vs.        

1                                         5

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Confession: I’ve been pining for weeks to get onto Snapchat. It’s the last social media frontier I have yet to conquer. So naturally, I have been trying to come up with ways to make it fun on Twitter and see if there was any possibility for me to join. So, before the game tonight, I tweeted this poll:

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Let’s look at each one individually, shall we?

– A Penguins shutout anytime is sweet. Doing it against your biggest rivals is sweeter. If that would have happened, I would have gladly joined Snapchat.

– Tom Sestito is a stone in the shoe for Hershey Bears fans going back to the playoff series last year and his wars with Liam O’Brien. Sestito is known more for his fists than his goal scoring prowess. Easy choice to make to completely avoid joining Snapchat.

– No Penguin has every scored five goals in the history of the franchise. Come on, I’m being far fetched.

– A bench clearing brawl would end up on Puck Daddy and would be the talk of the hockey world. Also, the blog numbers would explode cause you know I would get video.

Sestito scoring two goals won the vote. So let’s get right into game action and see how this one went down, shall we?

After initial pressure from Hershey to open the game, Teddy Blueger and Tom Sestito found themselves on a quick developing two on one. Blueger fed Sestito and Tom scored to make it 1-0 Penguins…

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:19 later, Sestito repaid the favor to Blueger and the Penguins doubled their lead before the Bears knew what hit them.

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Sestito already had a goal and an assist. To think, in the back of my mind, I would actually have to join Snapchat with loads of game left….

Casey DeSmith was on point tonight. He came up big with some stops on the Bears to open the game then continued as Hershey continued to press before the end of the second period.

Garrett Wilson scored off a Hershey turnover that made it 3-0 Penguins.

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That goal chased Bears starting goaltender Vitek Vanecek, who stopped just 9 shots.

Later, I tweeted this.

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That’s because….

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😱

I am a man of my word….

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No idea if his formal name is Thomas and if his middle initial starts with an F or not.

Sestito’s first two goal game game since February 2013 in the NHL with the Flyers and the last time he did it in the AHL was November 2011 was with the Adirondack Phantoms.

Jake Guentzel scored because the day ended in y to make it 5-0….

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Penguins continued to press. Oskar Sundqvist nearly scored off a feed from Wilson which would have made it 6-0. Penguins had a full offensive zone cycle hemming the Bears in their zone.

Tom Sestito got his Gordie Howe Hat Trick with a fight against Tyler Lewington. Here’s the end of it:

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Sestito was tossed on account of throwing an extra punch after the linesmen broke him and Lewington up. This sequence put Sestito over 1,000 penalty minutes in the AHL.

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Darren Dietz busted up the shutout bid with a goal in the third period. Pens would not allow a second goal to bring back the ghosts of the last game against Hartford.

Wilkes-Barre wins 5-1.

Longest. Lede. Ever.

News du jour from the day was Tristan Jarry and Chad Ruhwedel going back to Pittsburgh with Matt Murray still day to day and Brian Dumoulin still recovering from his broken jaw. Marc-Andre Fleury was sick and did not practice and with Pittsburgh playing four games next week you have to assume that Jarry will get his first NHL start.

Other news included Reid Gardiner mutually parting ways and returning to juniors, playing with his brother with Kelowna of the Western Hockey League. I think this is a case of a good player just not getting enough playing time on account of happenstance with more established NHL-contracted players ahead of him on the depth chart. When Gardiner does expire his junior eligibility, it sounds like, at least from the vibe I am picking up, that he would be welcome back in Wilkes-Barre.

Three stars in the game were Garrett Wilson with a goal and an assist, Teddy Blueger with a goal and an assist and Tom Sestito with two goals, an assist and a fight. Also a blogger on a social media platform he knows nothing about.

Around the Division: Three of the top four in the Atlantic Division lost. Lehigh Valley to Hartford 2-1, Providence to Springfield 4-1. Bridgeport was off.

Standings: Penguins (.742 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.688) — Providence (.662) — Hershey (.652) — Bridgeport (.547) — Springfield (.531) — Hartford (.412)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers beat the best team in the ECHL which is the Toledo Walleye by a score of 6-0. Sean Maguire with a 25 save shutout, his first as a professional. Nailers strike twice on the power play. Nick Sorkin and Garrett Meurs with two goals each.

Video highlights….

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Pens are back on home ice again Saturday against the Binghamton Senators. Gameday setup for this will hit the blog Saturday at 3.

Add me on Snapchat and teach me how to use it.

Let’s Go Pens!

          vs.          

2                                              3

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Coming into Tuesday nights game with the last place Hartford Wolf Pack, you’d think that this would be what the doctor ordered for the top team in the AHL who lost two in a row coming in.

After the first period, you knew the quick two game losing streak was coming to an end. Confident, almost.

After the second, well ask me about half way into the third you say.

Where am I going with this you ask? The Pens went up 3-0 and nearly lost this one as a late Hartford push isn’t enough to get them across the line as the Penguins barely hold on and win 3-2.

Another weekday home game and so another chance for me to lazy leg it through the lines:

Casey DeSmith backed up Tristan Jarry, who opposed Brandon Halverson.

Notes: If you are missing Kevin Porter’s name, that’s because earlier in the day Tuesday the AHL suspended Porter one game for his third period hit on Providence’s Rob O’Gara on Friday. Porter played the next night in Binghamton which I find to be an extremely careless and lazy action by the League, whom I rarely criticize. I’m not upset at the suspension, Porter was suspended earlier in the season a game and I was frankly quite surprised the League didn’t suspend him more games. I’m surprised that the AHL waited until Tuesday to bring the hammer down on Porter. What if Porter did something suspension worthy Saturday? It’s lazy by the AHL. I don’t want to hear that because of New Years that this is some type of excuse either. The League had games Saturday and Sunday.

Anyway, I have spent too long ranting on this topic.

In Porter’s place, Jake Guentzel jumped on top line duty with Kostopoulos and Simon. Chad Ruhwedel and Dave Warsofsky were back in fresh from NHL reassignment.

In the first, the Penguins totally dominated the Wolf Pack, taking an 11-0 shot advantage and a 2-0 lead where it counted the most. Teddy Blueger found himself wide open at the top of the slot to open the scoring for the Penguins. Later, Josh Archibald got a piece of a Dave Warsofsky shot from the blue line that connected to double Wilkes-Barre’s lead.

It was ugly for Hartford. They looked like tackling dummies on a football practice field. They were there, you could see them, but the Penguins did whatever they wanted to them and they never hit back.

In the second, the Wolf Pack were better in that they didn’t allow the Penguins to score any goals and Halverson had some luck with a pad stop and his posts as Warsofsky and Gill came narrowly close to extending the lead.

Both teams had back to back power plays, but the Penguins remained in cruise control heading into the third.

There, the Penguins would connect on a power play to make it a 3-0 lead. A Derrick Pouliot shot from the point was redirected by Dominik Simon off the post right to Chad Ruhwedel cutting in off the wall that made it 3-0.

Right after that, a Steven Fogarty shot found its way in past Jarry through bodies that eliminated any hopes of a Penguin shutout at 5:45.

Hartford had been building momentum ever since they didn’t get steamrolled in the second period like they did the first. They were, in spurts, playing like the better team.

A Tanner Glass shot bounced in then out which made it 3-2 with about 5:30 left to play.

Tense times.

Hartford had a late power play after a careless Derrick Pouliot penalty put them there. But with Halverson vacated for the 6-on-4 man advantage, the Wolf Pack never found the equalizer.

I’m even taking the veteran option on three stars!

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Around the Division: They all watched us.

Standings: Penguins (.734 percentage points) — Leigh Valley (.710) — Providence (.682) — Hershey (.672) — Bridgeport (.548) — Springfield (.500) — Hartford (.394)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off. Kevin Schulze was named an All-Star for Wheeling. More tomorrow in the Wheeling Wrap, which I’m pushing to Wednesday, so look for that at noon then.

Video highlights…

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But for breaking news, expect the next blog update after Wednesday’s Wheeling Wrap to be the Hershey Gameday setup Friday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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2                                               3

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It took till the last day when the sun went down in 2016, but the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have lost back to back regulation games.

A 3-2 loss and a dazzling display of goaltending by Chris Driedger of the Binghamton Senators. Driedger singlehandedly won the game for his team.

Pens drop two straight games for the first time this season and run to 2017 as the best team in the AHL despite the setback. Last night, Wilkes-Barre ran into a hot team in Providence. Tonight, they ran into a hot goaltender. You can’t win t hem all.

Casey DeSmith vs. Chris Driedger

Lines were…

Sahir Gill – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Garrett Wilson – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Jake Guentzel – J-S Dea – Dominik Simon
Tom Sestito – Teddy Blueger – Ryan Haggerty

Tim Erixon – Stuart Percy
Derrick Pouliot – Lukas Bengtsson
Cameron Gaunce – Ethan Prow

Casey DeSmith – Doug Carr

Lineup Notes: Sahir Gill’s first game action in 10 games, having last played on December 3. Head Coach Clark Donatelli stuck him on the top line with Kevin Porter and Tom Kostopoulos. He dropped Simon down to the third line, scratched Danny Kristo, and swapped Haggerty for Reid Gardiner. Defense unchanged.

First Period: No flies on Sahir Gill. Hasn’t played in 10 games, scores off of a face-off to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead…

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Gill’s first goal for the Penguin since February 12.

Minutes later, Jason Akeson scored on the power play which tied it for the B-Sens. It was the fourth time in a row that the Penguins allow a power play goal on the first power play awarded to the opposing team.

Driedger denied a J-S Dea shot on a two on one opportunity late as the period ended.

Second Period: Jason Akeson scored his second when Stuary Percy turned the puck over. Darren Rumble took it, centered to Akeson mid-slot and Akeson gave the Senators the 2-1 lead.

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Driedger was up to task in the period in denying the Penguins scoring chances. Wilkes-Barre’s fourth line had the better opportunities and outshot the Senators 20-6 in the period.

Buddy Robinson scored to make it 3-1 on a bullet pass that appeared offside. Here is the video I took. Let me know if you agree with Gaunce.

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Another look…

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For what it’s worth, Clark Donatelli had this to say postgame to Seth as told by Nick Hart…

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Pens got a late power play and lost Oskar Sundqvist to potential injury off of this shot by Derrick Pouliot…

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Sundqvist made it to the bench, but needed assistance to the locker room not putting any weight on his right foot / leg. He did return for the…

Third Period: Pens continued to pour on the offense, seeing a Josh Archibald shot hit the crossbar but go out. Then Sundqvist hacked and whacked at a puck in Driedger’s pads but the B-Sens netminder was able to get over to the puck and smother it in his crease before it bled across the line.

The Penguins would outshoot the Senators 18-7 in the period and pounded Driedger with shots. They owned the offensive zone time.

Finally, the Penguins got a power play goal via, who else, Jake Guentzel.

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Penguins would get no closer though as they needed to kill a penalty. Binghamton had no interest in wanting to press for a fourth goal because the Penguins weren’t letting them. Driedger continued to make save after save on the Penguins, and Wilkes-Barre with DeSmith pulled for an extra man, were never able to find the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Phil Varone (two assists, even) 2) Jason Akeson (two goals, even) and 1) Chris Driedger (44 saves on 46 shots)

Around the Division: Hartford falls at home against Albany, 3-1… Providence will nbc your new #1 team in the AHL Power Rankings on Monday with a 4-1 win in Hershey, another dominating win by a dominating team. Lehigh Valley, Springfield and Bridgeport were off.

Standings: Penguins (.726 percentage points) –Lehigh Valley (.710) — Providence (.682) — Hershey (.672) — Bridgeport (.567) — Springfield (.500) — Hartford (.406)

Wheeling Update: Kevin Schulze scores twice, Seam Maguire stops 34 of 36 and the Wheeling Nailers beat the Elmira Jackals 5-2 at home.

Binghamton might have video highlights and if they do I will run an edit.

The AHL Power Rankings Double Issue will be out at noon on Monday, a special publication time because I figure most of you will be celebrating the observed New Year plus I believe Penn State plays in the Rose Bowl at 4 Monday, so I figure you’d be more interested in that than the 20th ranked AHL team in the Power Rankings.

Wheeling Wrap returns Tuesday at noon, which also is the next time the Penguins are in action again, at home, against the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Happy New Year and Let’s Go Pens!

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  5                                           2

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I almost wanted to use the headline, “Evil Twin” tonight because the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and Providence Bruins are so evenly matched. But on a night where one twin was so much better than the other, the headline accurately describes what the Bruins did to the Penguins tonight.

A 5-2 loss tonight by the Penguins which ends the seven game losing streak and finally sees a regulation loss go up in the column for Casey DeSmith. Third straight game where an opponent scores at least one power play goal and the second time this season that an opponent scores two power play goals in a game. Also, the first shorthanded goal of the season was allowed by the Penguins who were the last team in the AHL to allow a shorthanded tally.

If you read the second paragraph and though, “boy, sounds like a disaster on special teams,” it was. Sitting here trying to dissect it all, special teams is what cost the Penguins any chance in the game tonight because the two sides were pretty even at even strength.

All is not lost though…

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Casey DeSmith opposed Zane McIntyre

Lines were…

Dominik Simon – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Garrett Wilson – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Jake Guentzel – J-S Dea – Danny Kristo
Tom Sestito – Teddy Blueger – Reid Gardiner

Tim Erixon – Stuart Percy
Derrick Pouliot – Lukas Bengtsson
Cameron Gaunce – Ethan Prow

Casey DeSmith – Doug Carr

Lineup Notes: Tom Sestito returned to the Penguins lineup after a two game absence. He had been dealing with migraines.

First Period: Penguins had an early power play which came and went which really would set the tone on how the night would go on special teams for Wilkes-Barre. After the kill, Zac Rinaldo fires a fallaway shot at Casey DeSmith which the Penguins netminder makes the save on, but dropped it in his glove and Justin Hickman in the right place at the right time, pushes it across to give the Bruins an early 1-0 lead.

Soon thereafter, Alex Grant hits Jake Guentzel late. Guentzel didn’t like that and slashed the ex-Penguin. Referee Terry Koharski sees this and puts Guentzel in the box. The Bruins score on the power play to double the lead when Colby Cave scored.

Providence was flying. They jumped all over the Penguins off the drop of the puck and had a two goal lead and led in shots 11-5 halfway through.

But the Penguins turned the tables and scored to cut it to one, the closest they would get the remainder of the night, when Oskar Sundqvist left a drop pass of Josh Archibald who scored on a bad angle shot that made it 2-1.

Pens couldn’t connect on another power play late, hit a post in the final minute at even strength, and it was off to the…

Second Period: It took just :19 for Providence to re-establish their two goal lead, when Rob O’Gara wired in a shot to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead. In the rush after the goal, O’Gara cross checked Kevin Porter. Remember this for later.

Pens sat back, let the rush come to them, Cameron Gaunce fell down and O’Gara sniped home his second of the season.

If you want to call that the turning point of the game, I wouldn’t blame you.

If you want to call these next couple paragraphs the turning point, I wouldn’t blame you either.

The aforementioned O’Gara took a cross checking penalty he didn’t like and while skating to the box let Koharski know about it. Koharski had enough of his dissenting opinion and added on an unsportsmanlike penalty giving the Penguins a 4:00 double minor.

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Then the Penguins had :53 of 5-on-3 power play time when Kevin Porter ate a high stick which cut him.

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Not only did Providence kill off the two man disadvantage, when they did, Zac Rinaldo exited the box and was fed a pinpoint pass by Tommy Cross. Rinaldo beat DeSmith to give Providence a 4-1 lead. It was the first shorthanded goal the Penguins allowed this season.

Bad to worse, Peter Cehlarik scored on a cross ice pass from Danton Heinen on a power play made it 5-1 Providence and that was all she wrote at the end of the second.

Third Period: Doug Carr relieved DeSmith in net, the Penguins allow Providence just two shots on goal, Kevin Porter got his pound of flesh on Rob O’Gara with a 5:00 major penalty and game misconduct for a boarding call. I don’t think it’s suspension worthy, but that remains to be seen. Penguins get one back on the power play when Jake Guentzel set up Oskar Sundqvist for a power play goal. Wilkes-Barre kept pushing for the next goal but Providence wasn’t having any of it.

Three Stars: 3) Oskar Sundqvist (goal, assist, even) 2) Zac Rinaldo (goal, assist, +2) and 1) Colby Cave (gola, assist, +1)

Notes: Five goals allowed tie a season high for the Penguins…Zane McIntyre improved to 10-0 on the season for Providence.

Around the Division: Hershey crushes a listless Bridgeport team 6-2. Bears connected twice late in the third on a 5:00 slew-footing major assessed to Bridgeport….Rochester beats Lehigh Valley 4-3 in overtime. The Phantoms scored late to force overtime….Springfield beats Hartford 3-2.

Standings: Penguins (.750 percentage points) –Lehigh Valley (.710) — Hershey (.694) — Providence (.672) — Bridgeport (.567) — Springfield (.500) — Hartford (.419)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers fell 4-2 in Reading tonight to the Royals. Mike Webster and Derek Army scored goals for Wheeling. Sean Maguire took the loss in net, stopping 24 of 28.

Video highlights…

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Please note the special start time Saturday in Binghamton. The game begins at 6:05 so therefore the Gameday setup for that game will hit the blog Saturday at 2.

Let’s Go Pens!

vs.     

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Home Game: 15

AHL Game: 452

Who: Providence Bruins

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m.

Media Kit

Last Game: Tuesday in Wilkes-Barre against the Springfield Thunderbirds, Jake Guentzel recorded a hat trick and the Penguins won their seventh straight game. For Providence, they defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack 4-3. The Bruins scored two third period goals en route to victory.

Last Meeting: November 12 in Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins won 3-1. J-S Dea, Oskar Sundqvist and Jake Guentzel all found the back of the net for the Penguins and Casey DeSmith stopped 28 of 29.

Record: For WBS: 21-5-3-0 (45 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For PRO: 17-7-4-3 (41 pts., 4th place Atlantic Division)

Why you should care: Two of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference meet Friday night in Wilkes-Barre. The Penguins come in winning seven straight games, Providence comes in with a 13-1-2-2 record in their last 18 games and have only lost one game in regulation in the month of December. Expect a battle tonight, either defensively, something like 2-1 or 3-2, or an offensive explosion, 6-5 of 8-7 in overtime, something like that.

Referee(s): Terry Koharski

Linesmen: Ryan Knapp / Bill Lyons

Twitter: @WBSPenguins / @WBSGameDay / @AHLBruins

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /providencebruins

Instagram: wbspenguins / ahlbruins

Beat Writers: @CVSethLakso and @TLTomVenesky / @MarkDivver

Broadcasters: WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS and @_NickHart / PRO: The P-Bruins announcers are per diem.

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep 

Radio: For WBS: WILK NewsRadio / For Providence: WNRI 1380 AM

Television: AHL Live

Promotion(s): WBRE Fan Friday ($14 Tickets), Sticky Smart Wallet (First 5,000), Postgame Autographs, $2 Draft Beers (6-7:30 p.m.)

Other Game to Watch: Chicago hosts Milwaukee in a game between second (Milwaukee) and third (Chicago) in the Central Division.

Next Five Games:  @ BNG 12/31, HFD 1/3, HER 1/6, BNG 1/7, @ HER 1/8

          vs.          

3                                              5

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I’ll come right out and say it, Jake Guentzel has nothing left to prove at the AHL level.

Since returning from his first NHL assignment, and coming into tonight’s game, Guentzel had seven goals in seven games. Add on three more tonight for Guentzel, a hat trick, and its ten goals in eight games.

These numbers are ridiculous.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, as a whole, have benefitted greatly from the rookie Guentzel’s return. They have won their seventh straight game tonight, beating the Springfield Thunderbirds by a score of 5-3. In the seven game winning streak, the Penguins have scored four or more goals in every single game.

You would think that with all of what I just wrote there, that the Penguins would be leading the Atlantic Division by a mile. It’s not the case. To be at the top of this division you have to be a great team like the Penguins are, but it’s a tight lead the Penguins own on the second place Lehigh Valley Phantoms and two versions of bear in the form of Hershey and Providence.

Taking the veteran option regarding the lines tonight because I despise home work night hockey games. Here they are:

Notes: Gardiner and McGrath for Jarrett Burton and Ryan Haggerty up front with Goers for Ethan Prow on the blue line.

Tristan Jarry, backed up by Casey DeSmith, opposed Mike McKenna.

In the first, Springfield would score twice on the power play in the span of 9:18 to give the Thunderbirds a 2-1 lead.

Then Jake Guentzel started building his hat trick with a ridiculous, nearly end to end play where he bounced the puck off of the boards and beat McKenna five hole for his first act.

For his second act, Guentzel would bat in a puck laying in the crease that McKenna wasn’t able to control for a tie game.

Here’s a look at Guentzel’s two first period goals…

Couple things here. First, watch the video highlights below of the first tow goals by Guentzel for better looks but on the first goal, he throws a changeup at McKenna and beats him. On the second goal, he eats a crosscheck to the face and still scores.

Guentzel completed his hat trick when the Penguins were on a 5-on-3 power play, the second one where Guentzel drew the penalty to put the Penguins on the two-man advantage. He batted in a puck through McKenna’s legs to put the Penguins ahead 3-2…

Garrett Wilson made it 4-2 soon after when a puck went in off of a Thunderbirds player in front, it was Wilson’s third goal in three games and fourth in five games. David Warsofsky picked up the assist, giving him 15 points (3-12) in his last 10 games.

Pens had it on cruise control from there, smothering Springfield and not allowing the Thunderbirds a shot on goal for a very long stretch.

But if you have ever been on a long trip before and used cruise control, you know you can’t use it for the entire journey. Eventually Springfield scored to bring it to within one. I say that because the Thunderbirds had an initial goal washed out on account of goaltender interference. But later, a Mackenzie Weegar shot that hit the post, counted and made it a 4-3 game heading into the third.

In the third, which was the most even period of the night between the two sides with each club putting nine shots on the board and neither team scoring on two power plays in the period, the Penguins would hold on and tack on a Cameron Gaunce empty net goal from behind his own goal line in the final minute for good measure.

Coal Street didn’t GIF the Wilson or Gaunce goals in case you were wondering.

Note: Wilkes-Barre is a point away from clinching Clark Donatelli a spot at coaching at the All-Star Classic in January.

Three Stars: 3) David Warsofsky (three assists, +4) 2) Mackenzie Weegar (two goals, -1) and 1) Jake Guentzel (hat trick, +3)

Around the Division: Providence snaps Hartford’s four game winning streak with their tenth win in the month of December with a 3-2 win over the Wolf Pack tonight in Hartford. Every other team was off.

Standings: Penguins (.776 percentage points) –Lehigh Valley (.707) — Hershey (.690) — Providence (.661) — Bridgeport (.571) — Springfield (.482) — Hartford (.433)

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose in Toledo 4-3. Seven different Wheeling skaters recorded a point in the losing effort.

Video highlights…

But for breaking stuff, look for the next blog post to come Friday when Providence pays a visit.

Let’s Go Pens!

          @          

5                                               4

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It has been one year since Clark Donatelli took the reigns as head coach of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. In a year…

-Has guided the Penguins to the second round of the playoffs last May.
-Has the best team in the AHL.
-Probably has the best NHL caliber player in Jake Guentzel ready to graduate to full time NHL work. Remember that Mike Sullivan had nothing to do with Guentzel here in Wilkes-Barre.
-Has a two-headed monster in goal with Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith.
-Manages an extremely deep lineup and keeps fringe players fresh by adding them into the lineup occasionally.

For as much as Wilkes-Barre has been a pipeline of players winning Stanely Cups at the next level so has the Diamond City been to the bench bosses that manage the team that calls Northeastern Pennsylvania home. In this game, a 5-4 Wilkes-Barre win over the Binghamton Senators, this is where excellent coaching comes into play.

In a game where the Penguins were totally outplaying their opponent and one that it seemed that the opposing team used a cheat code to score to take a multi-goal lead, Donatelli kept his team on point and managed to come back and win early on in the third period.

Trailing 4-3 coming into the third period, Wilkes-Barre strikes :11 into the period then 3:24 later to take the lead and ride Casey DeSmith the rest of the way to hold on and win.

Casey DeSmith, who started tonight for the Penguins, has yet to lose in regulation for Wilkes-Barre and you are ready to throw away your 2016 calendar and put the fresh 2017 one on your wall that you won from the office Secret Santa pool. The AHL season started in October by the way. DeSmith is 8-0-2 this year and 15-4-4 as a professional goaltender. Wilkes-Barre wins its sixth straight.

He opposed Matt O’Connor.

Lines were…

Dominik Simon – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Garrett Wilson – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Jake Guentzel – Teddy Blueger – Danny Kristo
Tom Sestito – J-S Dea – Ryan Haggerty

Tim Erixon – Stuart Percy
David Warsofsky – Lukas Bengtsson
Cameron Gaunce – Ethan Prow

Casey DeSmith – Tristan Jarry

Lineup Notes: Ryan Haggerty slotted in for Reid Gardiner and Ethan Prow rejoined Cameron Gaunce on the defensive pairing. Carter Rowney skated in the morning skate but was still out of the lineup tonight and is still week-to-week per Donatelli as told to the WBS media postgame.

First Period: Pens started out like sharks in chum in the middle of the ocean. No flies on either the Pens or the Senators in the first period after the long Christmas break for both teams. It was the Senators getting on the board first via a Mike Kostka power play goal. The Binghamton Senators last place power play beat the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins top rated penalty kill. Cameron Gaunce had lost his stick and DeSmith was partially screened. This snapped a streak of 20 successful penalty kills for the Penguins.

A few minutes later, the Penguins tied the game. Watch this pretty setup by Jake Guentzel…

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Guentzel is falling down, dishes back to Kostopoulos who stuffs it home. NHL caliber play by an NHL caliber player right there.

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Second Period: Game looked like one where the better team wasn’t the one that was winning on the scoreboard. Binghamton did not register a shot for more than five minutes into the game and they score on their first shot of the period when Mike Blunden scored on a quick rush to give the B-Sens a 2-1 lead.

Example. Matt O’Connor was spilling rebounds all over the place. Penguins weren’t able to corral one and score on one and continue to smother the Binghamton defense. Senators get loose and score to take the lead.

Chris Carlisle scored to give the B-Sens a 3-1 lead. But :24 later, Jake Guentzel broke away and scored here…

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…and made it 3-2. Garrett Wilson was not able to push across a puck laying in the crease after a pad stop by O’Connor that didn’t carom into Section 14.

Bounces. Bounces. Bounces. Binghamton re-establishes a two goal lead when Jack Rodewald scored to make it 4-2. A puck deflected off of a linesman, off Cameron Gaunce’s skate, off DeSmith’s pad and into the net.

Oskar Sundqvist scored right after to make it 4-3…

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Four goals within 3:37 between these two teams.

Third Period: :11 in, Garrett Wilson scored to tie it for the Penguins…

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Then Jake Guentzel scored on the power play, through a Tom Kostopoulos screen, that made it 5-4 Wilkes-Barre.

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12 points (7-5-12) for Guentzel in 8 games since returning from NHL assignment.

In case you were wondering about the Penguins coming out of Christmas holiday games. Seth dug this stat up…

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Wilkes-Barre held on through a Binghamton power play late and an extra attacker with O’Connor vacated but the Senators were never able to find the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Jack Rodewald (goal, assist, -1) 2) Oskar Sundqvist (goal, assists, +2) and 1) Jake Guentzel (two goals, assist, +1)

Around the Division: Hershey thumps Lehigh Valley in Allentown 5-2. That result will widen a tight lead that the Penguins already had on the Phantoms. Providence continues their tear with a 4-2 win over Albany. Hartford wins three fourth straight as Bridgeport drops their fifth straight as the Wolf Pack win 5-2. Springfield was off, they may already be in Wilkes-Barre for their Tuesday game with the Penguins.

Standings: Penguins (.768 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.709) — (Hershey (.690) — Providence (.650) — Bridgeport (.571) — Springfield (.500) — Hartford (.448)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off, they are back in action this week.

Binghamton may post video highlights and if they do I will edit and put them here.

Pens are home for a Tuesday game against the Springfield Thunderbirds. Gameday setup for that will be up on the blog Tuesday afternoon at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!