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A good night to be named Sam tonight as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins take down the Milwaukee Admirals 5-2 Friday night in Wisconsin to keep pace with the playoff race in the Atlantic Division.

A pair of power play goals by Sam Lafferty in the first period and a shorthanded goal by Sam Miletic in the second brace the Penguins and make things easy for starting goaltender John Muse.

Muse opposed Troy Grosenick.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: John Muse went in net for the Pens, not Anthony Peters which flummoxed those in tune to the situation at the time.

J-S Dea returned from his two game suspension and Ben Sexton returned from his injury. Anthony Angello and Linus Ölund sat. On defense, Macoy Erkamps took the place of Tim Erixon on the Chris Summers pairing.

The Penguins made a minor trade with the Grand Rapids Griffins Friday afternoon, acquiring rookie forward Trevor Yates in exchange for future considerations. Yates was assigned to the Penguins ECHL affiliate, the Wheeling Nailers.

First Period: J-S Dea told broadcaster Nick Hart that he wanted his team have a hot start tonight in Milwaukee. He got it. The Penguins blitzkrieged the Admirals off the hop, getting an early power play goal from Sam Lafferty and a goal from the fourth line by Jimmy Hayes. Shots were, at one point, 10-1 favoring the Penguins who were just getting Grade A chance after Grade A chance. The Penguins added a third goal on yet another power play goal scored by Sam Lafferty. John Muse didn’t have to do much in the period, but did manage to stop all eight shots he faced.

Here are the goals starting with Lafferty’s first.

Then the second, on a sky hook clearing attempt by Ethan Prow to the stick of Joseph Cramarossa who makes a move and puts a shot on Grosenick which is stopped, but Jimmy Hayes is right there for the rebound to make it 2-0.

And finally, Sam Lafferty’s second power play goal of the period makes it 3-0. Power move through the Admirals defensemen to roof a backhander over Grosenick and in.

Second Period: Wilkes-Barre gave up four power plays in the period to the Admirals. They were outshot 12-7, but added to their lead and made it 4-0 with Sam Miletic scoring a shorthanded goal.

Not to be outdone, the Admirals scored a shorthanded goal of their own when Anthony Richard drove down the wing and beat Muse to make it 4-1.

Duncan Siemens laid a big hit on Cam Brown and had to fight Matt Abt. Here that sequence is, followed by the shorthanded goals scored by each side.

Here’s Miletic’s goal. Nice pass by Joseph Blandisi set up the goal.

And then Richard’s goal.

Third Period: Quiet period, really. Joseph Blandisi found daylight between he and Grosenick and snuck in a shot that made it 5-1 Penguins.

Then Laurent Dauphin, acquired in a trade earlier in the day with Arizona, tipped in a Duncan Siemens shot from the point that made it 5-2.

But the Admirals didn’t get any closer. No penalties in the third.

Milwaukee would outshoot the Penguins 35-28.

The Good: Dea wanted a strong start and got one. The Penguins were good in Rockford Wednesday and good against Bridgeport last Saturday, the breaks didn’t fall their way. The Penguins made the breaks go their way, almost willing them, in the first period and went up 3-0 and rode Muse when they needed to and took away a big two points.

The Bad: Letting Milwaukee back in to the contest in the second period is muted a bit when you were already up 3-0 to start the period. If the Penguins brought the same killer instinct in the second period, the game would have never been in doubt.

Turning Point: That second power play goal by Lafferty in the first was a highlight reel goal that took all the air out of the sails from the Admirals. They tried to make a game of it, but were too far behind to push for a threat.

Three Stars: 

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley loses in Utica 5-2. Big third period by the Comets took down the previously undefeated after leading after two periods Phantoms…Providence continues its hot run and takes down Bridgeport 2-1. Syracuse shuts out Hartford 6-0 and Springfield was throttled in Rochester 7-1. Hershey and Charlotte were off, they play a doubleheader starting Saturday in Hershey.

Standings: Charlotte 70 — Bridgeport 58 — Providence 57 — Lehigh Valley 55 — Penguins 53 — Springfield 52 — Hershey 51 — Hartford 44

Setting Up Your Saturday: Springfield is in Toronto for a 4 p.m. start against the Marlies. Providence and Bridgeport rematch in Connecticut. Pens travel to Grand Rapids. Hershey and Charlotte meet in Chocolatetown and Lehigh Valley drops by Hartford.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were defeated in overtime 4-3 in Manchester. Troy Josephs had a goal and an assist.

Video Highlights:

Gameday setup for Saturday’s contest against the first place in the Central Division Grand Rapids Griffins hits the blog Saturday at 3 with the game action going live at 7.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Wilkes-Barre loses another 2-1 contest where all of the offense was made in the first period. It’s really becoming the microcosm of the season.

– Start slow. The Pens haven’t been a playoff team in a while now, lingering around the fifth and sixth place seeds in the the Atlantic Division.

– Get hot, but run into interference. After getting outshot 14-7 in the first period by Rockford, the Pens go on to outshoot the IceHogs 39-13.

– Come up empty. Despite the shot total, they could not solve Anton Forsberg in the Rockford crease.

It’s really a one game summary of the season in whole. The Penguins are now two games removed from a four game win streak and despite this, are now seventh in a division full of hot teams around them namely the Providence Bruins and Hershey Bears.

Anthony Peters opposed the aforementioned Forsberg in net.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: The Penguins signed Tim Erixon to a contract for the rest of the season earlier in the week. Tristan Jarry was recalled to Pittsburgh after it was announced that Matt Murray is day to day with an upper body injury. John Muse was recalled from Wheeling and arrived to the arena late.

That is just the off ice stuff. On ice, Sam Lafferty was back in and bumped out Pat McGrath. He centered Cramarossa and Hayes on fourth line. On defense, Kevin Czuczman returned and was paired with Trotman. Erixon went from top pair to third pair with Summers and bumped out Macoy Erkamps.

J-S Dea served the final game of his two game suspension.

First Period: Goals came quick.

Josh McArdle scored at 1:42 of the first when Peters made an initial save when the puck squirted to the slot for him and he scored to put the IceHogs on the board:

63 seconds later, Jarrett Burton scores to tie the game after he raced in unabated from center ice and wired a shot over Anton Forsberg to tie the game at 1.

The Penguins were getting flattened by the IceHogs and took a bunch of unnecessary penalties. Three of them in fact and a pair that gave the IceHogs a two man advantage for over a minute and Rockford’s 30th out of 31 AHL teams power play connected to reestablish the lead at 2-1.

Luke Johnson connected with Dylan Sikura.

Wilkes-Barre was outshot 14-7.

Second Period: Penguins outshot the IceHogs 19-6 in the middle frame but were unable to solve Anton Forsberg. They managed to kill two penalties in the period as well but Forsberg was dialed in.

Third Period: Penguins fail to cash on two power plays awarded in the period, have to kill a penalty late and with Peters pulled for the extra attacker were never able to get the equalizing goal.

The Good: Quantity of shots was there. Were they good shots? Most of them were, yeah. Effort was there after the second period.

The Bad: Another 2-1 setback.

Turning Point: The two man advantage Rockford had in the first period holds up after Forsberg stayed dialed in after the Jarrett Burton blemish against him.

Three Stars: 3) Luke Johnson (power play goal) 2) Josh McArdle (goal) 1) Anton Forsberg (45 saves on 46 shots)

Around the Division: Hershey stays hot, defeats Springfield 4-2 in Massachusetts…Charlotte loses 5-1 at home to a desperate Cleveland team spilling points everywhere.

Standings: Charlotte 70 — Bridgeport 58 — Providence 55 — Lehigh Valley 55 — Springfield 52 — Hershey 51 — Penguins 51 — Hartford 44

Things are tight. But do you really think the Penguins are a playoff contending team right now?

Wheeling Update: Nailers are off, they play in Manchester, New Hampshire this Friday.

Video Highlights:

Pens travel up to Milwaukee for a Friday meeting against the Admirals at 8 Wilkes-Barre time. Gameday setup is here Friday at 4. Check out the AHL Power Rankings Thursday before.

Let’s Go Pens!

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These are going to be a big two points lost with the Penguins position in the standings and with how tight things are down the stretch.

A 2-1 setback to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers tonight against a team that was 3-7 coming in their last ten. The Penguins put up seven goals Friday night against Lake Erie but faced a Sound Tigers team that always plays Wilkes-Barre tough.

The Penguins swept the Cleveland Monsters 4-0 and only allowed three goals against in the four games series. The Sound Tigers give the Penguins fits every time they meet up. Styles make fights, I guess.

The Penguins lost J-S Dea to a two game suspension. He missed tonight and will miss Wednesday in Rockford. I don’t want to pin the loss entirely on the fact that Dea was sat down for two games.

And it’s my fault for not having a blog post at the ready in the wake of the Dea news. He left the bench early as there was a scrum late in a blowout Friday. The rulebook calls for an automatic six game suspension. He only got two, so some leniency was given in the eyes of the League.

Hard to argue that point, but that’s the price you pay sometimes when your parent team wins Stanley Cups and is a contender year after year. This game was there for the Penguins to take, but they lacked any offensive punch, registering a paltry four shots on goal through about fifteen minutes in the third and squandered a stellar performance by Tristan Jarry in net and get no points on a night where Lehigh Valley and Springfield both lose and see their four game winning streak snapped at four.

Jarry opposed Jeremy Smith.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Linus Ölund took Dea’s spot at second line center. Patrick McGrath went in on the fourth line with some shuffling at that line. Kevin Czuczman picked up a knock Friday and Tim Erixon went in for him on defense.

All the offense happened in the first period.

Sound Tigers took the lead early when Jeff Kubiak took a juicy rebound off a Ben Holmstrom shot to give Bridgeport a 1-0 lead.

Penguins were getting run around a bit which ended up being foreshadowing to the full sixty minutes. Ethan Prow netted a power play goal that tied the game at one.

Scott Eansor scored with :20 left on a turnaround shot that went through Erixon’s legs and in.

That was it for the goals.

Wilkes-Barre took two penalties to open the second, Tristan Jarry remained dialed in, Penguins couldn’t cash on a power play at the end of the period which bled over to the third period, Sound Tigers kept the heat on Jarry and dominated offensive zone time and Jeremy Smith, not really bothered or tested in the third period was up to the task with Jarry pulled for the extra man in the final ninety seconds of the game.

The Good: Ethan Prow will one day join Teddy Blueger as an eventual mainstay with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Bad: The Penguins wasted one of Tristan Jarry’s better performances of the year and lose to a team who was spilling points all over the place. These are two points that the Penguins are going to wish they had in April.

Three Stars: 

Around the Division: Providence goes to Charlotte and sweep the Checkers albeit in overtime in both games, winning 1-0…Lehigh Valley loses 2-1 in Hershey to a Bears team that its red hot….Springfield comes up short against Utica 4-3 and Hartford loses 4-1 to Rochester.

Standings: Charlotte 68 — Bridgeport 56 — Providence 55 — Lehigh Valley 55 — Springfield 52 — Penguins 51 — Hershey 47 — Hartford 43

Wheeling Update: Kalamazoo scored three power play goals and beat the Nailers 5-2. John Muse took the loss in goal.

Video Highlights: 

I don’t have the February practice schedule, but I would think that the Penguins are flying out to the Midwest on Monday or Tuesday. IceHogs have won four straight and are going to be a tough matchup for the Penguins. But for anything breaking between now and Wednesday, check out the Gameday setup Wednesday at 4. It’s an 8 o’clock start in Illinois on Wednesday.

Let’s Go Pens!