vs.          

2                                              5

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First goals of the season for Mat Abt, Oula Palve and Anthony Angello including Chase Berger’s first multi point game and first fight, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins throttle the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5-2 Saturday night at home, ending the Sound Tigers four game winning streak coming into tonight.

For Abt and Palve, it was their first AHL goals of their respective careers.

Casey DeSmith opposed Jakub Škarek.

Lineup:

Lineup Notes: Michael Kim jumped in for Kevin Czuczman. I don’t know what’s up with that. Jordy Bellerive and Chase Berger flipped lines. Graham Knott took the warmup as the healthy scratch.

First Period: A shot from the point by Stefan Noesen was bobbled by Škarek and put in by Sam Miletic to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead early.

Parker Wotherspoon tied it a few minutes later when Matt Lorito wheeled around the net and found Wotherspoon in front for a shot and a goal while DeSmith was being screened in front.

(Taylor didn’t GIF any away goals and Bridgeport didn’t care to put them up either)

Second Period: Matt Abt finally got the monkey off his back.

Long time coming for Abt, the bench was thrilled for him. He’s had an enormous weekend, potting that goal to go with two assists Friday in Lehigh Valley.

Wilkes-Barre hit two posts before dialing in and Adam Johnson connecting for a goal through a crowd that made it 3-1.

Matt Lorito would pull one back for the Sound Tigers, digging a Seth Helgeson shot which was stopped by Casey DeSmith off of his pads and into the net to cut the deficit to one heading into the….

Third Period: Had the sense coming in that the next goal would have won it for either side. I know it sounds crazy when you are up one but if Bridgport bags a third and ties it, then it becomes a whole different game and then a survival game. With an opponent like Bridgeport, riding a four game winning streak coming in, not a game you want to play.

Thankfully, the contest didn’t go in that direction.

Adam Johnson connected with Anthony Angello for his first goal of the season that made it 4-2.

Second assist to Matt Abt. That’s a four point weekend and AHL Player of the Week territory if you ask me.

Oula Palve notched his first AHL goal when he deflected a Thomas DiPauli shot off of his knee and into the net that made it 5-2 and blew it open.

For good measure, Chase Berger and Parker Wotherspoon fought to rile up the crowd.

Pens hung on from there, Bridgeport didn’t get any closer and Wilkes-Barre kept firing, hitting two posts in the final minute.

Three Stars: 3) Oula Palve (goal, assist) 2) Matt Abt (goal, assist) and 1) Adam Johnson (goal, assist)

The Good: Bridgeport could have been a pesky team, but the Penguins were simply the better team in all areas Saturday and it was an elementary win.

The Bad: Can’t really think of anything that stuck out. That’s good, right? Bad for this segment though.

Turning Point: Anthony Angello’s goal setup by Adam Johnson’s speed that made it a two goal contest again early in the third opened up the floodgates for the Penguins as Palve scored 1:11 later and the rout was on.

Around the Division: Providence beats Charlotte 4-1 to stay tied in point with the Penguins for tops overall in the Atlantic….Hartford loses 2-1 in overtime to Lehigh Valley to fall out of first place for the first time all season….Hershey finds themselves in penalty trouble and get beat at home by the Belleville Senators 3-1….Springfield gets back in the win column with a 6-3 win over the Laval Rocket.

Standings: Penguins (on percentage of .659 to Providence’s .630, we aren’t doing percentages anymore though) and the Bruins 29 — Hartford 28 — Springfield 26 — Lehigh Valley 25 — Hershey 21 — Bridgeport 20 — Charlotte 19

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 4-1 to Kalamazoo. Ryan Scarfo had the lone goal for the Nailers in the loss.

Wilkes-Barre goes 9-2-1-1 in the month of November. Casey DeSmith goes 7-1 in November also. December is usually when they get hot, the car is already warm.

Video Highlights:

Pens have a week in between games, next on ice Friday at home against Texas. But for anything breaking, talk to you then. If you are wondering about Mailbag, interest wasn’t there enough for me to generate doing it bi-weekly. Maybe I will do it once a month. If there’s anything you want to ask, drop a line in the comments or send me an e-mail. That always works.

Let’s Go Pens!

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5                                    6

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The Penguins were down 5-0 in this game and came all the way back to tie it with an extra attacker late in the third only to lose on a T.J. Brennan goal in overtime on a delayed call 6-5.

I honestly don’t know what’s more impressive:
1) That I stayed tuned in when it was 4-0 after one and AHLTV was not working properly at all;
2) Mike Vellucci didn’t turn to Casey DeSmith at backup when starter Emil Larmi stopped just 9 of 14 shots and the Penguins were trailing 5-0;
3) They mounted anything resembling a comeback after being down five;
4) They came all the way back:
5) They didn’t win in overtime.

Remember this point in April. It looks like five, possibly six, teams for four spots in the division this season. Every point is going to be valuable down the stretch and the points hold the same value in November as they do in March or April.

Coal Street didn’t do any GIFs in the game, I think it had something to do with a lot of things and Twitter wasn’t playing nice tonight with graphics and stuff, so just bear with me. Lehigh Valley did theirs, but I didn’t write the game up through the intermissions like I normally do for road games because it was 4-0 and the Pens were getting flattened and I was pissed that AHLTV wasn’t streaming the game the right way.

Lineup:

Lineup Notes: Joseph Blandisi was recalled Friday afternoon for Bryan Rust who injured his leg in morning skate today. Jordy Bellerive went in for Blandisi. No other lineup changes but for at backup, DeSmith was in and Tokarski was given the night off.

First Period: The goal came hot and heavy for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

1) Matthew Strome on a tip in front for his first AHL goal at 5:29
2) Pascal Laberge scored on a rebound left in the slot after Larmi stopped Isaac Radcliffe with the blocker at 5:50
3) Carsen Twarynski through AHLTV buffering on my end at 8:08
4) Twarynski again on a power play goal, the second of the game for the Phantoms (Strome’s goal was also on the power play) at 16:31

It was 4-0 Phantoms after one period. Despite this, the Penguins outshot the Phantoms 14-12 through the period.

Second Period: Isaac Ratcliffe scored to open the period and whatever was said and what adjustments were made didn’t do anything as the Penguins were down deep in a 5-0 hole.

I noticed that the Penguins still stuck to the same game plan, didn’t really tuck tail and run, sure they pushed and shoved and there were extracurriculars after whistles and stuff, but they kept pushing.

Jamie Devane tipped in a Thomas DiPauli shot on a power play with under minute to play and it turned out to be the turning point in the game. It gave the Penguins faint hope that they could get back into the game.

Third Period: Comeback went like this.

1) Andrew Agozzino scored on a rebound to cut the lead to three at 9:22
2) Anthony Angello, seemingly getting the message after being benched Wednesday in the third period, scored to cut the lead to two. He took a great pass from Chase Berger and slammed it home in the crease at 11:06
3) Andrew Agozzino breakaway goal. One goal game at 12:09
4) Adam Johnson, with Larmi pulled for the extra man, from an impossible angle, tied the game at five at 18:00.

I am really big on the numbered lists tonight.

Overtime: TJ Brennan scored an extra attacker goal in overtime on a delayed call to win it for the Phantoms, a game that should have never been in doubt, but the problems have to be bigger for Lehigh Valley, don’t they?

Three Stars: Somehow all Phantoms. 3) Matthew Strome (goal) 2) T.J. Brennan (game winning overtime goal, assist) 1) Carsen Twarynski (two goals, assist)

The Good: The never say die attitude of this Mike Vellucci guided club. They could have easily packed it in and left with their tails between their legs, but they didn’t. They didn’t try to get three back with one, they just scored one after another after another.

The Bad: If they played the second half of the game in the first half, tell me who wins?

Turning Point: Jamie Devane’s tip of a Thomas DiPauli power play started an impossible comeback for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and earned them a point.

Around the Division: Bridgeport has won four in a row, beating Springfield 4-1. The Sound Tigers are in Wilkes-Barer Saturday night….

That was it. The rest of them were off.

Standings: Hartford, the Penguins and Providence 27 — Springfield 24 — Lehigh Valley 23 — Hershey 21 — Bridgeport 20 — Charlotte 19

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: I don’t know who will get to them first, but who ever does I will run the edit here and you can see how this car crash of a hockey game went down.

Pens back home Saturday night to host Bridgeport on Hockey Fights Cancer night. Gameday setup here Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!