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I am not going to call this game an anomaly for the Hartford Wolf Pack. If you follow and read my Weekly AHL Power Rankings, you know that Hartford is currently punching above its weight and have been winning a lot more than they have been losing of recent.

So for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, a team that is punching under it’s weight and the exact opposite of the Wolf Pack right now, a tough game was going to be expected tonight.

What I wasn’t expecting was a blowout and a systematic breakdown of everything that comes with this team.

You will see as you read the recap here, but the Penguins would get caught in a lapses that had them in a 2-1 hole at the end of the first, then Hartford blew the game wide open in a span of 2:48 to open the second period. Couple this with Wilkes-Barre not getting a single power play awarded by referee Corey Syvret and the apparent loss of Ethan Prow to an injury suffered in the first period and the result is a 7-3 Wolf Pack throttling.

Casey DeSmith opposed Marek Mazanek.

Lines were…

Christian Thomas – J-S Dea – Colin Smith
Zach Aston-Reese — Greg McKegg — Ryan Haggerty
Garrett Wilson – Gage Quinney – Daniel Sprong
Adam Johnson – Teddy Blueger – Thomas Di Pauli

Andrey Pedan – Zach Trotman
Chris Summers – Ethan Prow
Kevin Spinnozi – Frank Corrado

Casey DeSmith – Sean Maguire

Lineup Notes: One change from Wednesday, Adam Johnson in for Patrick McGrath.

First Period: Pens caught in lapses that bit them hard in the first period by Hartford. Ryan Graves scored on a rush out of a media break that game the Wolf Pack a 1-0 lead.

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Thomas DiPauli got the goal right back to tie the game at one on this nice goal driving to the net while the sides were skating 4-on-4.

https://twitter.com/TaylorHaasePGH/status/941831878289395712

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Kevin Spinozzi would pick up the secondary assist on that goal, his first in the AHL. His PTO expires this weekend.

But Hartford would get the lead right back when Scott Kosmachuk scored to make it 2-1 Wolf Pack.

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It was the same start that the Penguins had Wednesday at home against Springfield. Only this time, their opponent continued to run away from them unlike the Thunderbirds midweek.

Second Period: Three goals in 2:48 by the Wolf Pack blew the doors wide open for the home team.

John Gilmour at 1:05. Pens had a bad line change here….

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Hartford would strike on a power play goal by Gilmour then :16 later a goal from Gabriel Fontaine. Here they are in one clip…

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After the fourth goal, Sean Maguire relieved Casey DeSmith. On the fifth goal, Maguire stopped the initial shot but the rebound got by him.

Teddy Blueger would play a puck nicely off of the back wall and banked his offering off of Mazanec during a delayed penalty call against the Wolf Pack that pulled the Penguins back to within three.

Despite outshooting the opponent 28-19, the Penguins trailed by three heading into the…

Third Period: Penguins can’t clear then Gabriel Fontaine scores on a shot that may have deflected off of a Penguin on the way in past Maguire that made it 6-2.

1:11 later, Anthony DeAngelo scored to make it 7-2.

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Daniel Sprong scored from the slot that made it 7-3…

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…but the Penguins couldn’t muster any more offense and that was all.

Three Stars: 3) Scott Kosmachuk (goal, two assists, +2) 2) Gabriel Fontaine (two goals, +2) and 1) John Gilmour (two goals, assist, +1)

Around the Division: Providence, the division leader, also lost, their eight game winning streak comes to a close in Syracuse 5-3. The Crunch have won 10 straight…Springfield beat Bridgeport 5-4. Lehigh Valley, Charlotte and Hershey were off.

Standings: Providence (.692 percentage points) — Charlotte (.648) — Penguins (.640) — Lehigh Valley (.625) — Bridgeport (.520) — Hershey (.482) — Hartford (.482) — Springfield (.383)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers lost 4-0 in Reading tonight.

I don’t know if Hartford will do a highlight package. If I see one, I will edit one in, you probably wouldn’t watch anyway and I can’t blame you. I know I probably won’t.

Pens will bus down to Bridgeport for a 7 p.m. Saturday start. Gameday setup will hit the blog Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Tonight was a tale of a good team beating a not too good team.

After falling behind 3-1 which was three consecutive goals for the opponent, the better team battled back tonight. Pens win this one 6-3 over Springfield.

Work night veteran option on the lines tonight. They were:

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Lineup Notes: Josh Archibald was recalled after his rehab stint and Tom Sestito was out, so Ryan Haggerty and Gage Quinney swapped in.

First Period: Another good start by the Penguins who established a lot of offensive zone time which later paid off by this goal from Andrey Pedan on an absolute snipe:

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Nice backhand pass from Ryan Haggerty to find Pedan there all alone in the slot for the goal.

Then, the Penguins let off and in a span of 1:29, the Thunderbirds scored twice.

A shot by Max Fortunus deflected off of a Penguin and past DeSmith to put the Thunderbirds on the board.

Then Maxim Mamin scored in close and high and tight on DeSmith to push Springfield ahead 2-1 heading into the…

Second Period: It was appearing that young goaltender Samuel Montembeault was dialing in and working on a upset. He had the run support coming into the period, and just denied the Penguins a bunch of times on their power play.

He got even more run support when Chase Balisy shot a puck that deflected off of a Penguins defenseman skate and into the net.

If you are keeping score, that’s two defected off of a teammate goals that Casey DeSmith had given up to this point.

Penguins could have tucked their tails in here, but the two goal deficit seemed to anger them.

They re-established offensive zone time and got a rebound goal from ex-Thunderbird Greg McKegg that pulled the Penguins to within one.

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About two and a half minutes later, seconds after a power play expired just like the McKegg goal, Daniel Sprong from the far dot zipped in a one timer that went so fast in and out of the goal if you blinked you missed it.

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Pens had battled back, stuck to the game plan if you want to call it, and tied the game at three heading into the….

Third Period: Pens came in on a 2-on-1 with Garrett Wilson and Daniel Sprong and Sprong scored his second of the night that pushed the Penguins ahead 4-3. He scooped up the loose puck and put it in.

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Pens made it 5-3 when Ryan Haggerty scored to make it a two goal lead on a dart. A nice shift and o-zone time by Pedan and Aston-Reese set this goal up and for Aston-Reese it was his third assist of the game.

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Patrick McGrath hit an empty net for his first goal of the season and first in front of the home crowd that made it 6-3.

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Three Stars: 3) Zach Aston Reese (three assists, +3) 2) Andrey Pedan (goal, assist, +2) and 1) Daniel Sprong (two goals, +1)

Around the Division: Providence shuts out Hershey 3-0. Charlotte beats Lehigh Valley 5-2. Connecticut (Hartford and Bridgeport) had the night off.

Standings: Providence (.720 percentage points) — Penguins (.667) — Charlotte (.648) — Lehigh Valley (.625) — Bridgeport (.542) — Hershey (.482) — Hartford (.463) — Springfield (.362)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

If Coal Street adds a video highlight package later I will edit it in this space.

Pens hit the road for a pair of games in Connecticut against the Hartford Wolf Pack Friday and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Saturday. But for any news Thursday, I’ll have the Gameday setup for you here Friday at 3 for the game against the Wolf Pack.

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The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are in losing funk. Reasons why include slow starts and lack of power play success.

They looked like an entirely different team Sunday afternoon in Hershey.

Scoring twice on the power play and racing to a 3-1 start after the first period, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defeated the Hershey Bears 4-1 in Chocolatetown tonight.

Sean Maguire started the game and collected his first AHL win of the season. The problem, as I have said all along this, now forgotten losing streak, has not been in goal.

He opposed Pheonix Copley, which Head Coach Troy Mann put out there against the Penguins because Copley had been undefeated coming into the meeting this evening with a 6-0 record, a 1.54 GAA and a .943 SV%. Styles make fights, but that decision led to a first round TKO for his Hershey side.

Lines were….

Josh Archibald – Colin Smith – Christian Thomas
Zach Aston-Reese — J-S Dea – Patrick McGrath
Garrett Wilson – Greg McKegg – Daniel Sprong
Tom Sestito – Teddy Blueger – Thomas DiPauli

Andrey Pedan – Zach Trotman
Chris Summers – Ethan Prow
Kevin Spinnozi – Frank Corrado

Sean Maguire – Anthony Peters

Lineup Notes: Two changes on the back end for the Pens, Kevin Spinozzi for Jarred Tinordi who is still banged up from that shot block in the third period Friday against Charlotte and Ethan Prow, recalled from Wheeling earlier in the day, in for Lukas Bengtsson, who had “fallen ill” per radio. Up front, Patrick McGrath in for Ryan Haggerty. McGrath’s first appearance since November 12.

First Period: Penguins finally got the start they needed Friday against Charlotte.

After a turnover by the Bears, Christian Thomas victimized his old team for a 1-0 Penguin lead….

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…this was right after a power play where the Pens enjoyed a lot of offensive zone possession time and had a power play look good.

Later, Reid Anderson and Jeremy Tufts, the two bozos that worked the game Friday against the Checkers in Wilkes-Barre, called P-C Labrie for a slash and then during the setup for the face-off, didn’t like what Garrett Mitchell was saying and put him in the box for unsportsmanlike conduct gift wrapping the Penguins a 5-on-3 power play opportunity.

:40 in, Daniel Sprong scored his fourth goal in as many games and yet another goal against the Bears in Giant Center, where he has scored in every other game…

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Later, Thomas DiPauli scored on another turnover by the Bears, this time caused by Tom Sestito. The rout was on…

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Or was it? On a late Bears power play, Ty Graovac scored on a perfect tic-tac-toe play to put Hershey on the board with :01 on the man advantage.

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Shots were 15-4 Wilkes-Barre / Scranton heading into the…

Second Period: Quiet period in terms of scoring because there wasn’t any by either team. Radio picked up that Tom Sestito was absent during the second period. Bears had the majority of shots (10 to WBS’ 7) and power plays (3-2) but Wilkes-Barre played bend but not break and maintained their two-goal lead.

Third Period: Penguins would connect on another power play goal with a two-man advantage when Zach Trotman scored his first of the season which made it 4-1 Penguins and iced the game away…

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Period was really marred by starts and stops and penalties, all the Penguins needed to do was chip the time off of the clock and insulate Maguire and that is what they accomplished.

Three Stars: 3) Colin Smith (two assists, +1) 2) Thomas DiPauli (goal, +1) and 1) Daniel Sprong (goal, assist, even)

Around the Division: Hartford beats Springfield 5-3…Rochester pounds Bridgeport 4-1…Providence with their third third period comeback of the weekend, slips by Utica 4-3 in overtime. Lehigh Valley and Charlotte were off.

Standings: Providence (.708 percentage points) — Charlotte (.660) — Penguins (.652) — Lehigh Valley .635) — (.542) — Hershey (.500) — Hartford (.463) — Springfield (.375)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

Video Highlights:

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One thing I did want to note before I wrap it up here, Josh Archibald can play Wednesday against the Springfield Thunderbirds then his conditioning stint is over and he must return to Pittsburgh, so we will see what happens with him the early part of this week.

My Week 10 AHL Power Rankings will hit the blog Monday at 4.

Let’s Go Pens!