Chirps from Center Ice

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So if you have followed the Pens / Bears rivalry long enough you know all of the usual suspects that irk the Penguins.

Mike Sgarbossa, Pierrick Dube and Ethen Frank are three. Well all of these players scored in that order and Wilkes-Barre gains a point but loses 3-2 in overtime.

Penguins played the Bears, who got Sgarbossa and Ethen Bear (another usual suspect) back from injury, very well in my opinion. Losing in overtime on a breakaway goal by the AHL’s fastest skater at All-Stars last year is something that happens that you can’t let happening but in the spirit of three on three usually does.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Only change was Jagger Joshua for Boko Imama up front.

First Period: Late at four on four, Mike Sgarbossa scored to put the Bears on the board.

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Second Period: After the first period shenanigans where every whistle there was pushing and shoving and some penalties, Avery Hayes scored at even strength for both teams to bring the Penguins level.

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Avery Hayes is not a guy that you want to get hot if you are the opposition.

Wilkes-Barre was good on the power play, but didn’t score Saturday and were 0/4 yesterday. Mac Holloweell can’t get back from Switzerland soon enough.

Third Period: Pierrick Dube scored at 2:34 and the Bears were off and running. With it being 1-1 coming in, I had a sense that the team that scored first in the period would get all the momentum.

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To some extent yes, but then Ville Koivunen scored and they were level again.

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No one scored and they played a clean, penalty free third so it was off to…

Overtime: Ethen Frank scored on a breakaway when he broke up a pass in his own defensive zone, raced up the ice and made a nifty move on Joel Blomqvist and backhanded it in to send a crowd of over 10,000 home happy on a Saturday in Hershey.

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Three Stars: 3) Ville Koivunen (goal) 2) Pierrick Dube (goal) 1) Ethen Frank (game winning overtime goal)

The Good: Hung with the Calder Cup Champs and got a point on the road.

The Bad: I saw some of you say you were happy with the point. That’s why we don’t win championships around here. The complacency kills you, and the point lost here kills you in April when you go on a run but lose out on a first round bye or home ice in the first round when you are short three points. Like Herm Edwards once said, you play to win the game!

On the ice, going 0/3 on the power play hurt. Being unable to finish on Hunter Shepard on some stops that Shepard made (which were highlight reel worthy) obviously hurt them. You have to find a way to finish those chances.

Turning Point: The Frank goal gets it here, as overtime game winners usually do.

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley beats Charlotte 2-1….Providence stays hot and has second place to their own with a 4-1 win in Hartford…Bridgeport beats Springfield 7-5.

Standings: Hershey 41 – Providence 37 – Penguins 36 – Charlotte 35 – Springfield, Hartford and Lehigh Valley 29 – Bridgeport 18

Wheeling Update: Nailers beat up the Iowa Heartlanders 6-2. Taylor Gauthier had 28 saves. Jack Beck had three assists. Atley Calvery had a gaol and two assists.

Video Highlights: Nothing posted yet, I will work an edit in if I see one.

So that closes the books on 2024. Power Rankings Monday. I have to remind myself that I have all day New Years to write the Weekend Preview, which would be up Friday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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So this Filip Larsson is good, right?

29 saves, including some timely ones on a late second and third period penalty kill and don’t look now but the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are just four off of the Hershey Bears for first place in the division with a 3-2 win Friday night over the visiting Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Oh yeah, and this Tristan Broz kid is going places too. A pair of goals for the rookie.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: All on defense as the forward lines were unchanged. Mats Lindgren and Justin Lee for the recalled Nate Clurman and the Spengler Cup playing Mac Hollowell.

First Period: Terrible start, Filip Larsson lets in the first shot he sees by Garrett Wilson just 1:17 and the Phantoms were off and running early.

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But later, Tristan Broz would score a highlight reel goal and tie the game late in the period.

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Second Period: 2:03 into the second period and Broz scored on a bullet of a one timer set up by Rutger McGroarty and Wilkes-Barre edged ahead 2-1.

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I saw the shot, but never saw the puck. Neither did Cal Petersen and it was 3-1 Penguins.

Rutger McGroarty assisted. It won’t be much longer before Broz is getting the call to Pittsburgh. That was his team leading 12th goal of the season. He’s tied with Boris Katchouk with a dozen goals on the season for the Penguins.

Larsson was at his finest late in a Phantoms power play with seconds left on the clock. Absolutely lasered in on a kill where his unit was out there the whole two minutes. Huge moment.

Third Period: Vasily Ponomarev joined in the goal scoring party with this goal here off of a long shot blockered away by Petersen to Ponomarev who waited, held and shot and scored to make it 3-1 just :43 into the period.

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Decent enough of a response by Lehigh Valley who score off of what I thought was a lazy, seeing eye Ethan Samson shot that beat Larsson up high and in that made it a too close for comfort with too much time remaining one goal game.

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Penguins navigate through another late penalty kill, I thought referees Sydney Harris and Liam Maaskant were okay, I wouldn’t want them as pilots of an airplane because that was a bit of a rough landing.

Phantoms were unable to find the equalizer with Petersen vacated.

Three Stars: 3) Dan Renouf (two assists) 2) Rutger McGroarty (two assists) 1) Tristan Broz (two goals)

The Good: They are finding ways to win rough and tumble games like last weekend and tight and tidy games like the one you saw tonight.

The Bad: 0/4 on the power play, but write some of that off because Mac Hollowell is in Switzerland and everything runs through him.

Turning Point: I have to give it to that late second period kill where the Phantoms did everything but score and Larsson did everything to stop them.

Around the Division: Providence is 7-0 against the Bridgeport Islanders after a 4-1 win…Springfield’s five game losing streak ends with a 5-2 win over Hartford.

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 3-2 in Cincinnati over the Cyclones. Sergei Murashov continues to play on god mode at the ECHL level with 23 saves and hasn’t lost a game in a while for Wheeling. Wheeling is a point off of the defending Kelly Cup Champion Florida Everblades for the best overall team in the ECHL.

Video Highlights: 

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More Saturday after a visit to Hershey.

Let’s Go Pens!

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A couple weeks ago I openly questioned whether the right goalie was in Wheeling after questioning the play of Filip Larsson.

Well, I am wrong. They have the right hierarchy of goaltenders where they should be after a 1-0 win in Hershey Sunday afternoon and a 33 save shutout by Filip Larsson.

That’s Larsson’s third shutout and puts him in a seven way tie for the AHL lead with six other goaltenders.

Penguins take four out of possible six points out of the week, and close to within six points of the Bears with five games in hand on Hershey.

These teams will rematch this coming Saturday in Hershey.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Jonathan Gruden and Boko Imama for Valtteri Puustinen and Sam Poulin up front. No changes on defense. Back to the standard 12F/6D setup so that means no Justin Lee.

Defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov signed a standard players contract with the Penguins on Saturday.

Sam Poulin is day to day with an injury and Valtteri Puustinen has an upper body injury which needs to be evaluated. That, “needs to be evaluated” part is never a good thing.

First Period: Not a lot of shots. Boko Imama fought. I think that’s his fifth or sixth fight. Four more and he’s suspended a game. Bears had a later power play which carried over to the…

Second Period: Penguins got out of that penalty kill clean and received a bit of a charge under them as Tristan Broz cleaned up the loose change in front of Hunter Shepard’s net and scored his tenth goal of the season here:

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The Broz, Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty line was by far the best line of the night for the Penguins thus far, generating chance after chance.

Third Period: Penguins had a late power play to ice it away but couldn’t get anything going and then the Bears had an even later power play with Hunter Shepard pulled to tie it but the Penguins did not break and Larsson stood tall in net to preserve the lead and the win.

Three Stars: 3) Tristan Broz (goal) 2) Hunter Shepard (24 saves) 1) Filip Karsson (33 save shutout)

The Good: Nice to get a tough road win in Hershey, a place that has given the Penguins fits as of late, but they are now 2-0 in Giant Center this season.

The Bad: Let’s skip this, given the shutout win.

Turning Point: Seemed like there were a ton of them but that late penalty kill down two men gets it here as well as the win, most importantly.

Around the Division: Charlotte lays an egg at home against hapless Bridgeport and lose 4-1. The Checkers could have closed to within two points of Hershey’s lead in the division….Springfield loses 3-1 in Laval.

Standings: Hershey 39 – Charlotte 35 – Penguins and Providence 33 – Hartford and Lehigh Valley 29 – Springfield 27 – Bridgeport 16

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose in Kalamazoo 2-1. Taylor Gauthier took the loss with 28 saves. Peter Laviolette had the lone goal for the Nailers in the loss.

Video Highlights: Save for a few saves here and there, I don’t know what much else you could expect here but if I see them I will run the edit here.

Power Rankings Monday afternoon. Have a great holiday otherwise.

Let’s Go Pens!