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Casey DeSmith’s season high 45 saves on Sunday afternoon give the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins a 2-1 win against a desperate Utica Comets team fighting of their playoff lives.

Six regulars on NHL recall to Pittsburgh, but the Penguins have won four straight, seven of their last eight and sweep the weekend here.

Consider this the rehearsal when the Penguins rematch with the Comets next Sunday which also happens to be Wrestlemania. I’m a big wrestling mark and I’m going to have a basement full of frosties and friends over for the Show of Shows a week from now. So this game recap is being hammered out in the parking lot. Mind the misspellings and comma splices, moreseo than usual.

Lines were:

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Casey DeSmith was backed up by Tristan Jarry. He opposed Michael Gartieg.

Lineup Notes: Two lineup changes and a surprise. Patrick McGrath was in for Adam Krause and Frank Corrado was in for Ryan Segalla. Now the surprise, as Obie was tweeted the line rushes above, I was looking for an extra forward and saw a 19 skate by. Wait a minute…Garrett Wilson! Indeed it was he!

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First Period: Penguins went up 11-1 on shots then the Comets rattled off nineteen shots for a season high in a period for them and a season high in saves in a period for a Penguins goaltender. Some of the saves made by DeSmith were highlight reel caliber. For two teams playing their third game in under 48 hours, combining for 35 shots total in the period was a sight to see.

Second Period: Pens had thought they scored on this play but ref Mike Sheehan waved it off and the call was confirmed on replay.

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Good call here. Puck hit both posts and never fully crossed. Better call by Sheehan in real time waving it off.

Penguins got a power play that came and went. Then Utica got a power play and of course scored to take the 1-0 lead. Darren Archibald pounced on a juicy rebound left by DeSmith that gave the Comets the 1-0 lead.

:41 later, Sahir Gill connected on a power play which counted and tied it at one.

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After a first period where both teams seemingly went for broke, the teams were deadlocked at one heading into the…

Third Period: Dominik Simon scored this goal over a way out of his crease Gartieg gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead they would never relinquish…

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Wilkes-Barre just ground the clock down form there. The Comets, with Gartieg pulled, were never able to find the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Sahir Gill (goal. even) 2) Dominik Simon (goal, +1) and 1) Casey DeSmith (45 saves on 46 shots)

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley was down 3-1 to start the third at home against Bridgeport and storm back and take the Sound Tigers to overtime and beat them 4-3….Hershey beat St. John’s on the Rock 2-1…Rochester shutout Springfield 2-0 and Providence beat Hartford 5-2. Rare that all seven teams in the division are in action on a Sunday.

Standings: Penguins (.709 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.672) — Providence (.649) — Hershey (.640) — Bridgeport (.612) — Springfield (.485) — Hartford (.373)

Penguins can clinch Friday if Bridgeport, who is in action Wednesday, loses and the Penguins win Friday and the Sound Tigers fail to record at least a point. Or, the Sound Tigers can pick up a point Wednesday and lose clean Friday but the Penguins would still have to win Friday.

Sprong Watch: Daniel Sprong’s Charlottetown Islanders hold a 2-0 series lead on the Base-Comeau Drakkar as now the series switches to Quebec Tuesday for Game 3.

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off. More on them Tuesday in the Wheeling Wrap.

Video highlights….

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Week 24 AHL Power Rankings hit the blog Monday at 4.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Let me front load this pun headline for you.

PPL is a power company, short for, “Pennsylvania Power and Light.”

When someone does something which is, “lights out” it usually means that their actions were stupendous, or above average.

The play of Tristan Jarry and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins top rated penalty kill were lights out tonight.

Lights out, at PPL Center? Get it?

35 saves by the Penguins netminder in one of his finest performances in a Penguins sweater and the penalty kill goes 9-for-9 tonight and the Penguins rout the Phantoms 4-0 in Allentown to go five points clear of the second place Phantoms.

Oh, and with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack, the magic number for a playoff spot should be 9 after tonight.

The aforementioned Tristan Jarry opposed Alex Lyon.

Lines were…

Zach Aston-Reese – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Dominik Simon – Teddy Blueger – Ryan Haggerty
Thomas DiPauli – J-S Dea – Sahir Gill
Troy Josephs – Jarrett Burton – Adam Krause

Derrick Pouliot – Ethan Prow
Barry Goers – Brett Stern
Ryan Segalla – Tim Erixon

Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith

Lineup Notes: About an hour before the game, Pittsburgh recalled David Warsofsky and returned Frank Corrado. Corrado didn’t make it in time to Allentown, so Ryan Segalla made his debut. No lineup changes up front.

First Period: Much like last night, the Penguins went a few minutes without registering a shot on goal and had to kill a penalty. They killed that penalty and then Phantom killer Teddy Blueger scored a goal that gave him his first goal against Lehigh Valley this season (to go along with eight assists)

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On the goal, it was Tom Kostopoulos’ 50th point of the season and 200th point in his second stint with the team. Aston-Reese picked up another point, winning a race to the puck from behind the net, passed to Kostopoulos who then passed to Blueger for the goal.

Tristan Jarry had a solid period, makings one key saves as the Phantoms were starting to push.

Second Period: Penguins fourth line, the penalty kill and Tristan Jarry were the story off this period.

Adam Krause and Jarrett Burton scored for the Penguins, Troy Josephs picked up his first pro point on the Burton goal and Wilkes-Barre went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Oh, and Tristan Jarry was in god mode. “God mode” would have been an alternative headline if I wasn’t an actual God fearing Catholic…

Here are the Krause and Burton goals…

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Tristan Jarry faced 16 shots in the period and made a great save on Taylor Leier going post to post to keep the game scoreless. Really great job by unsung heroes, special teams and the number one goaltender in the period.

Third Period: Penalties would continue. Wilkes-Barre took four straight. All legit. A slash, a face off violation for closing your hand on the puck, a hold and a check to the head. I personally thought that Jake Brenk and Mike Sheehan had a great game from the officials standpoint. The Penguins coaching staff isn’t going to be happy with all the penalties though.

Penguins would somehow outshoot the Phantoms 14-11 in the period.

Turning point in this one would be the Phantoms inability to score on :50 of a 5-on-3 even with a Scott Gordon timeout which came during the two man advantage. Penguins disposed of the penalties, continued to stick to the plan of the penalty kill and time got in the way of a Phantoms comeback.

In a true laugh out loud moment, the Penguins would score a power play goal late and ended up the night 1-for-3 on the man advantage. Who else but Tom Kostopoulos deflecting this Tim Erixon to turn this game into a laugher…

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Late drama for the Phantoms who put the puck past Jarry on a face off play with one second left, but after video review it was determined that the puck entered the net after time had expired so Jarry would get his shutout and the Phantoms would be shutout for the first time all season.

Notes: Dominik Simon failed to register a point tonight and his seven game point streak was snapped and these tweet by the Penguins….

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Three Stars: 3) Teddy Blueger (goal, +2) 2) Adam Krause (goal, assist, +2) 1) Tristan Jarry (35 save shutout)

Around the Division: St. John’s gets a late goal with under :30 to play and beat the Hershey Bears 4-3 up on the Rock this afternoon. Hershey’s six game winning streak is over….Providence throttles Albany 5-0…Springfield falls to Toronto 4-1 and Hartford beats Bridgeport 4-3.

Standings: Penguins (.705 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.667) — Providence (.644) — Hershey (.634) — Bridgeport (.614) — Springfield (.492) — Hartford (.379)

Sprong Watch: Daniel Sprong’s Charlottetown Islanders throttle Baie-Comueau tonight 9-2 to go up 2-0 in the best of seven series. Sprong had four assists. Game 3 goes off Tuesday from wherever the hell Baie-Comeau is.*

Wheeling Update: 4-1 tonight at home.The Nailers fell to the Idaho Steelheads. Gage Quinney had the goal for the Nailers.

If I see any video highlights here I will work the edit in.

Pens have a rare Sunday home game. Utica is in at 3 p.m. Gameday setup is yours at 11 a.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

* – apparently Baie-Comeau is a city, located in the Quebec province. The more you know.

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Take what you want out of this one, a 5-1 win by the Penguins over the Syracuse Crunch.

It’s rare that you see a team go with seven defensemen on purpose. It’s even rarer that you see a team dress eight.

Such is the case for the Syracuse Crunch who, despite your groaning over the Pittsburgh Penguins recalling another Wilkes-Barre asset from Coal Street, have dealt with nonstop call-ups and send downs for months.

The most ridiculous part of all of this is that despite the daily, “Syracuse Crunch Transaction” on the AHL website, the Crunch lead the North Division.

But there in lies the other issue. The fifth place team in the Atlantic Division, whoever that may be at the end of the season, would probably win the North Division Championship outright. But they won’t, because they play in the Atlantic and there is no crossover this year. Syracuse, despite their call-ups and all, lead a division of misfit teams that probably wouldn’t contend night in and night against a steady stream of Wilkes-Barre, Lehigh Valley, Hershey, Providence and Bridgeport night after night, weekend after weekend.

So the Penguins were expected to go into Onondaga County War Memorial Arena tonight and win the way they did tonight. It’s a case of equal teams (division leaders pillaged by callups) who are haves vs. have nots.

Tristan Jarry opposed Kristers Gudlevskis.

Lines were….

Zach Aston-Reese – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Dominik Simon – Teddy Blueger – Ryan Haggerty
Thomas DiPauli – J-S Dea – Sahir Gill
Troy Josephs – Jarrett Burton – Adam Krause

Derrick Pouliot – David Warsofsky
Tim Erixon – Ethan Prow
Brett Stern – Barry Goers

Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith

Lineup Notes: Sahir Gill was back in the lineup for Clark Donatelli getting in for the recalled Josh Archibald who went up Thursday in the wake of the Jake Guentzel concussion… Patrick McGrath was a scratch, eligible after serving his three game suspension… Ryan Segalla was the other healthy body who was not used this evening.

First Period: It was a game of back and forth between these two division leaders, and the Penguins made the most of their chances.

Wilkes-Barre didn’t get a shot on goal for about the first four and a half minutes, then laster Thomas DiPauli scored his second goal of the season on this nice low shot that beat Gudlevskis….

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DiPauli used Dylan Blujus as a screen there.

Right after that goal, the Penguins were called for concurrent penalties and had to all of a sudden kill a full 2:00 of Crunch 5-on-3. They did so, successfully.

Later, Kevin Porter scored to double the Penguins lead at two on this nice drop pass by Zach Aston-Reese….

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What sense by Aston-Reese there to leave a pass like that for Porter to corral and score on. Acute hockey sense right there in his second professional game.

Aston-Reese then found the net on his own when he scored this goal that chased Kristers Gudlevskis….

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Mike McKenna came on in relief. The Penguins would then get a power play and looked to make it 4-0 and turn this one into a laugher, but then this happened…

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Cory Conacher started the rush, Micheal Bournival kept up and tapped it in and Tristan Jarry had no chance.

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So instead of it turning into a runaway by the Penguins, Syracuse got one back heading into the…

Second Period: You know things are going your way when Barry Goers throws a shot at the net from his own blue line that goes in and beats a future AHL Hall of Fame goaltender in Mike McKenna.

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Tristan Jarry had a highlight reel save on Erik Condra, diving post to post to deny it becoming a sudden two goal lead.

Wilkes-Barre was basically gift wrapped penalty after penalty but were unable to capitalize on the power plays.

Here are the second period highlights. The Jarry save referenced above is at or around the :40 mark…

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Third Period: After the Crunch killed a carryover penalty, Dominik Simon tapped this puck in that made it 5-1….

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That was the put away goal that the Penguins needed that took all of the air out of the Crunch sails. Not that Syracuse was close at any point to here, but they would never get a run going.

The only other memorable thing to happen in the period of a 5-1 game last in the third against Syracuse was this little interaction with Tye McGinn of Syracuse and Tristan Jarry and J-S Dea of Wilkes-Barre / Scranton…

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Jarry did his best Anthony Stolarz impersonation and flopped, a pile of bodies ensued and J-S Dea called McGinn a chicken using sign language. Tristan was fine, and obviously playing with the Crunch here late in the third.

Three Stars: 3) Michael Bournival (shorthanded goal, even) 2) Barry Goers (goal, assist, +2) and 1) Kevin Porter (goal, assist, +1)

Around the Division: The other PA teams in Hershey and Lehigh Valley were off tonight. The Phantoms just flew back from St. John’s and the Bears are there for a pair this weekend starting tomorrow. Providence wins 3-1 in Hartford to maintain the fourth and final spot in the Atlantic over Bridgeport, who was also idle tonight. Springfield was in Rochester tonight and were up 3-1 but lost 4-3 in overtime to the Americans.

Standings: Penguins (.700 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.677) — Hershey (.644) — Providence (.638) — Bridgeport (.623) — Springfield (.500) — Hartford (.369)

Sprong Watch: I am introducing a new feature here on the blog for the time being called, “Sprong Watch.” Daniel Sprong’s Charlottetown Islanders are in the QMJHL playoffs and in Game 1 tonight against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, the Islanders took Game 1 by a 4-2 final. Sprong had a goal and an assist in the contest. When the Charlottetown Islanders win the President’s Cup, Sprong should join Wilkes-Barre for the Calder Cup Playoffs should the Penguins get there. If the Islanders happen to fall short, then Sprong will be here sooner than that. But I figure it’s something to keep an eye on, so that’s what we will do. Game 2 of the Best of Seven series goes off Saturday from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Wheeling Update: Wheeling lost to the Idaho Steelheads 3-2.

Video highlights….

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Pens travel to Allentown to take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Saturday at 7:05. Gameday setup hits the blog here Saturday afternoon at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I have used the “Taking Care of Business” headline before, but that’s exactly what the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins did tonight here against the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Ryan Haggerty’s two goals and Zach Aston-Reese’s professional debut and goal in the first period were what the doctor ordered for a Wilkes-Barre / Scranton team who is holding off a hard charging Atlantic Division as the AHL season hits its final weeks.

The Penguins defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack 5-2 in Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday night.

Here were the lines…

Casey DeSmith started and was backed up by Tristan Jarry.

Lineup Notes: Derrick Pouliot was reassigned Tuesday morning and Oskar Sundqvist and Frank Corrado were recalled. Story is that Tom Sestito is dealing with an upper body injury, necessitating the Sundqvist recall. Zach Aston-Reese made his highly anticipated professional debut, skating on the top line with Tom Kostopoulos and Kevin Porter. Troy Josephs was back too on the fourth line with Adam Krause, who returned also. Ryan Segalla dressed as the extra man defenseman in warmups.

First Period: Back and forth, run and gun first period by both teams. Penguins came out of the gate flying. Troy Josephs hit a post.

Penguins got behind the Hartford defense and scored twice. Josh Archibald on the first one and Ryan Haggerty on the second one…

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But with each goal, Hartford responded to tie the game. Chris Brown left unmarked mid-slot that tied it at one :23 after the Archibald goal and Marek Hrivik shorthanded on a deflection :55 after the Haggerty goal.

So the Penguins needed to score in the final minute and didn’t allow the Wolf Pack to respond right back because you can’t score during intermission.

Meet Zach Aston-Reese.

I told you (well others did, I just put all of their information in a tidy blog piece) about Aston-Reese last week. He scored his first professional goal on a nice pass by Penguins captain Tom Kostopoulos.

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Brett Stern picked up his first AHL point with an assist on the Archibald goal by the way.

Second Period: Ryan Haggerty scored his second of the game right after the Penguins didn’t score on a power play and it was 4-2.

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Wilkes-Barre would get a power play goal :13 into a Dan Catenacci high sticking penalty when David Warsofsky scored to make it 5-2 and chase Jeff Malcolm.

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Malcolm stopped 14 of 19.

Enter Mackenzie Skapski. Skapski settled things down for his team, stopping all 10 shots faced in this period and 10 shots in the…

Third Period: Tidy period that saw no scoring. Penguins half pressed with the likes of Troy Josephs and Adam Krause but Skapski would have none of it and the Penguins defense kept it a three goal lead, limiting Hartford to just five shots on goal.

Three Stars: 3) Tom Kostopoulos (two assists, even) 2) Zach Aston-Reese (goal, even) and 1) Ryan Haggerty (two goals, +1)

Around the Division: Only other game on this Tuesday night was Lehigh Valley on the Rock for the first of two against the IceCaps and St. John’s raced out to a 4-0 lead but Lehigh Valley would storm back and stun the IceCaps (and any fans in the Wyoming Valley pulling for them) and win 5-4 in overtime. These two rematch tomorrow in Newfoundland.

Standings: Penguins (.695 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.672)  — Hershey (.638) — Providence (.633) — Bridgeport (.617) — Springfield (.500) — Hartford (.381)

Wheeling Update: Nailers are off tonight as they prep for three games against the Idaho Steelheads this coming weekend.

Video highlights will run here if I see them.

Let’s Go Pens!

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It’s not supposed to be this easy.

If the Penguins would have defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tonight, they would have went seven points clear of second place in the Atlantic Division and probably would have iced away the division championship.

It’s not supposed to be this easy.

A mess of penalties taken by the Penguins put them behind the 8-ball all night, they couldn’t build any momentum, Phantoms get two goals :15 apart in the second and hang on to win 3-2.

A lot will be said about the officiating of the game from referee Peter Tarnaris. I thought he had an okay two periods and then sort of lost control as the game was getting close and chippy in the third. Some of the calls were questionable, the Josh Archibald slash on Anthony Stolarz was abhorrent, but overall it wasn’t the penalties that killed the Penguins. Wilkes-Barre’s penalty kill went 6-for-6.

The AHL will eventually be at a four man crew in 2019 once they have enough capable officials trained. Friday and tonight you had all 30 AHL teams in action meaning at 15 different venues, you needed at least one referee. The AHL isn’t at the level where they can trust 30 referees to work on a night where every team is in action. Also you have to remember that a lot of these referees work in the NHL and ECHL, so that’s something else to consider.

Look, I am not defending the officiating tonight. I am just saying it wasn’t the major reason why the Penguins lost the game.

Tristan Jarry opposed Anthony Stolarz.

Lines were…

Sahir Gill – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Thomas DiPauli – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Dominik Simon – Teddy Blueger – J-S Dea
Troy Josephs – Jarrett Burton – Ryan Haggerty

David Warsofsky – Frankie Corrado
Tim Erixon – Ethan Prow
Brett Stern – Barry Goers

Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith

Lineup Notes: Troy Josephs made his pro debut tonight replacing Adam Krause on the fourth line. I personally thought he played well and showed flashes of brilliance in the limited role he had on the fourth line. No other lineup changes for the Penguins.

First Period: Josephs first shift almost netted the Clarkson product a goal as he came dangerously close to tipping in a shot from the point.

Tyrell Goulbourne scored his first goal of the season on a nice shot that made it 1-0 Lehigh Valley at 6:01.

Penguins had a lot of runs up the ice shorthanded all night with Oskar Sundqvist leading the charge. This time, he couldn’t get a shot off.

Penguins had to kill two different sequences of 5-on-3 Phantoms power play time and did successfully, here in the first for :51.

Second Period: It was :15 that put the Penguins down in a hole they couldn’t get out of.

Tristan Jarry was knocked down by a teammate, couldn’t get back on his skates when Reece Willcox scored to make it 2-0. On the next play Danick Martel made it 3-0 on a turn around shot that went in.

The rout was on. Or was it?

Wilkes-Barre would go on to outshoot the Phantoms 21-8 in the period but still could not solve Stolarz. In this period, the Phantoms took three penalties to the Penguins one, but Wilkes-Barre was unable to get one past the Lehigh Valley goaltender.

Third Period: Tom Kostopoulos bangs one in on a rebound to put the Penguins on the board early in the third on a power play goal.

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Penguins found themselves down two men again when they had to kill :52 of Phantoms two man advantage. This was the sequence where Archibald was called for slashing on Anthony Stolarz. Here’s Penguins Head Coach Clark Donatelli’s thoughts on this play as told to Tom postgame….

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Tarnaris was a good 80 feet away from the play, working by himself, saw something and needed to make a call in the split second. Was it the right call? I don’t think so, but again, these officials are drilled to protect the goaltenders at all costs.

Oskar Sundqvist scored shorthanded on a separate penalty kill to bring the Penguins to within one…

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The Penguins then got a power play late with under two minutes to play. But, after a time out and with Jarry pulled for the extra man, were never able to find the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, even) 2) Oskar Sundqvist (goal, -1) 1) Chris McCarthy (two assists, +2)

Around the Division: Hershey beats Hartford 6-4 at home. They bus to Bridgeport overnight for a huge Sunday afternoon meeting against the Sound Tigers…the aforementioned Sound Tigers beat Utica 4-1 to stay two points out of a playoff spot. Providence beat Springfield 4-2.

Standings: Penguins (.690 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.667) — Providence (.643) — Hershey (.633) — Bridgeport (.627) — Springfield (.492) — Hartford (.381)

Wheeling Update: lost in overtime 5-4. The Nailers to the Adirondack Thunder. More Tuesday in the Wheeling Wrap. The Nailers play Elmira Sunday.

Video highlights…

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Tom once more on the penalty disparity the Penguins are dealing with right now….

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I guess if you come at the king, you best not miss.

AHL Power Rankings are yours Monday at 4, Wheeling Wrap noon Tuesday with the Hartford Gameday setup at 3 Tuesday afternoon.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Home Game: 30

AHL Game: 930

Who: Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m.

Media Kit

Last Game / Last Meeting: Last night in Allentown, the Penguins won 4-1 to one up a five point lead on the Phantoms for tops in the Atlantic Division. Teddy Blueger had two assists, giving him eight against the Phantoms this season, Tristan Jarry stopped 29 of 30 shots. Max Lamarche scored a first period power play goal for the Phantoms.

Record: For WBS: 42-17-3-0 (87 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For LV: 38-19-4-0 (82 pts., 2nd place Atlantic Division)

Why you should care: Penguins can really put themselves out front and stop worrying for now about if they will get passed by the Phantoms or anyone else for the division lead with a win tonight in regulation over Lehigh Valley in regulation. A straight up win puts them seven clear of the Phantoms. A loss puts things where they were Friday, back down to three points. It’s a televised sellout crowd tonight, Wilkes-Barre better come to play.

Referee(s): Peter Tarnaris

Linesmen: Luke Murray / Scott Pomento

Twitter: @WBSPenguins and @WBSGameDay / @LVPhantoms

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins / /LehighValleyPhantoms

Instagram: wbspenguins / lehighvalleyphantoms

Beat Writers: @CVSethLakso and @TomVenesky / @SteveGrossMCall

Broadcasters: WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS and @_NickHart / For Lehigh Valley: Bob Rotruck @BobRotruck

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @KRAM209

Radio: For WBS: WILK Newsradio / For Lehigh Valley: Fox 1470

Television: AHL Live and on WBRE locally in the Wilkes-Barre area.

Promotion(s): St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, St. Patrick’s Jersey Auction

Other Game to Watch: Bridgeport hosts Utica in a matchup with two teams battling to make it into the top four in their respective division.

Next Five Games: HFD 3/21, @ SYR 3/24, LV 3/25, UTI 3/26, @ SPR 3/31

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J-S Dea is the Phantoms killer, three goals and two assists against Lehigh Valley so far this season.

But the shadow lurking in the dark, is the Latvian assassin, Teddy Blueger. Blueger came into tonight’s game with six assists and the most points against the Phantoms on the Penguins this season.

Blueger adds two more assists, bringing him to eight points against the Phantoms, and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins beat the Lehigh Valley Phantoms by a score of 4-1 Friday night and build up a five point lead on the Phantoms for first in the Atlantic Division.

Tristan Jarry opposed Alex Lyon.

Lines were…

Sahir Gill – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Thomas DiPauli – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Dominik Simon – Teddy Blueger – J-S Dea
Adam Krause – Jarrett Burton – Ryan Haggerty

David Warsofsky – Frankie Corrado
Tim Erixon – Ethan Prow
Brett Stern – Barry Goers

Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith

Lineup Notes: The Penguins signed draft pick Troy Josephs to an ATO and he took warmups but was scratched. Josephs comes from Calrksoin University where he led the team in goals, plus / minus and second on the team in points. He set career highs in everything in is senior year. Josh Archibald and Oskar Sundqvist were down from Pittsburgh, re-assigned Thursday, and Pittsburgh recalled Derrick Pouliot Friday morning. Word came down from practice Thursday that Stuart Percy is week to week with an upper body injury. Clark Donatelli is away this weekend attending to a personal matter so Chris Taylor ran the bench. Mark Recchi was seen on the Penguins bench during the game. Tristan Jarry started, and he has started every game against Lehigh Valley this season. Patrick McGrath served the first of his three game suspension.

First Period: Phantoms score the only power play awarded by referee Camron Voss when Max Lamarche scored from the far side and one timed a shot past Jarry that gave the Phantoms a 1-0 lead.

In an overall even period, the Phantoms hemmed the Penguins in for large portions and nearly scored a few more times but for the timely saves from Tristan Jarry. Lehigh Valley hit a post and really smothered the Penguins in the final minute of the period.

Second Period: Wilkes-Barre needed a big period and big response after getting steamrolled in the first period and got one.

Josh Archibald scored a shorthanded goal, his fourth such goal tying him in the AHL lead, when Lyon’s pass to a defenseman went off the boards to a forechecking Teddy Blueger who found Archibald cross ice that beat the Phantoms netminder which made it a 1-1 game…

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Teddy Blueger picked up his seventh point against the Phantoms with the primary assist on the Archibald goal.

Ryan Haggerty made it 2-1 Wilkes-Barre when a shot from the opposite point caromed off of Lyon, who had no idea where the puck was where Haggerty banked it off of the Phantoms goaltender and made it 2-1 Wilkes-Barre…

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As Taylor tweeted, Frank Corrado picked up an assist on the goal, his first with Wilkes-Barre.

Shots were 15-8 Penguins in the period and aggregate 22-17 Wilkes-Barre heading into the…

Third Period: Penguins came out with the same vim and vigor they exhibited in the second period, but Tristan Jarry remained on point and made this save which maintained the one goal Wilkes-Barre lead at the time…

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Later, Kevin Porter won a face-off to Tom Kostopoulos and the Penguins captain wired one past the glove of Lyon which made it a 3-1 lead for the Penguins….

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Jarry bailed out a Thomas DiPauli turnover at his own blueline to maintain the two goal lead the Penguins had.

Lehigh Valley pulled Lyon in favor of an extra attacker and had a brief 6-on-4 power play with Kevin Porter in the penalty box for a textbook boarding call. Obie and Nick mentioned it on the broadcast that it was a clean game between the two rivals from a perspective of shenanigans, and it was, which made it an excellent game for referee Cameron Voss, who I thought was exceptional tonight.

With Lyon vacated, Teddy Blueger wins a neutral zone face off, walks past two Phantoms defenders just staring at him and unselfishly dishes to Dominik Simon for the easy tap in empty net goal.

Three Stars: 3) Tristan Jarry (29 saves on 30 shots) 2) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, +1) and 1) Josh Archibald (goal, +1)

Around the Division: Springfield beats Albany 2-1 in a shootout, Hershey somehow finds themselves in a battle with Hartford who has already been eliminated form playoff contention and beat the Wolf Pack 4-3 in overtime and Providence shuts out Bridgeport 3-0 at home.

Standings: Penguins (.702 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.661) — Providence (.637) — Hershey (.627) — Bridgeport (.621) — Springfield (.500) — Hartford (.387)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers beat the Adirondack Phantoms 5-2 up in Glens Falls, NY tonight. The two teams rematch tomorrow from Central New York. Sean Maguire picked up the win and first star honors, stopping 32 of 34 shots.

Video highlights….

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Pens and Phantoms rematch Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre. If you can’t make the game, it will be on TV. Gameday setup will hit the blog Saturday at 3 with all the details.

Let’s Go Pens!