Chirps from Center Ice

A fan blog about the AHL's Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins

GAMEDAY: vs. Hershey 1/19

Comments Off on GAMEDAY: vs. Hershey 1/19 Posted by on January 19, 2019

vs.     

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Who: Hershey Bears

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 3:05 p.m.

Last Game: Last night against Rochester, the Penguins lost 5-4. Anthony Angello scored a pair of goals in the loss. For Hershey, the Bears were in Binghamton on Wednesday and won 1-0 in overtime. Ryan Sproul scored the game winner and Ilya Samsonov has a 16 save shutout.

Last Meeting: December 28 in Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins lost 5-1. Joseph Cramarossa scored the only goal for the Pens in the loss. Five different Bears scored and Vitek Vanecek stopped 22 of 23 Penguins shots.

Record: For WBS: 19-17-4-1 (43 pts., 6th place Atlantic Division) // For HER: 18-20-0-2 (38 pts., 8th place Atlantic Division)

Referees: Alex Garon / Michael Sheehan

Linesmen: Ryan Knapp / Bob Goodman

Why You Should Care: Penguins need this one this afternoon against a Hershey team which has won three straight and have the Penguins number. It’s that simple.

Listen: Nick Hart on the call on WILK.

Watch: AHLTV is new and improved and a lot cheaper.

Promotion(s): None

Other Game to Watch: Springfield travels to Hartford in another important divisional game for the Thunderbirds.

Next Five Games: vs. LV 1/21, @ BRI 1/23, @ BNG 1/26, vs. CLE 2/1, vs. BRI 2/2

Gameday

Red Olofssons — Pens LOSE 5-4

Comments Off on Red Olofssons — Pens LOSE 5-4 Posted by on January 18, 2019

       vs.       

  5                                       4

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Two sides to this one, three if you factor in the injuries.

One hand, the Penguins played up to a Rochester team that has been at the top of the North Division for months now and lost a close game.

Other hand, Rochester played down to an opponent that lost two defensemen in a game that they badly outshot the home team, 38-23 and only won by one goal.

The Penguins lost defensemen Matt Abt and Jeff Taylor to injuries in the game and played with four defensemen in the third period where the score was 3-3.

Penguins lose 5-4. A pair of goals by Anthony Angello and two goals a piece by Zach Redmond and Victor Olofsson for Rochester.

Tristan Jarry opposed Scott Wedgewood.

Lines were…

…not correct. Zach Trotman did NOT play in the game. Jeff Taylor skated with Tim Erixon on the third defensive pairing. Sam Miletic did play, and he replaced Ryan Scarfo.

First Period: Anthony Angello got the Penguins out front first with this nice pass from Ethan Prow from the point for a 1-0 Penguin lead.

But then Macoy Erkamps fell down, turned the puck over and Zach Redmond sniped in a goal to tie the game at one.

Three people knew the gaol was scored. Jarry, Redmond and the referee who pointed goal. Pretty goal by Redmond.

Jimmy Hayes of all people finished this perfect 2-on-1 with Joseph Cramarossa to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.

Someone get me a medic!

Dalton Smith ran over Jeff Taylor. Taylor ended up going to the room, then returned, but ultimately didn’t come out for the third.

Second Period: Danny O’Regan scored on a play where all the Penguins on the ice went for a line change leaving zero players on the ice for O’Regan to get an easy pass for a breakaway goal that made it 2-2. I mean just look at this:

I kind off feel sorry for the five guys that jumped on for those coming off, they all got minuses on the play.

Zach Redmond scored his second of the game, this time coming on the top ranked Rochester road power play, and the Penguins trailed 3-2.

Adam Johnson scored a tough breakaway goal when the sides were four on four to make it 3-3.

Penguins needed that goal, as they were getting flattened with their offensive chances.

Third Period: Ethan Prow is unable to corral a bouncing puck that ends up on Victor Olofsson’s stick eventually and the Penguins go down 4-3. Olofsson would beat Jarry high glove again about six minutes later to make it 5-3. Here they are.

Penguins get a late goal with 62 seconds left from Anthony Angello that made it 5-4, but the Penguins frantically tried to tie the game but ran out of time.

The Good: Penguins kept it close on the scoreboard and battled the Americans all night.

The Bad: Losing the two defensemen in Abt and Taylor in the second half of the game ultimately cost the Penguins chances. Rochester outshot Wilkes-Barre 14-6. If the first place Americans didn’t win this game with the Penguins only using four defensemen, that would have been bad.

Indirect Bad: If Zach Trotman can’t go tomorrow, Will O’Neill time, baby!

Wait. Hold up.

Referees Beaudry Halkidis and Andrew Wilk were great tonight. The two teams were chippy tonight, but Wilk / Halkidis kept things under control and didn’t get in the way. The players I think respected that and were more interested in trying to win the game then they were in tearing each others heads off.

Three Stars: 

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley loses 6-5 in overtime at home against Hartford. Providence takes down Springfield 2-1 in a shootout. Everyone else was off.

Standings: Charlotte 63 — Bridgeport 50 — Lehigh Valley 46 — Springfield 45 — Providence 44 — Penguins 43 — Hartford 42 — Hershey 38

Wheeling Update: Nailers got shellacked in Glens Falls by the Adirondack Thunder.

Box here.

Video Highlights:

Penguins and Bears are playing at 3:05 Saturday. In case you haven’t heard, there is a major snowstorm set to impact the area Saturday into Sunday. The game was moved up four hours because of the snowstorm. It’s January and these things happen, but that doesn’t mean I have to drive in it. I am most likely not going to the game Saturday and will likely watch on AHLTV. I don’t have an issue driving in snow. I can drive in snow and have a vehicle capable of driving in snow. It’s the other humanoids in their front wheel drive sedans that don’t know how to drive in the snow and block the road that worry me. It isn’t worth it for me to face an hour plus commute home after the game.

The Penguins seem destined to play, Hershey’s game Sunday in Bridgeport has been postponed to Monday and the Bears are planning on staying in Wilkes-Barre after the game before going up to Bridgeport after the storm passes. I’d like for the teams to just agree to postpone and play at a later date. It’s Hershey. We play them all the time. Wilkes-Barre probably has snow dates built in and it’s not like Hershey is a team like Rochester tonight who is only in once.

Anyway, Gameday setup is here Saturday at 11 a.m. If you do decide to drive out, please be careful.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

RAPID RECAP – Pens LOSE 5-4

Comments Off on RAPID RECAP – Pens LOSE 5-4 Posted by on January 18, 2019

Penguins lost this game 5-4 to the Rochester Americans tonight in a closely contested, fight affair.

Collateral damage was losing Matt Abt and Jeff Taylor to injuries. Taylor was trucker by Dalton Smith in the second period, I didn’t see what happened to Abt.

More in a bit.

Rapid Recap

GAMEDAY: vs. Rochester 1/18

Comments Off on GAMEDAY: vs. Rochester 1/18 Posted by on January 18, 2019

vs.     

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Who: Rochester Americans

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m.

Last Game: Last Saturday in Charlotte, the Penguins lost 5-3. Jeff Taylor, Ethan Prow and Cam Brown had goals for the Pens in the loss. For Rochester, the Amerks beat the Toronto Marlies 5-1. CJ Smith had a hat trick and an assist in the win.

Last Meeting: November 30 in Rochester, the Penguins lost 1-0. Victor Olofsson had the games only goal and John Muse stopped 29 of 30 shots.

Record: For WBS: 19-16-4-1 (43 pts., 5th place Atlantic Division) // For RCH: 23-13-2-0 (48 pts., 1st place North Division)

Referees: Beaudry Halkidis / Andrew Wilk

Linesmen: J.P. Waleski / Matt McNulty

Why You Should Care: Penguins return home to face off against a quality opponent in the Rochester Americans, who are in a three way battle with the Utica Comets and the Syracuse Crunch in the North Division. The Americans will serve as a stiff test for a Penguins team that split with the Charlotte Checkers, the best team in the AHL, last weekend.

Listen: Nick Hart on the call on WILK.

Watch: AHLTV is new and improved and a lot cheaper.

Promotion(s): EYEWITNESS NEWS FAN FRIDAY — Enjoy great hockey at a great price with $14 lower bowl tickets, courtesy of our friends at Eyewitness News.  Fans ages 21 and over can enjoy select draft beers for just $2 from 6-7:30pm.  And everyone is invited to stick around after the game for our Citizens Voice / Scranton Times Tribune postgame autograph session, featuring a pair of Penguins players.

Other Game to Watch: Springfield travels to Providence in a very important Atlantic Division matchup.

Next Five Games: vs. HER 1/19, vs. LV 1/21, @ BRI 1/23, @ BNG 1/26, vs. CLE 2/1

Gameday

AHL Power Rankings: Week 15

Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings: Week 15 Posted by on January 17, 2019

Some shakeups to the top five and top ten this week in the Week 15 version of the Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings.

Charlotte remains number one. They have thirty wins and 60 points. San Diego jumps up to second after fifteen games in a row without a regulation loss.

San Jose drops down one, they still lead the Pacific but are feeling the heat from the Gulls. Chicago stays fourth as the leaders of the Central and Tucson jumps back into the top five.

Go past the Roadrunners if you didn’t link in direct to see where your favorite team, if they aren’t already mentioned above, filled out this week.

1

 Last Week: WBS 5 @ CHA 1, WBS 3 @ CHA 5, BRI 0 @ CHA 1, BRI 4 @ CHA 6
OK, we get it. The Checkers are good. But they are approaching territory of some of the greatest teams to have ever played in the AHL.

n/a

 This Week: vs. TOR 1/19, vs. TOR 1/20
Record: 30-9-3-0

2

 Last Week: SD 5 @ MIL 2, SD 2 @ IA 3 (OT), TEX 1 @ SD 2
Point streak is up to 15. Gulls are second in the Pacific now. Trades made by Anaheim may end up throwing cold water on these hot Gulls, though.

+1

 This Week: vs. BAK 1/19, @ ONT 1/21
Record: 20-11-2-3

3

 Last Week: ONT 3 @ SJ 1, STK 1 @ SJ 2
Barracuda shouldn’t be worried as much about the second place Roadrunners as much as they should the third place Gulls who are on a tear right now.

-1

 This Week: vs. TEX 1/18, vs. BAK 1/21
Record: 22-8-1-3

4

 Last Week: CHI 6 @ TUC 3, CHI 2 @ TUC 3, GR 2 @ CHI 5
Sole possession of first in the Central, but only three points from being out of the playoffs. Razor thin margins.

n/a

 This Week: vs. RFD 1/19, vs. MIL 1/20
Record: 23-13-3-1

5

 Last Week: CHI 6 @ TUC 3, CHI 2 @ TUC 3
Split with Chicago but San Jose is opening up more of a lead on the Roadrunners. Busy week coming up with four games.

+1

 This Week: @ COL 1/18, @ COL 1/19, vs. TEX 1/21, vs. TEX 1/23
Record: 20-10-3-1

Read more of this post

Power Rankings

Split Town — Pens LOSE 5-3

Comments Off on Split Town — Pens LOSE 5-3 Posted by on January 12, 2019

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If I told you Thursday that the Penguins would split with the Charlotte Checkers, would you have taken it?

Don’t lie, you probably would. I would have.

But, after Wilkes-Barre dominated the AHL’s best team on Friday beating them 5-1 and making no lineup changes Saturday, Penguins fans were hoping for a clean sweep.

But Charlotte isn’t the best team in the AHL by dumb luck. A first period where the Checkers players figuratively returned to the parking lot and drove their automobiles onto the ice and ran over the Penguins skaters, out scoring the Penguins 3-0 and outshooting them 14-3, it was too big of a hole for Wilkes-Barre to dig out of.

But they did make it interesting, cutting the deficit to one on two occasions, but ultimately fall 5-3 in Charlotte and earn a split with the Checkers.

Tristan Jarry opposed Alex Nedeljkovic.

Lines were…

…essentially unchanged from Friday night.

First Period: The Penguins were freight trained in the period. Charlotte scored as many goals as WIlkes-Barre had shots.

Julian Gauthier at the high slot at 1:14 put the Checkers on the board early, then about three and a half minutes later Morgan Geekie went unmarked and floated to the high slot and ripped one and scored to make it 2-0.

Charlotte would add a third on a power play which took all of seven seconds. A face off win, a soft shot off the pads of Jarry to Zach Nastasiuk who swept the puck across the line to make it 3-0 for Charlotte.

Here are all three goals in one tweet:

It was a bad period for the Penguins, to say the least. They had this one sequence I am about to show you that summed up their period.

In on a two on one, they get chased down by Haydn Fleury and don’t get a shot or pass off. It was Anthony Angello with Cam Brown in on a two on one when Fleury just erased the play entirely.

Wilkes-Barre was outshot 14-3 in the period. Not good.

Second Period: Much better period by the Penguins in contrast to the first, but down 3-0 to an offensively explosive team in Charlotte meant that you need to capitalize on your chances when you can quickly.

Wilkes-Barre had a 4:00 power play off the hop that they didn’t score on but they did get several good looks on.

Then Cam Brown brought the Penguins on the board when a shot off the post by Anthony Angello was put in by Brown for his first as a Penguin.

Then the Penguins capitalized on a power play when Ethan Prow scored to bring Wilkes-Barre back to within one.

But then a bad pinch by Matt Abt put the Checkers on a break that became a scramble that was just too much to recover from. Nicolas Roy made it a two goal game.

Momentum with the Penguins, a whole other period to play, and Abt pinches and puts his team in a bit of a hole going into the…

Third Period: Penguins got nabbed with a too many men on the ice penalty that they were able to negotiate out of okay but when you need to score goals with time your enemy, taking penalties is not a recipe for success.

Cam Brown was stopped on one of Alex Nedeljkovic’s better saves of the night.

Jeff Taylor got the Penguins to within one with this goal here with under ten minutes to play.

Wilkes-Barre would continue to buzz and roll, hit another post but with time winding down Clark Donatelli would call time out and with Jarry pulled, Nicolas Roy intercepted a Penguin breakout and hit the empty net to ice the game away.

The Good: No quit in the team who were the better side in the second half of the contest. I like Cam Brown on the top line, he was one of the better players for WIlkes-Barre tonight.

The Bad: This one is a layup. The Penguins will want that first twenty minutes back.

Three Stars: 3) Zach Nastasiuk (goal) 2) Nicolas Roy (two goals, assist) and 1) Julian Gauthier (goal, two assists)

Around the Division: Good night, overall. Bridgeport loses at home to Hartford 4-2. Hershey finally beats Lehigh Valley in Allentown via an Ilya Samsonov shutout 3-0. Providence beats Springfield 4-3.

Setting up Your Sunday: Three games in the AHL, and two of them involve Atlantic Division teams. Home and home rematches of Hershey and Lehigh Valley and Providence in Springfield. You want a Bears win and the Providence / Springfield game to finish in regulation.

Standings: Charlotte 59 — Bridgepor 50 — Lehigh Valley 43 — Penguins 43 — Springfield 42 — Providence 41 — Hartford 40 — Hershey 34

Wheeling Update: 

Box here. The Indy Fuel were the opponent.

Video Highlights: If one of the teams puts them up, I will edit them in here when the other games go final.

Pens will fly home Sunday, probably have a few days off before a Friday home date against Rochester. News and other stuff as it comes here on the blog. If not, check out my Power Rankings Thursday morning.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

GAMEDAY: @ Charlotte 1/12

Comments Off on GAMEDAY: @ Charlotte 1/12 Posted by on January 12, 2019

@     

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Who: Charlotte Checkers

Where: Bojangles’ Coliseum

When: 6:00 p.m.

Last Game / Last Meeting: Last night in Charlotte, the Penguins won 5-1. Tristan Jarry stopped 28 of 29 shots, Teddy Blueger and Anthony Angello both had a goal and an assist each. Andrew Poturalski scored for the Checkers.

Record: For WBS: 19-15-4-1 (43 pts., 4th place Atlantic Division) // For CHA: 27-9-3-0 (57 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division)

Referees: Michael Markovic / Brandon Blandina

Linesmen: Paul Carnathan / Ken Radolinski

Why You Should Care: Last night was fun, wasn’t it? Tonight should be different because Charlotte is well coached and too talented to have a repeat performance from last night. But expect the Pens to bring the same starch that got them the win last night. Wilkes-Barre can really start to open some eyes around the division if they manage to somehow sweep the Checkers clean with another regulation win tonight.

Listen: Nick Hart on the call on WILK.

Watch: AHLTV is new and improved and a lot cheaper. Tonight’s game is also free on AHL TV, provided you have an account.

Other Game to Watch: Providence has been good of recent, they travel to Springfield who the Pens are neck and neck with right now for the four seed in the Atlantic.

Next Five Games: vs. RCH 1/18, vs. HER 1/19, vs. LV 1/21, @ BRI 1/23, @ BNG 1/26

Gameday

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