Chirps from Center Ice

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The Bridgeport Sound Tigers are in last place in the Atlantic Division. In a division that looks like this…

…after Saturday’s action, the Sound Tigers don’t seem to be interested or have the guns to compete in the division on a night to night basis.

Well, it sure didn’t look like it tonight.

A 3-2 shootout loss for the Penguins who, as you can see above, are in one for the playoff seeding. They led Saturday at 1-0 and again at 2-1 only to see the Sound Tigers even it late then win in a shootout that went seven rounds. Emil Larmi was the hard luck loser in goal.

The thing about the Sound Tigers that I noticed tonight was they got under your skin at every opportunity. How many times would you see a game Penguins team hang with some of the better teams in the AHL and go on to find a way to win? Penguins teams of old just wore on teams and it won them games and playoff berths. Same thing happened tonight, but the roles were reversed.

Larmi opposed Jared Coreau.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Sam Lafferty got recalled to Pittsburgh before the game so Brandon Hawkins went in on the fourth line where Jake Lucchini was. Lucchini replaced Lafferty’s spot on the top line. John Nyberg took warmups.

Bridgeport doesn’t post lines because not only does Lou Lamoriello not like facial hair, he doesn’t like when his top minor league affiliate posts a lineup graphic.

First Period: Joseph Blandisi scored this highlight reel goal on a power play to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

Shots were a pretty even 9-8 for the Sound Tigers who carried the play for much of the period. It was a highlight reel goal only that had them trailing.

Second Period: On a delayed call against the Penguins, Oliver Wahlstrom goes bar down to tie the game at one for the Sound Tigers.

Jake Lucchini would score when Zach Trotman swept a pretty pass to him for a goal that made it 2-1 Penguins heading into the third.

Third Period: Felt like there were more than just seven total (three for Bridgeport, four for Wilkes-Barre) power plays in the game, but that was one area that goes to the top of the story where you need to just skate away when you have someone bothering you.

Through the loss of Zach Trotman (puck to the face, later returned) and David Warsofsky (off then back, quick) the Penguins were without their two best defensemen and Bridgeport hung around and hung around and finally got the equalizing goal with about two and half minutes left to play.

It was off to…

Overtime: Emil Larmi had a couple of huge stops in the overtime round, Joseph Blandisi had a chance on a two on one with Joseph off of one of those Larmi saves to end it but ran out of room.

Shootout: Much like the game, Bridgeport had an answer for every Penguins goal and finally got a save from Coreau when it mattered. Matt Lorito in the bottom of the first, Travis St. Denis in the bottom of the fifth and finally Simon Holmstrom in the bottom of the seventh to win it. Jake Lucchini and Thomas DiPauli for the Penguins scored in the second and fifth rounds, respectively.

The Good: Teachable moments for playoffs if they make it there on how to take advantage of a tight game?

The Bad: What the hell were they doing keeping a Bridgeport team, who is the lowest scoring team in the AHL, around for?

Turning Point: Ho-Sang’s goal which forced overtime kind of cooked the goose. The Pens were done from there.

Three Stars: 

Around the Division: Charlotte got revenge on the Marlies and beat team 4-3 Saturday afternoon….Lehigh Valley beat Hershey 3-0 for just their fifth win on the road this season….Springfield gets a measure of revenge on Hartford 2-0….Providence beats up on Syracuse 6-2.

Standings: Gave them to you in the lede. Scroll up, please.

Wheeling Update: Orlando beats Wheeling 5-2. The Solar Bears strike on both power play attempts. Wheeling went 0-for-4.

Video Highlights: 

Pens are back Wednesday when they take on the Binghamton Devils, who have been on a tear recently. But for anything breaking, look check us out Wednesday at 3 for the Gameday setup.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Five wins win a row for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins who win 4-1 over the hapless Lehigh Valley Phantoms Friday night. Jake Lucchini scored a pair of goals, Casey DeSmith stopped 29 of 30. More importantly, it was a favorable out of town scoreboard for the Penguins, who are now a playoff team by a point over fifth place Springfield and just two back of a very milquetoast Providence side. More on that in a bit.

The aforementioned Casey DeSmith opposed J-F Berube.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Anthony Angello and Andrew Agozzino were recalled to Pittsburgh Thursday. Coal Street recalled Brandon Hawkins but he didn’t play. Andreas Martinsen left to play overseas.

First Period: Hot start for the Penguins scoring :46 apart.

Jake Lucchini in behind the defense who lose their stick and he scores to make it 1-0.

Soon after, P-O Joseph fires a shot on that is kicked to Jan Drozg from a low angle. Drozg banks the shot off of Berube for a goal and it’s 2-0.

Pens nearly made it 3-0 with Drozg hitting a shot on the power play, but Lehigh Valley killed off the penalty and Andy Andreoff cherry picked for a goal and scored to make it 2-1 and Wilkes-Barre’s lead was cut in half.

The Phantoms started pushing back and actually got the better of the chances but the score stayed 2-1 heading to the…

Second Period: Penguins played the better of the two sides and extended their lead by two again. Jake Lucchini again, the guy loves scoring against the Phantoms.

How do you leave the net that wide open.

Six of Lucchini’s professional gold have come against the Phantoms.

Third Period: :53 in, Sam Lafferty drives the net and scores to give the Penguins a 4-1 lead.

That goal chased J-F Berube and Felix Sandstrom took over the net. Sandstrom cooled things down for the Phantoms and didn’t allow any goals, but the Penguins also may have backed off to preserve the lead.

Three Stars: 

The Good: They needed to keep the momentum going and the recipe was there with the Phantoms only winning four road games all season. Five wins in a row with another opportunity Saturday night against last place Bridgeport.

The Bad: Can’t really identify one. They stayed disciplined, taking just three penalties but got lax a bit on the Andreoff goal in the first and let off after their second goal. Can’t really do that or get into the habit of it. They did respond well in the second period on.

Turning Point: Sam Lafferty’s goal that made it a three goal contest :53 into the third was the punch in the gut that folded the Phantoms.

Around the Division: Favorable night for the Penguins. Providence loses 3-1 in Binghamton….Springfield loses 6-3 at home against Hartford and Charlotte gets trounced in the 6ix by the Marlies and lose 6-2. Hershey also beats Bridgeport 4-1.

Standings: Hartford and Hershey 61 — Providence 55 — Penguins 53 — Springfield 52 — Charlotte 51 — Lehigh Valley 42 — Bridgeport 35

Setting Up Saturday: Too soon for this, but I’ll do it anyway. Pens have a game in hand on Providence, who are in Syracuse….Springfield and Hartford rematch in Connecticut and so do Charlotte and Toronto. That game starts at 4. Pens have a game in hand on Springfield. Charlotte somehow has two games in hand on the Penguins.

Wheeling Update: Wheeling wins 3-2 at home against Orlando. Alex D’Orio stopped 34 for second star honors. Cam Brown scored a pair of goals.

Video Highlights: 

Gameday setup for Saturday’s matchup against Bridgeport is yours Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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An eight point weekend in Charlotte, seven of eight points on the road trip and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins complete a sweep in Charlotte winning 4-2 Saturday evening.

Thomas DiPauli’s goal with 1:28 left in regulation guarantees such. Emil Larmi stopped 24 of 26 and turned in yet another solid performance in goal for Wilkes-Barre.

Larmi opposed Alex Nedeljkovic, who won eight straight games against the Penguins coming in.

Lineup:

Lineup Notes: There were none for the Penguins but for Larmi in goal.

First Period: :55 in, on the first shot of the game, Checkers all-star Julien Gauthier scored to give Charlotte a 1-0 lead.

Chances picked up in a big way for the Penguins after that, they had a 2-on-1, Blandisi had a breakaway and P-O Joseph hit a post. They weren’t able to score, but they had the majority of the chances as compared to the Checkers.

Second Period: Slow start, crazy finish.

Charlotte easily disposed of a Penguin power play and Jake Bean came out of the penalty box and was denied on a 2-on-0 by Larmi. Later, Freddy Claesson hit the post on a wide open net.

Jordy Bellerive would score when he crashed the net and Kevin Czuczman threw a pass at him. It went in legally and the Penguins tied the game at one.

Three minutes later, Bellerive would do it again. This time on a one timer.

Larmi was settled in to this point, but then he found himself in trouble. Here, let my tweet explain:

Charlotte would continue to pressure, but time expired in the period and they were off to the…

Third Period: Emil Larmi is the type of goaltender who you can see very early if he is dialed in or not. You saw it last week in Texas against the Stars and you saw it here Saturday against the Checkers.

The period flew by after a slow start, Charlotte started to come in waves and through everything they could at Larmi, but the Penguins rookie netminder didn’t crack.

With it looking with each passing minute that the game would head to overtime, Thomas DiPauli breaks in and scores with 1:28 to play to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead.

DiPauli would also add an empty netter to seal it. I didn’t get a video of that. He shot the puck from center ice and it went in. Use your imagination.

Three Stars: 3) Emil Larmi (24 saves) 2) Jordy Bellerive (two goals) 1) Thomas DiPauli (game winning goal and an empty netter)

The Good: They didn’t take a single penalty and got a hell of a game from their rookie goaltender.

The Bad: The power play looks like an abject disaster. They were better in a lot of other areas so it didn’t affect them as much, but you want that to come around as you continue to push here.

Turning Point: The DiPauli goal with 1:28 gets the nod here. If the game gets into overtime, the Pens don’t tie the Checkers in points and who knows what happens with the point lost as it goes down the line. DiPauli’s clutch goal in the moment guarantees that they maxed points in Charlotte against a foe.

Around the Division: The Lehigh Valley Phantoms went up 2-0 in Hartford but lose 4-2….Hershey gets a late goal to force overtime and go on to win in a shootout 3-2….Springfield wins 6-2 at home against Bridgeport.

Standings: Hartford and Hershey 59 — Providence 55 — Springfield 52 — Charlotte 51 — Penguins 51 — Lehigh Valley 42 — Bridgeport 35

Wheeling Update: Nailers win at home 4-1 against the Cincinnati Cyclones. Brandon Hawkins had three assists, Michael Kim had a goal and an assist. Alex D’Dori stopped 28.

Video Highlights:

They are off now till next Friday when they finally return home against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, so news may be scarce between now and then. All-Star Classic is Sunday and Monday, but that’s the same stuff every year and it doesn’t count. Enjoy it if you are heading to California.

Let’s Go Pens!