Chirps from Center Ice

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Remember last year when the Penguins played the Bears and beat them pretty much all the time?

Those were the days.

The Penguins and Bears have played four times this season and Hershey has won three. We are starting to see some regression to the mean here. Or maybe it’s something else.

Johnny Muse deserved better.

Muse, making his much anticipated Penguins debut, stops 31 of 34 shots and loses. Zero run support. The problem early on for the Penguins isn’t defense or goaltending, it’s lack of anything resembling a scoring threat. That, and the fact that special teams is a complete disaster on both ends of the spectrum.

Penguins lose 3-2.

Muse opposed Vitek Vanecek.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Garrett Wilson went back up Saturday afternoon because Patric Hornqvist has a concussion. Sam Miletic played his second straight game after his injury, so he must be healed. I thought he would have sat Saturday and played Sunday. Tobias Lindberg went in for Wilson. Stefan Elliott was back in for Jeff Taylor.

First Period: Maybe it was just me, but that first period tonight was complete junk hockey on both sides of the puck. The Penguins had three power plays but were outshot 10-6. Go figure.

Second Period: Jayson Megna scored again against his old team, following his shot on a rebound spilled by John Muse, probably Muse’s only miscue of the night, and the Bears went ahead 1-0.

Thomas DiPauli scored to bring the Pens even with a nice play. Matt Abvt took the shot, Ryan Haggerty either stopped the shot or dug it out of the pads of Vanecek and wheeled around the net and dished to.an unmarked DiPauli who scored.

When things aren’t going your way, stuff like this happen.

Bears in on a two on one, Shumakov goes for a pass and the puck deflects off of Kevin Czuczman and into the net. 2-1 Bears.

Third Period: Mike Sgarbossa scored to make it 3-1 late.

Another rebound left by Muse. Funny because Vanecek was spilling rebounds all over Wilkes-Barre and the Penguins were not able to capitalize. Muse, who I thought was tremendous in light of chaos around him, spills two and the Bears score on them.

Czuczman scores late with Muse vacated to pull the Pens back to one…

But with a late power play with 10 seconds left, the Penguins never found the equalizer.

The Good: The Penguins had a Hockey Fights Cancer themed jerseys. Anything for the cause because everyone knows someone who has cancer.

The Bad: Jimmy Hayes, Will O’Neill and the Penguins Special Teams. Disasters. All of them. There’s a reason Lehigh Valley dropped Will O’Neill like a bad habit. He doesn’t have it anymore. Tim Erixon, Jeff Taylor or anyone else could do a better job, surely. Here’s the thing with Hayes. A big body that skates around and hits everything but the opposing team or the opposing teams net. There was a sequence tonight where he was in the slot 10 feet from the net and shot the puck wide left. Is this an intermission game or a pro hockey game? Troy Josephs is murdering the ECHL and is buried there while Hayes goes out there and “tries.” The Penguins special teams needs to be blown up and launched into the ocean. I don’t know who is responsible for the units, but getting scored on the power play in now 11 straight games is totally and completely unacceptable. You can’t rely on any unit anymore and it’s a grit your teeth for 2:00 type of situation.

Now watch. The Penguins will go 5/5 on the power play and penalty kill Sunday and beat Providence 6-0. Jimmy Hayes and Will O’Neill will both have hat tricks. What do I know, I just have a blog.

Three Stars: 

Around the Division: Everyone around the Penguins tonight, lost. Providence beats Lehigh Valley 6-3…Syracuse blanks Springfield 3-0…Hartford beats Bridgeport, ending the Sound Tigers point streak in the process, 3-1….Charlotte beats Laval 4-2.

Standings: Charlotte 31 — Bridgeport 25 — Hartford 23 — Springfield 22 — Lehigh Valley 22 — Penguins 20 — Hershey 19 — Providence 17

Wheeling Update: to the Toledo Walleye 4-3.That Troy Josephs is something, I’ll tell ya. He scored and assisted tonight as the Pens lose The Walleye are 9-1 in their last ten.

Highlights: 

Gameday setup for Sunday afternoon’s game against Providence hits the blog Sunday at 11.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Punch. Counterpunch. Punch. Counterpunch.

That’s how this game went for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins tonight in Springfield, a 4-3 overtime loss.

The Thunderbirds jumped out to a 1-0 lead and the Pens answered and made it 2-1. Springfield responded and made it 3-2, the Pens score on a weird goal and get a Lafferty puck over glass delay of game penalty and some key glove saves by Anthony Peters to force overtime but lose there on a Jacob McDonald power play goal.

It’s a game that the Penguins could have, should have, won.

Anthony Peters opposed Samuel Montembeault.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Sam Miletic and Garrett Wilson returned from injury. Tristan Jarry was recalled to Pittsburgh Thursday under emergency conditions as Matt Murray is out “long term” with a “lower body injury” so Johnny Muse was recalled later Thursday in the corresponding move by Coal Street.

Line wise, things were all jumbled up with Miletic and Wilson in. Tobias Lindberg and Pat McGrath were the odd men out there. Matt Abt was in for Jeff Taylor on the third defensive pairing.

First Period: Springfield struck on the first power play of the game when Harry Zolnierczyk was left wide open in the slot that made it 1-0 Thunderbirds.

That was the tenth straight game in where the Pens have allowed a power play goal.

Wilkes-Barre had a chance to get back even or better with 1:39 of 5-on-3 power play.

It was an unmitigated disaster.

Anthony Peters had to cover up and make a save on a shot that Springfield had on the penalty kill.

Will O’Neill, known for his power play prowess, had a chance to score in the slot and didn’t take shot. Then, he had something like three shots from farther back that was either easily blocked or defected away.

Second Period: Joseph Cramarossa smacked home a pin balling puck to tie it.

Great response for the Penguins coming out of the break.

Wilkes-Barre would scored to move ahead on the power play when Teddy Blueger sniped this one home that gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead.

But then Springfield loaded up the shots, 25 total in the period, and reclaimed the lead.

Paul Thompson with a knee drop one timer from the top of the far circle…

Not quite, Taylor, but it was yet another Penguins prospect that would score the go ahead goal to close out the period. Blaine Byron would score on a rebound off of the pads of Anthony Peters that put the Thunderbirds up 3-2 heading into the third.

Third Period: Penguins had a great chance at an early power play as they pinned Springfield deep in their zone and fired shot after shot at Montembeault but came up empty.

Ethan Prow scored a goal on a weird sequence as the shot that he shot redirected off of a Thunderbirds stick and into the net that tied the game at three.

Prow factored into all three Penguins goals tonight. If Pittsburgh needs a defensive recall, Prow is the man for the job in this writers opinion.

Anthony Peters had a couple of glove saves late that preserved the tie and forced overtime, but it was a puck over glass delay of game penalty by Sam Lafferty that put the Pens in a hole.

Overtime: Garrett Wilson dove in a clearing attempt. It’s a home run play that either works out great or it doesn’t.

It didn’t.

Three Stars: 3) Anthony Peters (39 saves on 43 shots) 2) Ethan Prow (goal, two assists) and 1) Jacob McDonald (overtime game winning power play goal)

The Good: Points are points.

The Bad: 1) The extra one is one that the Penguins may wish they had come the Spring…2) The PK is now league worst at 75%.

Around the Division: Hartford beats Bridgeport 3-2 in a shootout….Lehigh Valley thumps Hershey 6-2. Charlotte and Providence were off.

Standings: Charlotte 29 — Bridgeport 25 — Springfield 22 — Lehigh Valley 22 — Hartford 21 — Penguins 20 — Hershey 17 — Providence 15

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

Highlights: Coal Street quick on them tonight:

Pens will bus home and get ready for a home game against the Hershey Bears Saturday night. Gameday setup is here on the blog Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!