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The Calder Cup Playoffs are still a few weeks away, yet one team came into tonight acting like they started yesterday. 

Facing a must win situation, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers came into Wilkes-Barre tonight and won 4-3. If they lost, they would have been eliminated from the playoffs. 

Bridgeport always plays the Penguins tough. Moreso than previous years it seems. Styles make fights. There wasn’t one thing, save for a defensive gaffe in the third period, that I can place my finger on that the Penguins were deficient in. Sometimes in matchups with two evenly matched teams the team that makes less mistakes wins the game. That team tonight was the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. 

Tristan Jarry opposed Chris Gibson.

Lineup wise, the only change was Gage Quinney returning after a five game hiatus due to a lower body injury, replacing Sam Lafferty, who warmed up. 

First Period: Penguins scored quickly on a power play when Daniel Sprong’s shot from the point was deflected in front by Tom Kostopoulos. 

But Bridgeport responded quickly on a power play of their own when Josh Ho-Sang dropped a pass to Mitch Vande Sompel who wired one far side past Jarry to make it a tie game. 

Ryan Bourque put a shot / pass down low a few minutes later to John Stevens who wheeled around the net then put a pass right on the tape of Steve Bernier in front for a goal that made it 2-1 Sound Tigers. 

Shots after one were 11-8 Bridgeport. But for a late power play for the Sound Tigers, an even overall period. 

Second Period: Mama, there goes that man again. Mitch Vande Sompel snipes his second of the game short side on Jarry to give the Sound Tigers a 3-1 lead. 

Penguins get it back to one when Teddy Blueger won a faceoff to Daniel Sprong who shot it quickly. 

That goal kick started the Penguins who started to come in waves and attacked the offensive zone. 

Slight problem though. Christopher Gibson was stopping everything. 

Penguins fail to tie it on a late power play. So it was off to the…

Third Period: Bridgeport reestablished their two goal lead when they sustained pressure by the Penguins in their defensive zone. Kyle Schempp took it out and a trailing Andrey Pedan, gassed at the end of his shift, was not able to defend Josh Holmstrom for the easy tap in. 

I mean, take a penalty or something. 

Penguins kept pushing, but time was running out. 

On a power play, Teddy Blueger would tip in a Daniel Sprong shot that brought the Pens to within one :28 into a power play. 

They continued to press, but time remained the enemy. With Jarry out for an extra attacker and through timeouts and even a late power play, Wilkes-Barre’s 16th consecutive trip to the playoffs would have to wait another day. 

Three Stars: 3) Daniel Sprong (goal, two assists, -1) 2) Ryan Bourque (two assists, +2) and  1) Mitch Vande Sompel (two goals, +1)

Around the Division: Hartford visited Providence and got thumped 6-3. Springfield traveled to Laval and beat the Rocket 5-1. Everyone else was off. 

Standings: Lehigh Valley (.674 percentage points) — Penguins (.634) — Providence (.627) — Charlotte (.611) — Bridgeport (.563) — Hartford (.493) — Springfield (.479) — Hershey (.465)

Wheeling Update: Facing a must win to keep their playoff chances alive, the Nailers lost to the Brampton Beast 4-3. The Nailers will miss the playoffs.

Video Highlights: 

Pens are in action for the final regular season home game against Binghamton. It’s a TV game, so if you can’t make it down, watch it on TV locally. Game day setup hits the blog Saturday at 3. 

Let’s Go Pens!

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The Penguins knew coming into tonight that with the earlier result in the morning between Bridgeport and Providence that they could not clinch a playoff spot. The Bruins would have had to have beaten the Sound Tigers in order for the Penguins magic number to reduce on it’s own. That did not happen, so the best the Penguins could do was handle things on their own and reduce their magic number themselves without having to rely on outside factors out of their control. 

Success. A 5-3 Penguins win over the Hershey Bears in a game that was as close as the scoreline would indicate. But the Penguins, who jumped out to a 4-1 lead, relied on Tristan Jarry and the used time against Hershey to reduce the magic number to clinch a playoff spot to just one point. 

Conceivably, they can accomplish that Friday at home against Bridgeport. But that’s a story for another day. 

Lazy legging lines tonight again. Thank heavens this is the last regular season home game of the season. Anyway, here are the lines tonight: 

First Period: Pens took a 2-1 lead here. A spin around shot from Teddy Blueger in the first minute of the game put the Penguins on the board first and early. Garrett Wilson scored from the slot that reestablished the one goal lead for the Pens. 

Connor Hobbs scored for the Bears at the expiration of a Hershey power play that made it 1-1. Both goals given up by Pheonix Copley I felt should have been saved. 

Second Period: Troy Mann must have shared the same sentiment as after Sam Lafferty scored his first as a professional, Mann changed goalies. Enter Vitek Vanecek. The feeling was that his Bears club was still in the game to an extent. 

I’d agree with Mann here. Slight problem though, no matter what the Bears were throwing at Tristan Jarry, the Penguins netminder was straight up stifling the would be rally. 

Chris Bourque playing in his 600th game for the Bears bore down on a breakaway. This was met with a cool, calm glove save by Jarry. 

Colby Williams was robbed on a shot that got past Jarry, but died at the line and was swept away by the Penguins net minder. 

You could have shot a cannonball at Jarry in the second period and he would have stopped it. 

Third Period: Penguins score on a power play goal. Hold on, let me type that again. New paragraph, too. 

Penguins score on a power play goal when Daniel Sprong’s initial shot is blocked by Tyler Lewington and goes right back to the Pens rookie. He regathers and shoots again and it goes in to make it 4-1 Wilkes-Barre. 

Bears get one back with a nifty play. Neutral zone faceoff win win back to defender or in this case Chris Bourque, looks like he’s going to slam it in, instead passes to center point for a drive and dish to Anthony Peluso for an easy tap in which made it 4-2. 

Hershey pulled to within one with Vanecek out on a 6-on-4 power play. Jarry made a boatload of saves but was unable to stop the rapid fire of shots put his way with bodies all over the place. Mathias Bau finally slammed the puck in to make things a bit too close for comfort with under five minutes remaining. 

It’s never easy. Andrey Pedan was tagged for closing his hand on the puck with a minute left. Bears never got setup to sustain a threat and J-S Dea hit an empty net with a second left to make it 5-3 to ice the game away. 

Three Stars: 3) Adam Johnson (two assists, +1) 2) Sam Lafferty (first pro goal, +1) 1) Daniel Sprong (goal, assist, -1)

Around the Division: Bridgeport beat Providence 3-2 in a school day game against the Bruins earlier today. As a result, the Penguins were not able to clinch a playoff spot today not matter the outcome with Hershey. Lehigh Valley was in Charlotte for a possible first round playoff match up and lost 3-1. Box here. Everyone else was off.

Standings: Lehigh Valley (.683 percentage points) — Penguins (.643) — Providence (.621) — Charlotte (.606) — Bridgeport (.557) — Hartford (.500) — Hershey (.465) — Springfield (.464)

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: 

But for anything else breaking the rest of the week, check me out again Friday for the Gameday setup against the Sound Tigers.

Let’s Go Pens!