Comments Off on GAMEDAY: vs. Hershey 10/17
Posted by nafsnep on October 17, 2018
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Who: Hershey Bears
Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
When: 7:05 p.m.
Last Game: Last Saturday in Cleveland, the Penguins scored three goals in the second period and beat the Cleveland Monsters 4-1. Anthony Peters was named first star of the game with 32 of 33 saves. For Hershey, the Bears are in the midst of a seven game road trip which started this weekend in the Midwest. They lost Sunday afternoon in Rockford 5-2. Tyler Lewington and Liam O’Brien scored goals for Hershey in the defeat,
Record: For WBS: 3-0-0-0 (6 pts., 3rd place Atlantic Division) // For HER: 0-5-0-0 (0 pts., 8th place Atlantic Division)
Referee(s): Olivier Gouin / Peter Schlittenhardt
Linesmen: Neil Frederickson / Scott Pomento
Why You Should Care: Penguins welcome in Hershey for a midweek game at home in Wilkes-Barre. Bears come in 0-5 still looking for their first win. They are the last team in the AHL to win a game, and will be looking to get in the win column against a Penguins team that had a pretty good weekend in Cleveland.
Comments Off on Anthony from Cleveland — Pens WIN 4-1
Posted by nafsnep on October 13, 2018
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Here’s the thing. When Tristan Jarry comes down from Pittsburgh, the derivative from the NHL Penguins is going to give Jarry the net. The American Hockey League is a developmental league for players on NHL contracts sent to the AHL. Jarry is going to play. Get ready for it.
That’s fine. Because the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have a diamond in the rough and his name is Anthony Peters.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) October 13, 2018
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Lineup Notes: Up front, Derek Grant made his WBS debut for Tobias Lindberg up front and Jeff Taylor was in for Will O’Neill. Anthony Peters retained the net. Don’t worry about O’Neill, the Penguins are dealing with a case of way too many veterans. Grant qualifies as one which puts them over.
Seriously, these graphics are great. Hope they return this Wednesday at home against Hershey.
First Period: Wasn’t much to this period. Kevin Stenlund had a dangle and snipe goal to put the Monsters ahead 1-0…
Cleveland gets on the board first with a goal from Kevin Stenlund.
Wilkes-Barre was coming in waves. Sam Miletic hit the bar. Then, Derek Grant scored on a sick deflection of a Jeff Taylor shot from an even sicker angle…
🚨 GOAL! 🚨 @DGrant57 makes it 3-1 Penguins in his first game with WBS!
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) October 14, 2018
Wilkes-Barre had to killa. late penalty, and Anthony Peters continued to stake his claim as the #1 goaltender in Wilkes-Barre. Check out this robbery of an Alex Broadhurst attempt…
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) October 14, 2018
Third Period: A good gauge on whether you are going to be a good team with your current group is to see how your team plays with leads. Cleveland didn’t muster anything close to a chance but for another Peters stop on Zac Dalpe on a setup from ex-Penguin Mark Letestu. That was it. Penguins had a power play but couldn’t score then Monsters head coach John Madden pulled Berube with 3:58 to play and later Teddy Blueger hit the empty net.
Three Stars: 3) Kevin Stenlund (goal) 2) Jimmy Hayes (goal) and 1) Anthony Peters (32 saves on 33 shots)
Around the Division: Charlotte continues to roll with a 4-1 win in Syracuse tonight…Lehigh Valley wins in a shootout 5-4 in Springfield after getting throttled by the Thunderbirds in Allentown last night…Rochester beat Bridgeport 4-3 Saturday afternoon…Hartford beat Providence 4-3 and Hershey remains the only team without a win in the Atlantic Division with a 5-1 loss in Milwaukee.
Standings: Charlotte with 8, Hartford with 7, Wilkes-Barre 6, Springfield and Lehigh Valley with 4, Bridgeport and Providence with 2 and Hershey with 0.
Wheeling Update: Nailers kicked off their campaign on the road in Norfolk and lost 5-3. The Nailers scored three power play goals in the loss. Elliot Grauer had a pair of goals. Apologies on the link, the ECHL switched to a new website that they clearly weren’t’ ready for because it’s a nightmare. You can’t find boxes anywhere on the regular site. Just let me find them for you. If or when they fix it, I will update future links accordingly.
Remember, my AHL Power Rankings have been moved to Thursday. So unless there is newsworthy stuff to make a blog post out of, check back here Wednesday for coverage of the midweek home game against Hershey.
Comments Off on GAMEDAY: @ Cleveland 10/13
Posted by nafsnep on October 13, 2018
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Who: Cleveland Monsters
Where: Quicken Loans Arena
When: 7:00 p.m.
Last Game / Last Meeting: Thursday in Cleveland, the Penguins scored three power play goals and Anthony Peters made 28 saves as Wilkes-Barre beat Cleveland 3-0 in their first matchup in ten years.
Record: For WBS: 2-0-0-0 (4 pts., 3rd place Atlantic Division) // For CLE: 3-1-0-0 (6 pts., 1st place North Division)
Referee(s): Keith Kaval / Tim Mayer
Linesmen: Zach Roberts / Fraser McIntyre
Why You Should Care: Rematch tonight in The Land. Pens handled Cleveland pretty handily Thursday and scored an unprecedented three power play goals. Will the trend continue? Will Cleveland tighten up defensively and with discipline? Who starts in goal for the Penguins?
Other Game to Watch: Two other teams rematch tonight in Springfield as the Thunderbirds host the Phantoms in their home opener. Last night, the Thunderbirds dismantled the Phantoms 7-0 and scored five power play goals in the process.
Next Five Games: vs. HER 10/17, @ LV 10/19, vs. LV 10/20, vs. HER 10/26, @ HER 10/27
Comments Off on Penguins Power Past Monster, Film at 11 — Pens WIN 3-0
Posted by nafsnep on October 11, 2018
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It seemed like a walk in a park tonight.
I guess you could say that when the opponent gives you 11 power play chances and you cash on three of them and your goaltender, playing to stick around plays lights out. Such was the case Thursday night in Cleveland.
The Penguins scored all three goals on the power play.
Oh, it’s true.
At even strength, it seemed like there was a talent gap. I was a bit worried coming into the contest tonight as anyone would be going against a 3-0 team when you team just played open game on opening weekend. The Monsters swept the Rockford IceHogs last weekend and dismantled the defending Calder Cup Champion Toronto Marlies on Monday. It’s not a team we have seen at all of recent, so the unknown is always there.
Wilkes-Barre outshot the Monsters 18-12 and were up 1-0 after the first period. It was a message sent by Clark Donatelli’s crew that they were going to take hold of the game early and never look back.
Anthony Peters really wasn’t tested. He made some good saves, but any goaltender at this level could make the saves he made. I am not discounting his shutout performance (28 saves) by any stretch, but the five guys playing ahead of him made it easy for him.
These two teams rematch Saturday night.
The aforementioned Anthony Peters opposed J-F Berube.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) October 11, 2018
That’s the easiest thing I have ever done on the blog. If the person responsible for the creation of that tweet reads this blog, please let this be a normal thing. It’s such a timesaver.
Lineup Notes: No changes from opening night. Derek Grant cleared waivers at noon today and Pittsburgh sent him here and recalled Tristan Jarry on an emergency basis. Matt Murray did take an optional skate today, but was ruled out of tonight’s matchup in Pittsburgh against Vegas.
First Period: Penguins gave up a 3×5 shorthanded chance to Zac Dalpe, but Garrett Wilson finally broke through on the power play on a deflection of a shot by ex-Monster Stefan Elliott…
The Penguins had a ton of offensive zone time in the first period but Berube withstood the offensive onslaught. Anthony Peters was not tested but for one power play for the Monsters.
Second Period: Anthony Peters had a few big stops in this frame. Taylor caught one…
Penguins actually looked good on the power play to this point, and the Monsters parade to the box continued. Pens peppered Berube with shots and at the other end of the ice Peters was stopping everything sent his way.
Third Period: Monsters could not stop taking penalties. Anthony Angello scored to make it three power play goals on the night for Wilkes-Barre with this goal….
🚨 GOAL! 🚨 @Anthony_Angello makes it 3-0 Penguins. Another power play tally.
With about four minutes remaining in regulation, Monsters coach John Madden decided to pull Berube, but it didn’t matter, Cleveland continued to take penalties. The Penguins didn’t hit the empty net, but they didn’t allow the Monsters to score to bust up the Peters shutout.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) October 12, 2018
Around the Division: They, along with the entire AHL, watched us.
Standings: Charlotte, Wilkes-Barre and Hartford with 4 points each, Lehigh Valley and Bridgeport with 2, Springfield with 1 and Providence and Hershey with 0.
Wheeling Update: The Nailers open their regular season on the road Saturday in Norfolk.
Highlights:
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No game tomorrow, if there are any news or notes I will have something here. If not, check out the Gameday setup for the rematch between these two teams Saturday at 3.
Comments Off on GAMEDAY: @ Cleveland 10/11
Posted by nafsnep on October 11, 2018
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Who: Cleveland Monsters
Where: Quicken Loans Arena
When: 7:00 p.m.
Last Game: This past Saturday in their home opener, the Penguins defeated the Springfield Thunderbirds 3-2 vis shootout. Zach Aston-Reese scored in regulation and in the shootout round. For Cleveland, the Monsters were in Toronto on Monday as the Marlies raised their 2018 Calder Cup Championship banner and spoiled the homecoming for the defending champs, handing the Marlies a 5-3 loss. Zac Dalpe had a pair of goals.
Record: For WBS: 1-0-0-0 (2 pts., 4th place Atlantic Division) // For CLE: 3-0-0-0 (6 pts., 1st place North Division)
Referee(s): Brandon Biggers / Michael Markovic
Linesmen: Ray King / Brendan Lewis
Why You Should Care: Big tests for both sides tonight in The Land. The Penguins are coming off a tough battle that they walked away from victorious Saturday against a good Springfield team and the Monsters sit atop the North Division after jumping out to a 3-0 start. Wilkes-Barre can’t underestimate Cleveland and the Monsters want to see how they stack up against one of the AHL’s better franchises. Should be a good one tonight.
Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings: Week 1
Posted by nafsnep on October 11, 2018
Back for another season on a different day are the Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings.
In the short term, we are going to run these on Thursday’s. They debuted at 10 am today because of the later Penguins game in Cleveland tonight, but that time may change to noon or sometime in the afternoon. I may stick with 10 am or go with noon. I may not even like Thursday’s, but it seems to work because it is one of the lightest days on the AHL schedule.
Anyway, I hope you like the new change.
So to this weeks Rankings, don’t look at the top. We have the Charlotte Checkers as the number one team over the only 3-0 team in the AHL in Cleveland. These early Rankings are just setups for 10 weeks from now and onward. Is Lehigh Valley really a mid-table team? No. I will tell you that right now. Are we overestimating Springfield? Probably, but that’s not for me to say for certain as these teams get into their schedules.
Iowa debuts at third. They dismantled a Moose team that did the same to Central Division foes last season.
A surprising Binghamton team is fourth followed by San Jose in fifth who lead their, “they don’t play as many games as we do” division.
After the Barracuda, jump through to see the rest if you didn’t link in direct. Enjoy!
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Last Week: CHA 6 @ RCH 2, CHA 4 @ RCH 2
Impressive start for the Checkers, who rolled into Rochester and took away all four points. Trip through New York continues this week with Utica and Syracuse.
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This Week: @ UTI 10/12, @ SYR 10/13
Record: 2-0-0-0
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Last Week: RFD 1 @ CLE 4, RFD 2 @ CLE 5, CLE 5 @ TOR 3
Cleveland off to surprising 3-0 start. Big test coming this weekend when Wilkes-Barre stops by for the first time in a long while.
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This Week: vs. WBS 10/11, vs. WBS 10/13
Record: 3-0-0-0
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Last Week: MTB 1 @ IA 4, MTB 1 @ IA 8
Tim Army’s group is 2-0 after week one and smoked the Moose quite handedly in both contests last weekend. Light schedule this week when Texas comes in Friday.
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This Week: vs. TEX 10/12
Record: 2-0-0-0
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Last Week: TOR 5 @ BNG 7, HFD 3 @ BNG 5
Something is brewing in Binghamton, who are off to a 2-0 start. Three on the road this week.
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This Week: @ LAV 10/12, @ LAV 10/13, @ BEL 10/17
Record: 2-0-0-0
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Last Week: ONT 1 @ SJ 4, SJ 5 @ BAK 1, BAK 3 @ SJ 2 (SO)
Good start for Roy Sommer’s crew. Barracuda sit atop the Pacific after the first week.
Comments Off on Tuesday Notes 10/9
Posted by nafsnep on October 9, 2018
What you see below was a Facebook status update. I didn’t think I had enough to string together for a blog post, but after I finished I looked at it and figured it was so here goes…
– Pens made cuts – sent Dane Birks, Kevin Spinoza and Cam Brown to Wheeling on Sunday.
– Pens had a goalie controversy until they didn’t. Matt Murray is out with a concussion (again, his third) and Tristan Jarry is on his way back up.
– I upgraded to a five year plan with the Penguins. The early access, my own line and parking spot put me over the top.
– As some of you may know, the Power Rankings will be out Thursday. I’m not married to Thursday’s yet, but I’m not staying up late on Sunday to run them on Monday anymore. May run them Tuesday, but Thursday it is for now.
– Pens are going to be on NHL Network later in the season. Way later, March 13 and April 7 in Lehigh Valley against the Phantoms.
That’s all. Pens are the only game in town when they play a rare Thursday game in Cleveland. More then.
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WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 