Comments Off on GAMEDAY: vs. Rochester 12/2
Posted by nafsnep on December 2, 2017
vs.
–
Who: Rochester Americans
Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
When: 7:05 p.m.
Last Game: Last night at home against the Milwaukee Admirals the Penguins won 5-4 in overtime. Garrett Wilson had a hat trick in the first period but J-S Dea scored the game winner in overtime. For Rochester, the Americans hosted the Hartford Wolf Pack and lost 5-4 in a shootout. Garret Ross had a goal, good enough to get him second star honors.
Record: For WBS: 13-4-0-1 (27 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) // For RCH: 11-5-3-2 (27 pts., 2nd place North Division)
Referee(s): Alex Garon / Brandon Schrader
Linesmen: Bob Goodman / Luke Murray
Why You Should Care: Penguins recipe for success last night was scoring first against Milwaukee, so that should be the blueprint for tonight as well. The Americans will be coming in ornery having lost to a team they should have beat last night.
Promotion(s): Teddy Bear Toss / Penguins Team Card Strip #2
Television: Tonight’s Penguins game will be carried live on WBRE, Channel 28, local in the Wilkes-Barre area.
Other Game to Watch: Grand Rapids travels to Chicago in a matchup of two teams that looked to be strong out of the gate that have failed to live up to expectations.
Next Five Games: @ HER 12/3, @ LV 12/6, CHA 12/8, @ HER 12/10, SPR 12/13
Comments Off on Down Periscope — Pens WIN 5-4 (OT)
Posted by nafsnep on December 1, 2017
vs.
4 5
–
This game had everything.
From a hat trick in the first period to two shorthanded goals and two goaltenders duking it out trying to keep their team in it, this was an exciting matchup between two teams that haven’t met in the regular season in the better part of a decade. Best yet, as the game wore on, they quickly grew an appetite of distaste for one another.
Penguins win 5-4 in overtime off of another game winning goal from the stick of J-S Dea. Stats and color man Nick Hart tweeted after the game that Dea now pulls into a tie with Tomáš Surový and Scott Wilson for the second-most game-winning goals in Penguins franchise history with 14.
Colin Stevens opposed Jusse Saros. This game really was a goaltending duel more than people realize. For Stevens, it was his first AHL start.
Lines were…
Zach Aston-Reese — J-S Dea — Ryan Haggerty
Dominik Simon – Colin Smith – Christian Thomas
Garrett Wilson – Adam Johnson – Josh Archibald
Tom Sestito – Teddy Blueger – Thomas Di Pauli
Lineup Notes: Daniel Sprong was a healthy scratch tonight. No, he’s not getting called up. He was a straight up scratch tonight. If body language was any indicator, he didn’t take it too well. His chin strap was not tied, he looked totally disengaged in warmups when his teammates were rushing, talking to the trainers on the bench during and left the ice with 3:30 to go in the warmup session. There was a report this week that GM Jim Rutherford told the Pittsburgh media that Daniel Sprong will not be called up any time soon because the coaching staff in Wilkes-Barre has given the brass in Pittsburgh no reason for him to be called up. If this is how Sprong reacts to the adversity of being scratched by the coaching staff, that is not a good sign.
I had someone on Twitter tell me that Sprong has had attitude problems going all the way back to his midget days and those problems were why he slipped in the QMJHL draft and followed him to his Junior team.
Tyler asked after the game and was told this…
Donatelli on Sprong's scratch: "Part of the process of being a pro here. We wanted him to watch from up top. We've been doing a lot of film work with him, and this is part of the process."
Chris Summers was given the night off. Josh Archibald was sent down on conditioning for the weekend to get him reps. Garrett Wilson was back also with Tom Sestito. Gage Quinney and Jarrett Burton were the odd men out of the forward corps.
First Period: In order for the Penguins to have success in the game tonight, the blueprint was to scored the first goal.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 2, 2017
–
Credit to Colin Stevens, he had some big stops early on to keep Milwaukee to just one goal early on. Wilkes-Barre did a good job of insulating him in the first, and he did the rest in making the saves he needed to.
Second Period: Admirals leading scorer Emil Pettersson skated to the slot and let it rip and beat Stevens to make it a one goal game again.
Here is where Saros settled in and kept his team in the game by not allowing the Penguins to score on some decent chances. Colin Smith and Adam Johnson had better chances, Saros stopped them all. Milwaukee bided their time, waiting for a good opportunity on Stevens to make it 3-3.
But it never happened. The Penguins caused a delay of game for a face-off violation, giving the Admirals a power play. To be fair, both teams had issues with the way that linesman Tom DellaFranco and J.P. Waleski handled face-offs, but the Penguins had to pay a penalty out of it.
Josh Archibald wants you to remember that speed kills…
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 2, 2017
–
Big goal at the time. A one goal game is a one shot game. Momentum can turn instantly. Penguins skated into the second intermission up a pair.
Third Period: Milwaukee finally broke through on a power play when Mark Zengerle collected a puck far side and just dialed in and picked his spot on Stevens all in close that made it a one goal Penguin lead.
Milwaukee continued the sustained pressure. They hit a post. Finally, Zengerle put a shot on Stevens that he flicked away with the right pad but Anthony Richard was right place, right time and put the rebound home to make it 4-4 and a tie game.
That goal came with under five minutes to play. But for a total breakdown which didn’t come, it was off to…
Overtime: Stevens made a skate save in the overtime session, then J-S Dea skated on off the bench and ended it…
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 2, 2017
–
Ballgame.
Use your offensive pieces to jump ahead on your opponent and your defense to insulate your young goaltender, get some OK saves out of him and a great team wins a good game. Easy. Just replicate it two more times this weekend and we all sincerely regret any doubts coming into the weekend in the goaltending department.
Three Stars: 3) Josh Archibald (goal, assist, even) 2) J-S Dea (overtime game winning goal, even) and 1) Garrett Wilson (hat trick, +1)
Standings: Penguins (.750 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.636) — Providence (.632) — Bridgeport (.625) — Charlotte (.614) — Hershey (.477) — Hartford (.413) — Springfield (.396)
Wheeling Update: Nailerslose at home to the Reading Royals 4-3. Cody Wydo had a goal and an assist. Reading stays the night and the two teams rematch tomorrow in Wheeling.
Video Highlights:
–
Rochester comes to town tomorrow with a boatload of ex-Penguins. Gameday for that matchup hist the blog Saturday at 3.
Comments Off on RAPID RECAP – Pens WIN 5-4 (OT)
Posted by nafsnep on December 1, 2017
Pens get a hat trick from Garrett Wilson in the first period, Milwaukee goaltender Jusse Saros keeps his team in the game through the second and third period, the Admirals tie it late in the third and J-S Dea scores to win it in overtime.
Colin Stevens started, looked shaky at times, but overall played well enough for his team to get the two pow its needed to break the two game losing streak they were on.
More in a bit, including a player who was a surprising scratch tonight.
Comments Off on GAMEDAY: vs. Milwaukee 12/1
Posted by nafsnep on December 1, 2017
vs.
–
Who: Milwaukee Admirals
Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
When: 7:05 p.m.
Last Game: Saturday at home against Syracuse, the Penguins put up a valiant effort in the third period, but couldn’t overcome the two goals that the Crunch scored in the second period and lost 4-3. Freddie Tiffels scored his first AHL goal of his career. For Milwaukee, the Admirals were in Des Moines, Iowa taking on the Iowa Wild on Tuesday and won 4-2. Goaltender Anders Lindback stopped 40 of 42 shots and was named first star of the game. Mark Zengerle also added a goal and had two assists.
Record: For WBS: 12-4-0-1 (25 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) // For MIL: 11-8-0-0 (22 pts., 2nd place Central Division)
Referee(s): Cameron Voss / Beaudry Halkidis
Linesmen: J.P. Waleski / Tom DellaFranco
Why You Should Care: Penguins face an unfamiliar foe from the Western Conference in the Milwaukee Admirals. The Penguins will have a new tandem in goal tonight with Casey DeSmith getting called up Tuesday. Sean Maguire was recalled, then Colin Smith yo-yo’ed to Wheeling and back, then Maguire got sick necessitating the Pens to sign Anthony Peters to a PTO Friday morning. The goaltending situation is in flux, putting it mildly.
Promotion(s): WBRE Fan Friday ($14 Tickets), Postgame Autographs, $2 Draft Beers (6-7:30 p.m.) / Bayard – Times Tribune – Citizens Voice Team Photo Giveaway.
Other Game to Watch: Springfield visits Charlotte tonight in a matchup against two teams that have been trending upwards of late.
Next Five Games: RCH 12/2, @ HER 12/3, @ LV 12/6, CHA 12/8, @ HER 12/10
Don’t get used to me using emojis in my blog headlines, but the emoji used in today’s entry about sums up the week for Penguins fans in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Let’s review:
Friday Morning: Coal Street signs goaltender Anthony Peters to a PTO from the Cincinnati Cyclones. Peters is not a slouch. He has pretty good numbers with the Cyclones, he has a 7-4-1 record. His .929 SV% and a 2.26 GAA both rank fourth in the ECHL with Cincinnati.
That said, the Penguins play in the AHL and have the second place in the Central Division Milwaukee Admirals coming in Friday night, the second place in the North Division Rochester Americans coming in Saturday night and then travel to their blood rival Hershey Bears Sunday afternoon. The goaltending situation right now is not ideal. If Maguire can’t go tonight or Saturday, Wilkes-Barre is all in with two guys on PTO agreements.
Gameday setup for tonight’s matchup with the Milwaukee Admirals hits the blog at 3 p.m. In the meantime, this entrance song may be playing on repeat at my office until puck drop tonight…
On Monday, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins released Colin Stevens from his professional tryout agreement. Sean Maguire was recalled from the Wheeling Nailers.
Monday night, in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers, goaltender Matt Murray was injured on this play:
Bob McKenzie had this to say on the status of Murray as of Tuesday afternoon. Read both tweets.
Whatever the precise timeline, sounds more like week to week than day to day. So, for now, Tristan Jarry is the man, backed up by Casey DeSmith. PIT is likely to be in market for (low cost, both in acquisition price and cap hit) experienced back-up/stop-gap guy.
Once you wash the sarcasm drippings off of your hands from my last paragraph and the tweet above, know that the Penguins placed Murray on injured reserve.
Other news surrounding the walking wounded in Wilkes-Barre from Tyler…
Tom Kostopoulos is still week-to-week, but it sounds like more of a long-term week-to-week if that makes sense. Prow is back and good to go. Josephs is still week-to-week.
Other tidbits include the return of Garrett Wilson from his personal matters and Tom Sestito appears good to go, returning to practice this week as well.
More as it comes, hopefully it quiets down. Pittsburgh next plays Friday in a home and home with Buffalo, and Wilkes-Barre plays three in three beginning this Friday against Milwaukee, who haven’t been seen around these parts since they took home the Calder Cup in the Finals in 2004.
Comments Off on So Long and Thanks For All of the Fish, Colin
Posted by nafsnep on November 27, 2017
With the Penguins upcoming three games in three days looming on the schedule for this weekend, a decision needed to be made as to what to do at the backup goaltending position. Casey DeSmith had started every game in the month of November (probably a Wilkes-Barre record of some sort) so the backup needed to see a game in one of the three games this upcoming weekend against either Milwaukee Friday at home, Rochester Saturday at home and Hershey on the road Sunday.
It’s a bit of a raw deal for Stevens, who never saw a minute of game action for the Penguins in the entire month, but such is the business.
Apparently the plan all along since Pittsburgh lost Antti Niemi to waivers in Wilkes-Barre and Wheeling was to keep having Maguire eat starts in the ECHL while DeSmith handled the workload here in Wilkes-Barre. The Nailers went out and got themselves a quality ECHL goaltender a few weeks ago in Adam Morrison in a deal with Rapid City, so they should be OK at the goaltending position. Wilkes-Barre plays fourteen games in the month of December which includes two Sunday and three Wednesday games. DeSmith would have simply gotten worn out had he continued to eat starts.
For Maguire, I don’t want to call it a fish or cut bait situation for him, he’s been sparingly used by Wilkes-Barre as he has continued his development in the ECHL. He’s 8-3 with a .910 and a 3.28 GAA with Wheeling this year. Nailers are second in the North Division, tied with the Manchester Monarchs with 24 points so far. I think it’s fair enough to say that the next step in his development is to backup at the AHL level. I’ll be interested to see when he gets a start this weekend, and how he does.
vs. 
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 