penguins dominated the play in the period and the difference maker was the play and passing from Dominik Simon. If he wasn’t setting up his teammates, he was creating chances. He drew a penalty and in the power play that ensured, the Penguins spent the entire time in the zone and fired shot upon shot on Bears starting goaltender Vitek Vanecek.

Second Period: Anthony Peters was dialing in, stopping a Wayne Simpson breakaway and the follow-up rebound.

Right around the mid-point of the second period, Zach Aston-Reese put one home for the Pens to give them a 1-0 lead.

This game featured tow things. Physicality and goaltending. Jarred Tinordi laid a hit on a Bear right at center ice that set up a three on one for Hershey. Anthony Peters stopped it. Then the Penguins had to kill two penalties late and did so successfully thanks in part to shot blocking and saves made by Anthony Peters.

Third Period: Penguins were perfect last night on the penalty kill against the Hartford Wolf Pack and perfect again tonight against the Hershey Bears. Seconds after their fourth kill of the night on the Bears power play, Ty Graovac scored to tie the game on this goal…

Penguins got a power play but were not able to score on it. Later, J-S Dea thought he scored but replay confirm that the puck did not cross the goal line. Teams traded late penalties, but it was off to…

Overtime: Dominik Simon raced past all three Bears defenders and that was your ballgame…

Three Stars: 3) Anthony Peters (20 saves on 21 shots) 2) Vitek Vanecek (36 saves on 38 shots) and 1) Dominik Simon (overtime game winning goal, even)

Around the Division: Belleville beats Providence at home 3-2 in overtime….Bridgeport shuts out Binghamton 5-0 at home….Springfield takes down Hartford 5-4 in the Connecticut capital….Charlotte takes down Lehigh Valley in Allentown 5-2.

Standings: Providence (.703 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.657) — Charlotte (.632) — Penguins (.629) — Bridgeport (.565) — Hershey (.486) — Hartford (.471) — Springfield (.429)

Wheeling Update: An undermanned Nailers team stayed with the Toledo Walleye, but fell on home ice 5-4.

Great stat here from Pens color man Nick Hart…

Video Highlights:

Pens are off now until Wednesday when they host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. I’ll have the Week 13 AHL Power Rankings up at a special time on Monday and that time will be at noon. Check them out then. Have a safe New Year.

Let’s Go Pens!

       vs.       

1                                          5

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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.

Now that’s out of the way, to more current events. A 5-1 Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins win against the Hartford Wolf Pack. A methodical takedown by the Pens of a very good, strong Hartford team which has been punching above it’s weight of recent and really primed to make a run in 2018.

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.

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…

Nice to see some puck luck turn the way of the Penguins for once.

Sprong would add a second goal here…

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.

Let’s Go Pens!