Chirps from Center Ice

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They dressed a youthful lineup tonight and, but for a :26 span in the the third period, were staying step for step with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers who win tonight 5-2 to secure home ice over the Hershey Bears in their first round playoff series that opens late next week.

Here is how they actually lined up:

Guys like Ryan Haggerty, Adam Johnson and Joseph Cramarossa were given the night off up front. Jeff Taylor and Tim Erixon on defense. Alex D’Orio, who is the future of the franchise in goal, got a start.

Fan Appreciation Night started with some awards.

– Defensive player of the year: Jarrett Burton
– Media Award: Kevin Czuczman
– Rookie of the Year: Sam Lafferty
– Three Stars Award: Ryan Haggerty
– Community Service: Chris Summers
– Ethan Prow picked up his award for being named to the second team all star squad.
– Fan Favorite: Tristan Jarry (absent) Andy Chiodo accepted on his behalf.
– MVP: Tristan Jarry

Can’t argue with Rookie or MVP. Blueger was probably in the mix, but Jarry got the Pens close when Blueger was already up in Pittsburgh.

Wilkes-Barre got the jump 1:07 in when Ben Sexton scored to give the Pens a 1-0 lead.

Steve Bernier was the last to deflect a shot from the point that beat D’Orio on a power play and it was tied.

Patrick McGrath had a dangerous head contact with the elbow on Captain Ben Holmstrom. Holmstorm was clearly disoriented and needed help off the ice and didn’t return. McGrath was ejected and had to fight Kiefer Bellows. Bellows was given an instigating penalty.

A lot of stuff I don’t agree with here but lets start with the instigator. Your captain just got blindsided, is flopping on the ice wondering what year it is, and you expect Bellows to just stand there, top McGrath on the shin pads and say nice hit? Gross over officiating by Peter MacDougall and Carter Sandlak in that regard. They were fine the rest of the game, but that over reach didn’t sit well with me.

Mitch Vande Sompel finished off a one timer low near side on a two man advantage that gave Bridgeport a 2-1 lead.

Jake Lucchini finished off a nice pass by Sam Lafferty on a power play to tie the game at two.

Otto Koivula got lost on transition and scored to give Bridgeport the 3-2 lead.

Alex D’Orio, for what it’s worth, played a good game. Give him a summer working under Andy Chiodo and the Pittsburgh brass and we have another goaltending stud coming through Wilkes-Barre.

Jon Lizotte had three shots as the Pens had the Sound Tigers pinned deep but couldn’t score. That was their best chance to tie it because Oliver Wahlstrom walked three defenders and leaked one past D’Orio to give the Sound Tigers a 4-2 lead. Vande Sompel made it 5-2 :26 later.

Here’s the Wahlstrom goal.

That was it. Bridgeport clinches home ice with Hershey in the first round.

Here are your three stars:

Also this,

I have stayed mum here on the blog regarding ongoing Arena negotiations. They have a confidentiality agreement in place. Anyone who thinks they know anything does not know anything. This is a bit of an empty announcement that doesn’t hold much of anything, but it’s something. Hopefully soon. My season tickets should be paid off for next year already.

Video highlights below.

They are back at it again Sunday afternoon with Binghamton in the regular series finale. Gameday setup is yours Sunday morning at 11.

Let’s Go Pens!

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I will be by at some point next week with a postmortem of what went wrong in the 2018-19 season for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, who were eliminated from playoff contention after a 8-1 loss to the Utica Comets Friday night in Central New York. To preview, there is a cost when your parent team wins two Stanley Cups in the last three years. To reiterate, the AHL is a developmental league and whatever happens here, as long as the prospects develop here, nothing matters. Zach Aston-Reese and Teddy Blueger are prime examples. I am fine with that. Don’t take this as a complaint that me as the AHL fan of the team doesn’t want to see the NHL succeed because somehow AHL>NHL. No, it’s an explanation as to one of the many reasons why the Penguins didn’t make a playoff appearance for the 17th straight season.

Long odds as they were, the Penguins could have went down with a fight. They lost 10-6 in Allentown and were swept in the mini series in the Lehigh Valley last weekend. After entering the second period down a very manageable 1-0 Friday night in Utica, the Comets outscore the Penguins 6-1 to carry a 7-1 lead into the third period in a game that ended 8-1.

To note, the Comets have won just three games in the last three weeks. Injuries have ravaged them, but that is no excuse for what I just watched Friday night and a gross disrespect to the opponent just expecting that the result would continue because you are a team that has made playoffs for sixteen straight seasons.

Fight they did in the second period. Five fights to be exact, which is the most that I can remember for a period of AHL hockey associated with this team in a long time. The game was slipping out of hand with Reid Boucher completing a hat trick in the second period and the Penguins lost control of the game and their emotions and it snowballed from there.

Unpopular opinion but Clark Donatelli, who I will address in kind next week in my autopsy of the team, did all he could to keep the team afloat and relevant till the fortnight of the regular season. With the way that the teams were playing in the season and all of the head to head meetings backloaded on the schedule this season, the Penguins saw a way into the playoffs though the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. With call ups and injures, Wilkes-Barre relied heavily on amateur tryout guys to help salvage a season. It worked to a point, a point of exhaustion. It fell apart last weekend in Allentown and the cracks started to show in the first period Friday in Utica before the dam broke in the second period.

John Muse opposed Marek Mazenec. Muse was yanked at the end of the second and Matt O’Connor made his Penguins debut and just allowed one goal in the third period in relief.

In the lineup notes, there were no changes up front but for a few shuffles here and there on the lines. Michael Kim and Jeff Taylor were back in for Jon Lizotte and Tim Erixon on defense.

Jarrett Burton scored the only goal for the Penguins in the game, coming in the second period on a rebound left by Mazanec which he swept across the line to break up the shutout bid.

Taylor Haase, who you have seen all season long on the blog here as she was nice enough to permit me embedding her tweets of the goals that she GIFed during the year, had a nice post mortem of her own on the Penguins season you can read here if you don’t want to wait for me next week. A lot on what she hit on there is relevant to what I will explain next week.

Pens will close out the 2018-19 campaign Saturday and Sunday at home, with Bridgeport and Binghamton respectively. Gameday setup hits the blog Saturday at 3 for the Sound Tigers and Sunday at 11 a.m. for the 3 p.m. finale with the Devils.

* – in case you were wondering about the headline this time, explanation here