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Another ridiculously tight, too close to call game between the Hershey Bears and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. The Penguins, despite a few blowouts and 1-0 shutouts against, have played decent hockey in the month of December but they lacked any type of scoring unless your name was Anthony Angello. The Hershey Bears haven’t lost a game in the month of December.

Until tonight. The Penguins win 2-1 Saturday night to end the Bears nine game winning streak.

I ran the numbers back to that December 11 game in Rochester where Sam Miletic and Oula Palve scored in the third period. Depending on what your view of an even strength goal is, Jan Drozg scored an even strength goal and then Sam Miletic scored one with an extra attacker on, Drozg’s goal came 365:37 minutes ago, Miletic’s was 361:56.

Well make it 425:37 or 421:56 (again, depending on your views of what is even strength) since a player not named Anthony Angello scored an even strength goal for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

Angello scored the Penguins first goal and Thomas DiPauli, in his return from Pittsburgh, added on a power play goal and the Penguins tidily sweep the weekend.

Dustin Tokarski opposed Vitek Vanecek.

Lineup: 

Lineup Notes: Thomas DiPauli was returned from Pittsburgh, he replaced Jamie Devane on the fourth line. Casey DeSmith didn’t make the trip, Wheeling is in Indianapolis and Emil Larmi was up for the week and his itinerary included going back to the ECHL to get a bunch of games in during the Nailers crazy busy stretch coming up here so logistically he couldn’t rubber band back to town. Penguins signed Sebastian Caron to a PTO and he spent his afternoon / evening as the backup.

First Period: Was basically all centered around this play which a lot of Bears fans weren’t happy with.

Bobby Nardella puts the puck in the net but referee Michael Duco immediately washes out the goal and puts Matt Moulson in the penalty box for interference.

Soft call? Yes. Right call? Who knows. Whenever you think you know what a call is or isn’t, they move the target on you and you end up wrong.

These types of calls usually go for you and against you at least once a season.

There was no (legal) scoring in the period.

Second Period: Anthony Angello continued his goal scoring tear for the Penguins with this shot for a goal in the slot that gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

Hershey would get a two man advantage and Matt Moulson tapped in an easy goal that tied the game at one.

Cheeky point by Moulson there, mocking the referees that that one counted.

Penguins had a power play that went like this. Lose face off, give up two on none, then have this happen to your goaltender.

Third Period: Thomas DiPauli scored on a rebound of an Oula Palve shot. His offering dribbled up the back of Vancek and into the net.

Hershey responded in kind, by Penguins defenseman Michael Kim had a better shift, dropping to a knee to save a goal which preserved the Penguins one goal lead.

Bears pulled Vanecek in search of a tying goal, but weren’t able to get the equalizer. It was a ferocious final stand by Tokarski and the Penguins defense that preserved the win and ended the Bears winning streak.

Three Stars: 3) Anthony Angello (goal) 2) Matt Moulson (goal) 1) Thomas DiPauli (goal)

The Good: Despite the tumult, a nice turnaround by Wilkes-Barre / Scranton to sweep the weekend. They proved that they can hang and squeeze out goals when they need to in order to win hockey games.

The Bad: Really nitpicking as I am sitting here watching the cursor flash by on me as I am trying to think of one. Penguins played a great game, top to bottom with luck, and got the result they were seeking.

Turning Point: I’m going to let Tyler give this to you.

Hard to disagree with it. You could also go DiPauli’s goal which gave the Penguins a lead and then Tokarski shutting the door from there also.

Around the Division: Providence and Hartford are playing hot potato with the division lead, Hartford wins 4-1….Ethan Prow’s goal in overtime gives Springfield a 4-3 win over Bridgeport….Charlotte thumps Cleveland 5-1….Lehigh Valley loses at home to Utica 4-2.

Standings: Hartford and Providence 43 — Hershey 39 — Penguins 38 — Springfield 36 — Charlotte 33 — Bridgeport 31 — Lehigh Valley 29

Wheeling Update: Nailers are off tonight, play Indy Sunday. Emil Larmi may get that start.

Video Highlights: 

Pens are back in action Tuesday at 3 p.m. for a New Years Eve game at home against Springfield. Breaking news here as it warrants between now and then. If not, then look for the next blog update to come at 11 a.m. Tuesday for the Gameday setup for the clash with Ryan Haggerty and the Thunderbirds.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Some numbers for you.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins went 107:31 in between goals by Anthony Angello.

They go 243:07 since the last time a player not named Anthony Angello scored a goal for them of any kind since Thomas DiPauli’s empty net goal December 14 in Cleveland when Jake Lucchini scored a shorthanded goal in the third period.

Anthony Angello scored three goals for the Penguins tonight, the third being on an empty net and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins roll the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4-2 on Friday night.

Stefan Noesen was the straw that stirred the Penguins drink for the firs two months of the season. He’s gone now and someone, anyone, has to pick up the slack.

It’s Anthony Angello, who now after his three goal night, leads the Penguins in goals.

Coming into the season Angello was kind of at a crossroads. I felt he hit a wall last year and was just a body. Well now, he’s become an invaluable piece for a team which has lost a lot of offense due to call-ups or defections.

The other story on the night was the status of Casey DeSmith. He became ill during the game and was replaced by Dustin Tokarski to start the third period. The scuttlebutt was that he was throwing up in the locker room. No, he wasn’t traded, no he’s not injured.

DeSmith opposed Alex Lyon.

Lines were….

Lineup Notes: 

First Period: :31 in and the Phantoms were on the board. Gerry Fitzgerald pounced on a rebound and scored to make it 1-0 Phantoms.

(WBS social only tweeted Angello’s first goal and were out to lunch on his other, non-empty net goal and the Lucchini shorthander, so in the interest of consistency, no GIFs of the goals in tonights recap)

Alex Lyon had a good save on Chase Berger going post to post to deny the Penguins forward. Later, the Penguins thought they scored when Sam Miletic drove to the net and appeared to have scored, but parallax is a funny thing. After a video review, referees Patrick Hanhrahan and Reid Anderson confirmed the initial call on the ice of no goal.

Second Period: Anthony Angello (who else at this point) ended the Penguins goalless drought at 107:31 when he wired a shot over Lyon’s shoulder to tie the game at one.

(I know I said I wasn’t going to do it but I did)

Third Period: To the shock of many, Dustin Tokarski replaced DeSmith in net.

This is when the game really took off for both teams because no one held back anything.

Angello connected on the expiration of a Penguins power play to give his team a 2-1 lead.

Later, P-O Joseph led a shorthanded charge up ice and put a shot on that Jake Lucchini was there for the rebound to get past Lyon to extend the lead to 3-1.

Matt Strome connected for a goal as an expiration of a Phantoms power play had just expired to make it 3-2. The puck deflected off of a skate and in past Tokarski.

Tokarski would get some help from his teammates as Kevin Roy would sweep a puck off of the line to preserve the Penguins one goal lead.

The Phantoms, with time running out and the deficit still to one, pulled Lyon in the hopes of a game tying goal. Tokarski had a great stop with his pads on one attempt and finally the puck was cleared out to Andrew Agozzino who was off on a two on one with Angello. Angello collected the pass from his teammate and scored the hat trick into the empty net.

Three Stars: 3) Andrew Agozzino (three assists) 2) Jake Lucchini (goal) 1) Anthony Angello (three goals)

The Good: Angello is stepping up and scoring big goals when needed. The team overall isn’t playing bad, but the object of the game is to ultimately score, Angello just has been the only one doing it.

The Bad: Casey DeSmith leaving the game with sickness all but rules him out for Saturday in Hershey. The Penguins have Emil Larmi back on the roster and the thought is with the Penguins only having two games this weekend is to split the starts between DeSmith and Tokarski so it was always going to be Tokarski’s game Saturday regardless, but you hate to see a guy lost to sickness.

Turning Point: On a night where we have typed his name a lot, it isn’t Anthony Angello who get the rub here, it’s Jake Lucchini’s shorthanded goal that extended the Penguins lead to two that kind of put the game out of reach for the Phantoms to a point where you knew they weren’t going to be able to come back from it.

Around the Division: Hershey survives a scare in Utica to win their ninth straight, 5-4 in overtime. The Bears were leading 4-2 at one point….Bridgeport, who has been on the upswing, beats Hartford 5-1….Providence edges Springfield 4-3. Charlotte was off.

Standings: Providence 43 — Hartford 41 — Hershey 39 — Penguins 36 — Springfield 34 — Charlotte 31 — Bridgeport 30 — Lehigh Valley 29

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 2-1 out in Toledo, Ohio. Cam Brown had the goal for Wheeling in the loss.

Video Highlights: 

Pens hit the road to Hershey Saturday. Bears have won nine straight and are on fire. Gameday setup hits the blog here Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!