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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!

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When Teddy Blueger finally earned his long overdue recall to the Pittsburgh Penguins this week, that left a huge offensive hole in the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins lineup. Blueger was and is a utility type player that can take face-offs kill penalties and put up points in most situations.

Enter J-S Dea, who is slowly creeping up the all time list in the categories of mention in Penguins history. Dea acted as the de facto top centerman tonight and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins win 7-2 Friday night at home in a runaway against the Cleveland Monsters.

Four straight wins for the Penguins. Despite this, the Penguins will remain in sixth place as just about everyone else in the Atlantic Division is as hot or hotter than the Pens.

Tristan Jarry opposed Matiss Kivlenieks.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Cam Brown replaced Blueger up front, Matt Abt returned and replaced Kevin Spinozzi. Wilkes-Barre released Dan Fick back to the Wheeling Nailers.

First Period: The Penguins came out of the All-Star break on a tear in their first period back. They overwhelmed the Monsters and took a 3-0 lead to the break. Offense, defense and goaltending was firing on all cylinders.

Joseph Blandisi continued his hot start with the Penguins with this goal that made it 1-0. It was followed by an Ethan Prow power play goal in the slot that made it 2-0. Before the Monsters knew what hit them, J-S Dea cleaned top a centering pass from Adam Johnson after a nice defensive play by Matt Abt at center ice which made it 3-0.

Here they all are, starting with Blandisi…

Shots were 17-9 heading into the…

Second Period: Penguins were caught flat footed and whatever Monsters head coach John Madden said to his group in the room worked because Cleveland responded in kind and started to run over the Penguins.

But Tristan Jarry, who didn’t get a star tonight, was on his game.

Dan DeSalvo broke through finally for the Monsters on a power play that made it 3-1.

Here is your turning point. The Penguins, who hadn’t done jack in a period where the Monsters were just at the boiling point, headed to a penalty kill when Adam Johnson was nabbed for a trip at 15:28. Wilkes-Barre got out of the penalty kill clean and added a Ryan Haggerty goal before the horn to carry a three goal lead to the third period.

I don’t entirely know if that goal was legal or not. It looked like Haggerty’s stick deflected the puck slightly above the crossbar but there was no review and no pushback from Madden and the Cleveland bench.

Third Period: Penguins volleyed the momentum here until they put Cleveland away for good. J-S Dea added a second goal on a power play, then off the face-off Dillon Simpson scored on a wraparound that made it 5-2, but then Anthony Angello and Sam Miletic scored to ice the game away.

Here is Dea’s goal.

Cleveland didn’t GIF the Simpson goal. AHL teams GIFing goals has to be a necessity at this level anymore.

Anthony Angello with a dart through the five hole of Kivlenieks that made it 6-2.

I like when Angello plays angry.

Finally Sam Miletic finished off a 2 on 1 with Cam Brown that made it 7-2. Brown’s shot was saved by Kivlenieks but Miletic was there for the rebound and backhanded it in.

Game devolved from there with J-S Dea getting a penalty for leaving the bench during an altercation. He didn’t get in a fight, so it remains to be seen on whether he is suspended by the AHL. It’s Rule 70 of the AHL Rulebook if you want to check it out.

The Good: That first period was OK if you like perfect. Wilkes-Barre ran over Cleveland and while the Monsters tried to get close, the Penguins had an answer every time.

The Bad: The second period was hard to watch at times. Cleveland has struggled of recent. A better organized offensive team cashes on the opportunities Cleveland had in the second and maybe this turns into more of a game.

Three Stars: 

Around the Division: No help, really. Providence beats Charlotte in a tight one in North Carolina 2-1 in overtime….Lehigh Valley beat Bridgeport in a wild one in Connecticut 7-5….Springfield beats Hartford 5-2. Hershey was off.

Standings: Charlotte 67 — Lehigh Valley 55 — Bridgeport 54 — Providence 53 — Springfield 52 — Penguins 51 — Hershey 45 — Hartford 43

Setting up Saturday: Providence and Charlotte rematch. Lehigh Valley travels to Hershey. Springfield hosts Utica. The Comets were shutout in Syracuse Friday and are fourth in the North and are battling. Bridgeport comes to Wilkes-Barre.

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 3-2 in overtime at home against Indy.

Video Highlights:

Bridgeport is in Saturday. Gameday setup hits the blog at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!