Chirps from Center Ice

A fan blog about the AHL's Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins

AHL Power Rankings — Week 16

Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings — Week 16 Posted by on January 27, 2025

We are heading to the All-Star break after this next weekend and I have some season ending predictions for you for each of the divisions.

  • Hershey will not win the Atlantic Division.
  • Utica will make the playoffs.
  • A Central Division team will play for the Calder Cup.
  • Calgary will not win the Pacific Division.

In doing now 16 weeks of these Rankings I have picked up a bit of a vibe, and the above is it. Let’s come back and revisit how wrong I was in the future, shall we?

Let’s get into the Rankings this week with little shakeup to the top five.

1. Hershey Bears

Last Week: 1st (no change)
Record: 26-11-5

Banged up Bears survived key losses a few months back. Now, with teams closing in, will they again in the coming weeks?

2. Calgary Wranglers

Last Week: 2nd (no change)
Record: 28-13-2

Wranglers picked up 3 of 6 points this week but are still being pursued by the rest of the division and it seems like the gap is shortening. 

3. Laval Rocket

Last Week: 4th (up 1)
Record: 26-11-2-1

Laval is a work horse team that just grinds. That, and they are back at the top of the North looking to stay there. 

4. Texas Stars

Last Week: 3rd (down 1)
Record: 24-13-1

Stars stay hot, 8-2 in last ten and have tough competition on the plate this week win Milwaukee and Coachella Valley.

5. Grand Rapids Griffins

Last Week: 8th (up 3)
Record: 24-12-3-1

Griffins handle business in Winnipeg against the Moose and remain in firm control of the Central Division lead. 

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Power Rankings

Sunday Scaries – Pens WIN 5-1

Comments Off on Sunday Scaries – Pens WIN 5-1 Posted by on January 26, 2025

Quick one today because of you have followed along for any amount of time you realize that I detest with the fire of a thousand suns Sunday games. I can tolerate road games easier then I can home games (not having to negotiate crowds, etc) but still detest the concept. I’d make a terrible Hershey Bears fan, they love their 5 o’clock starts on Sundays. They are crazy. 

Anyway, Emil Bemstrom’s hat trick and the Penguins three power play goals are enough to sail past the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Sunday afternoon. Penguins inch closer and use a game in hand on Hershey to pick up two points on the Bears after a 5-1 win.

Here’s how they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Owen Pickering, assigned Friday because he was the only waiver exempt non-goaltender on the roster, went down and Boko Imama went up. He replaced Colton Poolman from Saturday. Up front, Jesse Puljujarvi was out for Marc Johnstone. I’ve been generally underwhelmed by Puljujarvi, so that was a wash. 

First Period: Wilkes-Barre blitzkrieged the Phantoms to the tune of three goals, while Tristan Jarry only had to face five Phantoms shots and didn’t let the first one he saw go in. Progress.

Emil Bemstrom slammed home a Boris Katchouk pass on the near side to give the Pens an early 1-0 lead at 11:36. 

Under two minutes later, Avery Hayes comes flying down the near side, cuts to the net and digs Alexei Kolosov out, dekes him and roofs it to make it 2-0. 

Hayes is a fellow you want to get going. You accomplish that, this team is unbeatable. 

Late, Ethan Samson cross checks Corey Andonovski right in front of referee Jake Kamrass. Penguins power play. Mac Hollowell squeaks in a goal with two seconds left on the clock to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead. 

Here’s all the goals. Writing this on the fly, hope they all go through. 

Second Period: Avery Hayes was awarded an early penalty shot when a Phantoms covered the puck in the crease in an early scramble. He made a good move but Alexei Kolosov got a pad on it. That would be a theme of the period.

Ville Koivunen would get run over (legally) by Hunter McDonald and Boris Katchouk stepped up and fought McDonald. Katchouk would pick up 2-5-10 and the Phantoms got a long power play.

That thing I said about Kolosov’s pad? He stopped a Marc Johnstone setup and pass to Jonathan Gruden with the pad. Just a straight up robbery and then in the immediate rush up ice the other way, Cooper Marody scored to put the Phantoms on the board.

Hard to believe that was Marody’s first of the season, but Sunday was just his third game of the season and he’s been dealing with injury.

Third Period: It’s good when you have a power play that’s effective.

With the Phantoms still hanging around down two, Wilkes-Barre goes on a power play with seven minutes remaining. Thought here is that if the Penguins get one here, it’s over.

Emil Bemstrom is inevitable.

Phantoms take a late delay of game penalty and you think that the Penguins would send a bunch of guys out there to get power play work who aren’t regulars.

Wrong.

Bemstrom again, for the hat trick, scores to ice it away as if the game wasn’t already sealed.

Three Stars: 3) Avery Hayes (goal) 2) Ville Koivunen (four assists) 1) Emil Bemstrom (three goals, assist)

The Good: Power play went 3/4 (they had a brief :03 one if you want to count that) and that’s what got them the win. You do that and you win more than you lose.

The Bad: Would have been nice to see Jarry get the shutout, but it’s nitpicking.

Turning Point: The second goal Bemstrom goal gets it here. It’s 4-1 and there’s no way you come back from that unless you collapse.

Around the Division: Hey the AHL has a functioning website again! Hooray! Springfield hosted Hartford and Providence hosted Laval. The Rocket beat the Bruins in overtime 3-2 and Springfield beats Hartford 4-2.

Standings: Hershey 57 – Providence 51 – Charlotte 49 – Penguins 48 – Phantoms 46 – Springfield 42 – Hartford 39 – Bridgeport 24.

Wheeling Update: Nailers in their third contest of the weekend with the Kansas City Mavericks. That one started a little later then the Penguins game. Here’s the box.

Video Highlights:

Bad enough I had a Sunday game to go to but I have a busy Monday so the AHL Power Rankings will likely be delayed to late Monday, possibly Tuesday. Check them out then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Spasibo, Sergei — Pens WIN 2-1

Comments Off on Spasibo, Sergei — Pens WIN 2-1 Posted by on January 25, 2025

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Sergei Murashov is now 3-0 at the AHL level after a very strong showing in net Saturday night for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, shutting down the Utica Comets three power plays and stopping 29 of 30 shots. Penguins win 2-1, snapping their four game losing streak.

Back at it Sunday afternoon at home (sigh) against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: Mac Hollowell for Scooter Brickey on defense; Corey Andonovski for Marc Johnstone up front. Isaac Belliveau was sent to Wheeling Saturday afternoon.

First Period: Sergei Murashov was tested early and often as the Comets boat raced the Penguins to a tune of 10 shots to 1 at one point, then Shane Bowers connected for a goal at 13:34.

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I initially thought it was goalie interference, but that angle showed otherwise.

A minute and change later, Rutger McGroarty connected on a tic tac toe pass and scored to make it 1-1.

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I don’t know why the folks in attendance clapped at the end of the first period, that was an awful period for the home teams who were lucky that their goaltender was dialed in.

Second Period: Murashov dazzled with a stop through bodies and a screen then slid over to stop the rebound attempt with the pad. Wilkes-Barre was starting to come unraveled a bit because Utica was getting all the calls (refs Rob Hennessey and Jake Kamrass did not give Utica a single penalty all night) but that boiled over at the end of the period.

Third Period: Vasily Ponomarev this time connects on another tic tac toe pass play and scores to push the Penguins ahead 2-1.

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Utica did not find the equalizer with the net, tended by Nico Daws again in back to back nights, emptied.

Three Stars: 3) Rutger McGroarty (goal) 2) Sergei Murashov (29 saves) 1) Vasiliy Ponomarev (goal)

The Good: Nice to see them snap out of it and grit out a win. Utica plays better then its record and place would indicate.

The Bad: The AHL’s servers. You will note that this is blog piece is short scores from out of town or links to boxes. It’s 2025 and we have major hockey operations have server issues. I can’t get the scoreboard to load and am not going to continue to try.

Turning Point: The Ponomarev goal that put them ahead gets its here.

Hopefully the League gets new servers or pays the bill tomorrow so I can update standings and an out of town scoreboard for you.

Wheeling Update: Nailers are getting hammered at home by the Kansas City Mavericks. Box here. Hey, the ECHL’s servers are just fine!

Video Highlights: AHL VideoCenter, provided they also have the bandwidth, likely your best bet as Coal Street hasn’t posted them yet.

Back at it Sunday afternoon against Lehigh Valley.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

Got That Daws In Him — Pens LOSE 5-3

Comments Off on Got That Daws In Him — Pens LOSE 5-3 Posted by on January 24, 2025

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The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins pumped 35 shots at Utica Comets goaltender Nico Daws Friday night and Daws and the Comets shut down the visitors, playing in their first game in nine games and Utica wins their fourth straight beating the Penguins 5-3.

The two teams rematch Saturday in Wilkes-Barre.

Daws made some jaw dropping saves from all angles. In close, in traffic, from the point, on breakaways, et cetera. It was partially the play of Daws in net and the fact that Tristan Jarry’s tick of allowing the first shot of the game he sees in continuing at the AHL level, and the Penguins played from behind all night and never could get it in gear.

Expect a different effort Saturday. Hopefully.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Marc Johnstone for Corey Andonovski up front. Andonovski took warmups. Jack St. Ivany returned from injury and replaced Mac Hollowell.

Injury Updates: Filip Larsson is week to week with a lower body injury and Tristan Broz has mono. Fantastic.

First Period: I thought it was purely a Pittsburgh thing, but on the first shot of the game by Utica, Brian Halonen scored to give the Comets an easy 1-0 lead.

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I don’t pay attention enough anymore to know why they threw socks on the ice. I assume it was for a good cause.

Later, Dan Renouf scored his first goal of the season for the Penguins when his shot deflected off of a skate of a Comet and it was tied.

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Late and off of a face-off, Colton White scored to push the Comets back ahead.

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Wilkes-Barre had a furious final push in the last minute but it remained 2-1 Utica heading into the…

Second Period: They had two issues which were developing.

First, was the opposing goaltender. Nico Daws was stopping everything, including some breakaway-ish chances. He stopped Jesse Puljujarvi late after Xavier Parent scored to make it 3-1 after a Scooter Brickey turnover.

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The second issue was the defending and the shakiness that they were getting from their NHL All-Star goaltender whom I am sure was not pleased with some of the work of his rearguards.

But Jarry would stay dialed in and found Valtteri Puustinen for a long pass while Utica was making a change on a penalty kill. Puustinen found Puljujarvi who scored this time to cut the deficit to one.

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They were showing life, but needed to figure out Daws and correct things in house heading into the…

Third Period: Utica gets another when Xavier Parent nets his second of the night, cue balling one past Jarry during a fire wagon change and it’s 4-2 Comets.

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Less than ideal response by Wilkes-Barre, who had just one shot on goal for the first ten or so minutes of the period.

With Jarry pulled late, Sam Poulin scores with 1:46 left and the Penguins are, once again, within one.

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Ensuing face-off, Penguins threaten again with an extra attacker but then an errant pass finds the stick of Ryan Schmelzer who backhands the puck down the ice from about 180′ away and it finds the back of the net to make it 5-3 Comets.

Sigh.

Three Stars: 3) Jesse Puljujarvi (goal, assist) 2) Ryan Schmelzer (goal, assist) 1) Xavier Parent (two goals)

The Good: Man, I don’t know. They let the first shot of the game in and they chased from there. The power play scored a goal for them, let’s go with that.

The Bad: They went behind on the first shot that their goaltender saw and they chased the game from there, seemingly one step behind all night.

Turning Point: Don’t want to say the first shot of the game, but it seems to keep recurring, so let’s keep with it.

Around the Division: I am not sticking around for the Charlotte Checkers Friday, who are out in Milwaukee and somewhere in the second period when this post goes up. Box here. Other scores in the division: Belleville beats Hershey 4-3 in overtime, Laval beats Hartford 4-3, Bridgeport beats Syracuse 5-2, Springfield beats Lehigh 5-1 and Providence shuts out Rochester 3-0.

Standings: Can’t update these because Charlotte has all the fun and plays Western Conference teams. Pens will stay on 44 points and in fourth place but have a ton of games in hand still.

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 4-3 over the Kansas City Mavericks. Taylor Gauthier stopped 35. Kyle Jackson had a pair of goals.

Video Highlights: AHL Video Center is your best bet.

More tomorrow when these two rematch.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Weekend Preview — They Come in Threes

Comments Off on Weekend Preview — They Come in Threes Posted by on January 24, 2025

After more than a week off due to ice issues at the Mohegan Arena, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins return to the ice in Utica, NY for a Friday night matchup then bus home with the Comets to take them on at home Saturday before closing out their first three in three weekend of the season with a Sunday home game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Music to Set the Mood…

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I don’t know. I just put my thoughts into YouTube and this is what turned up.

A Quote…

Quote’s about long layoffs didn’t turn up anything of substance and talked about the actual layoff of employees and the like. Let’s just skip this for today.

The Setup

I kind of gave it to you above. The first three in three weekend of the season and a home and home with the Utica Comets with a (sigh) Sunday home game with the Phantoms.

After coughing up a 3-0 third period lead and losing in overtime last Wednesday in Laval a week ago, ice issues forced the postponement of the scheduled game with the Belleville Senators and all of a sudden the Penguins were off for the weekend while the rest of the League played. That Belleville game will now be played on March 4.

Utica had a pretty decent weekend. They beat the Laval Rocket in Quebec on Saturday then beat the Syracuse Crunch in Syracuse on Martin Luther King Day on Monday and crushed Bridgeport 7-1 on Wednesday. It was 5-0 after the first period and Jack Malone had a natural hat trick.

Lehigh Valley also had a pretty decent week also, beating Belleville last Wednesday then beating the North Division leading Rochester Americans in a shootout before losing a close one to them on Saturday. The Phantoms will host Springfield Friday and Bridgeport on Saturday before bussing up to Wilkes-Barre on Sunday.

One thing I noticed this week was that there were a lot of teams playing three in threes this weekend.

Records

The Penguins are 20-9-4, good for 44 points and fourth place in the Atlantic Division.

Utica is 13-19-2-2 with 30 points and seventh in the North Division.

Lehigh Valley is 19-15-5-1 with 44 points and fifth in the Atlantic Division, but will have played two games before seeing the Penguins on Sunday.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

They recalled Sergei Murashov on Monday, so that would seemingly mean that Filip Larsson is banged up enough to warrant a recall that early in the week. Tristan Jarry was waived here so he’s likely the number one. Jesse Puljujarvi was also waived here and played in Laval last week. Jaxon Castor was cut loose of his PTO and will report back to Wheeling.

Updated the tracker page after letting it simmer for the whole week they were off.

Won’t know statuses on the injured guys until around 6:20 Friday night, but I did see Jack St. Ivany practicing in what appeared to be a regular practice jersey on their social channels this past week, so that could be a good sign.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

The elephant in the room is protecting a lead. They seem bad at it all of a sudden. They blow one late in Belleville two Sundays ago and lose with 2.2 seconds left then go to Laval last Wednesday, get a goal to go up 3-0 in the third period, but their wet behind the ears débutante in goal Jaxon Castor can’t ride that credit to a win and they lose in overtime to the Rocket 4-3.

They are casting points away when they could be using those points to make up ground on Hershey. Now granted they have a lot of head to heads to go with the Bears and a ton of games in hand, but they don’t mean anything if you can’t win them and they certainly feel like you are just wasting them away losing the way the Penguins have been losing of late.

Conceivably they have had an entire weeks worth of practice and the new car smell is still on Kirk MacDonald, so lets see what they do in a three in three weekend against a pair of resurgent teams in Utica and Lehigh Valley.

They should, hypothetically, have no problems winning all three games, but that said you still never know. How many goal lead is safe with how much time remaining? Up four with five minutes? Up two with less than a minute?

Who’s in Goal? 

Tristan Jarry should get the start Friday and Sunday and let Sergei Murashov go Saturday at home.

For the opposition, Isaac Poulter and Nico Daws should get action in net for the Comets and take a guess on who goes for the Phantoms. Cal Petersen? Parker Gahagen? Keith Petruzzelli? Pick one. If you are doing it right, it shouldn’t matter.

Who’s Running the Show?

Mike Dietrich and Rob Hennessey are the referees assigned Friday in Utica with Antoine Bujold-Roux and Tory Carissimo on the lines.

Saturday sees Hennessey again (sigh) with Jake Kamrass as the referees with Kirsten Welch and Chandler Yakimowicz on the lines.

Kamrass sticks around and is joined by Mason Riley in doling out discipline. Welch sticks around on the lines and is joined by J.P. Waleski.

Hotels must be posh in Wilkes-Barre.

Looking Ahead…

It’s February. Already? The shortest month, which means March soon. Then April, then warmer temperatures, then the pool. Cigars. Sun. Beach. Ahhh…

Oh. Sorry. Started daydreaming there. Hershey comes to town Wednesday then they hit the road for Charlotte next Friday and Saturday.

Give us a bold prediction…

The Penguins come from behind in two of the games and win both, sweep the weekend.

Weekend Preview

AHL Power Rankings — Week 15

Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings — Week 15 Posted by on January 20, 2025

So I had to do a bit of corrections this week with Calgary.

I had the Wranglers down in twelfth last week, and for pretty good reasons. But after a huge week for the Pacific Division leaders, they get a big bump back up in the top five in the Power Rankings this week, but not enough to knock off Hershey from the top spot.

Let’s get into it…

1. Hershey Bears

Last Week: 1st (no change)
Record: 25-11-3

Bears sweep another weekend and now head to Canada with a mid-week stop in Laval and a weekend in Belleville.

2. Calgary Wranglers

Last Week: 12th (up 10)
Record: 27-12-1

Wranglers lead on the division was in trouble? Says who? Calgary wins all four games this week. 

3. Texas Stars

Last Week: 3rd (no change)
Record: 22-13-1

Stars split with Milwaukee to stay ahead of the Admirals and keep pursuing the Griffins.

4. Laval Rocket

Last Week: 2nd (down 2)
Record: 23-11-2-1

4 of 6 points this week and keeping pace with Rochester while trying to hold off a pesky Cleveland team. 

5. Rochester Americans

Last Week: 4th (down 1)
Record: 23-11-3-1

3 of 6 points this week closes up the lead the Amerks had on Laval, now just a point.

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Power Rankings

Point Lost — Pens LOSE 4-3 (OT)

Comments Off on Point Lost — Pens LOSE 4-3 (OT) Posted by on January 15, 2025

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So when the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins miss a chance at the division championship or a first round bye or, let’s say a playoff spot by three points or less, we can point to this week.

They lost clean in Belleville with 2.2 seconds left on Sunday.

On Wednesday, they had a 3-0 lead in Laval and lose 4-3 in overtime.

Now, granted, it was a backup goaltender making his AHL debut which hasn’t seen live fire in a game in over a month, but the points count all the same.

Let’s get into it since it’s 10 p.m. on a Wednesday and I have work in the morning.

Here’s show they lined up:

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Lineup Notes: Jesse Puljujuarvi was officially re-assigned this week and joined the team. They are over the vet limit so Valtteri Puustinen drew the short straw for Puljujuarvi and Corey Andonovski was in for Marc Johnstone. On Defense Isaac Belliveau was in for Nikolai Knyzhov.

Waiver Wire: Tristan Jarry is back on waivers and will be assigned to Wilkes-Barre if no one claims him. I don’t think any other NHL team will because of the size of his contract. As a result, Jaxon Castor backed up Filip Larsson as Joel Blomqvist will go up tomorrow after 2 p.m.

First Period: Pens get a pair of goals in the period, one from Avery Hayes on a nice two on one rush with Rutger McGroarty and then a shorthanded goal by Jonathan Gruden, the second shorthanded goal of the trip. Goals are highlighted below:

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One item that came out of the period is that Filip Larsson was taking a bit of a beating. Death by a thousand paper cuts, if you will. A tap here, a shove there. He seemed okay.

Second Period: But then Jaxon Castor was out for the second period in relief of Larsson. Well, he acclimated himself nicely into the affair with this save after the Rocket came out full barrel to start the second period…

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The Penguins had a bunch of opportunities late in the period and had 1:25 of a two man advantage but failed to score. I didn’t particularly like this series of events.

Oh, it was Castor’s AHL debut.

Third Period: I didn’t particularly care for the penalties the Penguins were taking. This wasn’t a cause to question the calls that Mathieu Menniti or Will Kelly were making on the ice as the officials, they were fine.

Wilkes-Barre’s penalty kill was tested but was okay. The Penguins get what appeared to be an insurance goal off the stick of Emil Bemstrom that made it 3-0.

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Seemingly, you would think that this game was in hand.

Wrong.

Laval would start their comeback with a goal from William Trudeau at 12:04, then another at 14:40 from Florian Xhejaj and then the tying goal at 16:42 from Gustav Lindstrom. Three goals in the span of about four and a half minutes.

Laval didn’t GIF any goals I figure worthy for your perusal, so just trust me here.

Implosion? You bet. It was a snowball that rolled down hill and took out a village. All three goals I think beat Castor five hole. I am not blaming him for the loss because he’s thrust into his AHL debut in a hostile environment in Laval.

I mean if anything, it’s a bit of adversity that Kirk MacDonald, whom we have all sung the praises of this season, can help guide them out of.

Oh yeah, the game. They made it to…

Overtime: But had to kill a 4:00 Mac Hollowell double minor which carried over. They managed to to that but at the expiation of the penalty, Jared Davidson comes flying in from the point to slam home a loose puck and give the Rocket a 4-3 overtime win.

Three Stars: 3) Luke Tuch (two assists) 2) William Trudeau (goal, assist) 1) Jared Davidson (goal, assist)

The Good: The assumption is that they will hypothetically work on why they all of a sudden can’t close out a damn hockey game. Getting a point seems like an afterthought.

The Bad: I don’t know if having Filip Larsson in the net really would have made a difference. It felt like an artificial lead the whole game and you were just waiting for Laval to erupt. It happened way too late with little time to adjust.

Turning Point: I think that the William Trudeau goal that started the comeback should get it here because there was no looking back for the Rocket from there who come all the way back and win the game.

Around the Division: Kind of a busy night for the AHL for a Wednesday with 11 games. Springfield shuts out Bridgeport 4-0….Charlotte beats Milwaukee 4-2….Providence beats Syracuse 3-2 vis-a-vis shootout….Hartford loses 7-3 in Utica….Lehigh Valley beats Belleville 3-2. Hershey was the only team off.

Standings: Hershey 49 – Penguins 44 – Charlotte 44 – Providence and Lehigh Valley 42 – Springfield and Hartford 35 – Bridgeport 20

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were idle. There was news yesterday that they have a new team in the ECHL. Say hello to the Greenville Gargoyles. I don’t know if the Nailers will play the Gargoyles next year, but I am getting Beast of New Haven vibes from the newest ECHL team, which will begin play this Fall. If they go with glow in the dark jerseys I may just move there.

Video Highlights: With work in the morning, the AHL VideoCenter is your best bet.

No games this weekend with the postponement, so I will be back Monday with the AHL Power Rankings. Enjoy the time off.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

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