Comments Off on Ethan Ran a 5K, Then Scored A Touchdown — Pens WIN 7-2
Posted by nafsnep on December 21, 2024
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I suppose you can say that when it rains it pours.
But when it doesn’t rain, man.
A seven goal eruption for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins in an extremely testy game between the two sides and a 7-2 win over the visiting Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday night. In a game where there were nine goal scored and the highlights already up, I m going to run those here now:
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Oh, and in case you are wondering about the headline. I wore the allegedly cursed Ethan Prow Christmas sweater again but mixed it up with the Penguins 5K hat that I got for running this summer in (finished third in my age group and medaled, thanks) and apparently it broke the jinx. Do I wear it again when these two teams meet next Friday?
Lineup Notes: The Penguins lineup graphic was wrong. Sam Poulin did not dress in the game. He took warmups I was told but was a late scratch for Justin Lee. The Penguins went with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen.
Otherwise, as it stated, Sebastian Aho returned from injury as did Avery Hayes. Nate Clurman returned also and Boris Katchouk was in also. Boko Imama and Jonathan Gruden up front, Mats Lindgren all were out from Wednesday.
First Period: Wilkes-Barre scores two power play goals in the period from Emil Bemström and Tristan Broz and they were off and running. Those goals should be in the highlights package above.
Second Period: Boris Katchouk scored shorthanded to make it 3-0 off a nice feed from Marc Johnstone in the neutral zone.
Then Massimo Rizzo scored on the power play for the Phantoms. Here’s where you thought that the next goal would be huge.
The Penguins get that goal when a Joona Koppanen shot rings Parker Gahagen’s goal post but drops in front of March Johnstone who sweeps it in and it’s a 4-1 lead.
Seconds later, Corey Andonovski tips in a Mac Hollowell shot and it was 5-1.
It was at this point that the game was getting out of hand for the Phantoms who then started taking post whistle liberties. These two teams don’t respect one another at all. The Penguins and Bears respect each other to some extent. Lehigh Valley and Wilkes-Barre do not, in my opinion.
But it was a good thing that the AHL assigned one of its best referees, Jim Curtain, to handle the ensuing mess.
Third Period: Brandon Furry scores his first goal of the season shorthanded. Two shorthanded goals in the game, one for each team.
But soon after, Avery Hayes scores in his return from injury and it’s 6-2.
Jim Curtain said goodbye to the following players at the following times:
– Garrett Wilson and Filip Kral at 10:36
– Hunter McDonald, Mac Hollowell and Rutger McGroarty at 11:08
– Zayde Wisdom (from the bench) at 11:17
Six players, three a side. That’s how you prevent stuff from bubbling over.
Ville Koivunen scores a power play goal to kick the extra point, and then this happens:
Yes, that’s head coach Kirk MacDonald and Ian Laperriere getting into a verbal jousting match.
Laperriere has been out of his depth at this level for years. How he keeps getting brought back year after year is beyond me. Having to go up against Todd Nelson in Hershey and now Kirk MacDonald 12 times a year has to suck for the guy, but he had his team tied in points with MacDonald’s Penguins.
Anyway, a Saturday crowd of casuals loved it.
Three Stars: 3) Boris Katchouk (goal, two assists) 2) Corey Andonovski (goal, assist) 1) Emil Bemström (goal, two assists)
The Good: Nice to see them take the yardstick out and beat the crap out of a rival.
The Bad: Out of all those penalty minutes, 132 minutes in total, no one was credited with a fighting major.
Turning Point: The Andonovski goal that put the lead back to four gets it here. Lehigh Valley was out of it and yo could see that with all the pushing and shoving.
Standings: Hershey 39 – Charlotte 35 – Providence 33 – Penguins 31 – Hartford and Lehigh Valley 29 – Springfield 27 – Bridgeport 14
Wheeling Update: Nailers had their long winning streak stopped in Toledo Friday but start a new one Saturday after a 5-2 win over the Walleye. Sergei Murashov stopped 34. Sam Houde had a pair of goals. Matty De St. Phalle had two assists.
Video Highlights: Pay attention! I gave them to you above!
Wednesday night? A 3-0 shutout loss to the Toronto Marlies. Sure, they had Matt Murray (yeah, that one) tending the nets for the Marlies but it’s a ridiculous trend that if a player on the Penguins doesn’t score a hat trick, it results in a shutout. All or nothing, if it were.
I don’t really have much to offer you here on a work night. They were in it until 8:00 into the second period when Roni Hirvonen scored on a rocket of a shot ticketed for the roof of the net that Joel Blomqvist was tending for the Penguins and Toronto was off to the races.
Alex Steeves added a second goal about six minutes later. There was a Toronto player in the crease but not impeding Blomqvist enough. I thought referees Mason Riley and Adam Tobias were fine, they let them play and only awarded three power plays all night.
Toronto is quick and by that I mean quickest team I have seen all season quick.
But so to to some extent are the Penguins and it felt like a heavyweight bout out there and likely was.
I am filling up space when I shouldn’t be. Penguins had some brief leftover third period power play time to work with but were unsuccessful. Fraser Minten put the proverbial nail in the proverbial coffin at 15:18 when he scored to make it 3-0.
It wasn’t like the shots from the offensive weapons weren’t getting through, Emil Bemström had five, Vasiliy Ponomarev had six. Filip Kral was everywhere also, and his one shot was probably the best look the Penguins had all night, a setup in the slot that Murray made the save on.
It’s just when the offense isn’t there it isn’t there. It’s a troubling trend.
Lineup wise. Corey Andonovski replaced Boris Katchouk. Katchouk wasn’t listed as injured so I think he’s nicked up or possibly attending to a family thing. Who knows. Nate Clurman was reassigned because Pittsburgh traded for P.O. Joseph with St. Louis for future considerations. Mats Lindgren replaced Clurman in the lineup Wednesday.
Okayish night out of town. Sure, the Penguins don’t capitalize on one of the seemingly endless games in hand they have on the Bears and the rest of the division. Lehigh Valley beats Providence 4-3 in overtime. The Bruins were up 2-0 in the third. Charlotte gets a late goal from Wilmer Skoog to beat Springfield clean 4-3.
Standings wise, Hershey 39, Charlotte 33, Providence 31, Penguins 29, Springfield, Hartford and Lehigh Valley 27, Bridgeport 14.
Depending on how you see things the Penguins are either two points out of a playoff spot or 10 points off Hershey with five games in hand.
Wheeling was off and no one wants to see highlights of this abomination. Talk to you Saturday.
Comments Off on Weekend Preview — Do You Need a Push?
Posted by nafsnep on December 18, 2024
After an up and down week where they spilt with a team they are tied in points with in Charlotte and a thrilling overtime, oh-my-god-they-nearly-blew-it game against Springfield, the Penguins are where they were last week, and the week before and the week before that and…you get the idea. In a group that is locked in tight with one another pursuing a Bear off in the distance that seems like it is getting away, despite the Bears run of play in these recent weeks.
It would appear that one of the teams would need a bit of a push. Hell, it may as well be the Penguins, right?
Music to Set the Mood…
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A Quote…
No matter the circumstances that you may be going through, just push through.
– Ray Lewis
I don’t think you need to go that deep, just saying.
The Setup…
A midweek visit from the Toronto Marlies then a Friday off, but that comes at the expense of a Saturday home game against Lehigh Valley and a 5 o’clock visit to Hershey on Sunday.
Wilkes-Barre split with Charlotte last week and won a nail biter in OT against Springfield on Saturday. In the games that they won, Boris Katchouk had a hat trick plus a goal Wednesday then Emil Bemström had a hat trick with the OT game winning goal on Saturday. Prior to that, Vasily Ponomarev had a hat trick in Hartford.
In games where hat tricks were not scored resulted in all losses. 4-0 blanking by Charlotte Friday, 5-0 shutout loss last Sunday to Providence and a 6-1 throttling by the Hershey Bears on December 4.
The trend of, “a hat trick gets you a win, otherwise you lose” seems a bit far fetched. Or does it?
Toronto comes in after hosting the Pacific Division’s Bakersfield Condors this past weekend. I have always wanted to do the AHL’s version of six degrees of separation. If the Penguins beat the Marlies, are they then better than the Condors who also beat the Wranglers? I should start with the worst team and work my way to the best team one day and see. I don’t think I will, though.
Lehigh Valley had a run up in Canada against the Marlies and lost 6-3 then split a pair of 3-2 decisions in Cleveland against the Monsters.
Hershey had a down week by their standards, losing 3-0 in Hartford, needing a late goal and some heroics to tie and win in sorry Syracuse and lost to a Charlotte club 2-1 Saturday night.
So, keeping with the theme, the Penguins could use a push because seemingly they are better than all the teams I just mentioned above, save for the Marlies, who they will see for the first time Wednesday.
Records
The Penguins are 14-7-1, good for 29 points and third place in the Atlantic Division.
Toronto is 13-4-2-3, with 31 points and in fourth in the North.
Lehigh Valley is 10-10-4-1, with 25 points and seventh in the Atlantic Division, but will have played Providence and the Marlies Wednesday and Friday respectively.
Hershey leads the Atlantic with a 18-7-3 record and 39 points. The Bears will have played Toronto Saturday before playing the Penguins, so they will be the fresher of the two teams when they meet Sunday.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
No better time to check out the Roster Page for all of the latest and where everyone is. They are seemingly in good shape and doing alright, personnel wise. Nate Clurman went up to Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
Will they make a push or is it going to be like this for a few weeks with Providence, Charlotte, Springfield and maybe Lehigh Valley?
Someone has to step up and take the second seed and be there if the Bears falter hard enough to be caught for the lead. The Penguins have played consistent enough to be considered but, one could argue, that so have the Bruins, Checkers, Thunderbirds and even the Phantoms.
Like, how are the Phantoms only four off of the Penguins when they haven’t looked good at all? Imagine if the Penguins don’t get that key power play goal that gives them the two points or say, more recently, that they don’t have a player like Vasiliy Ponomarev get them a hat trick.
But they have and to date but for some clunkers, are finding ways to win. That’s what I would expect this week. They find a way to win all three games.
Who’s in Goal?
Blomqvist – Larsson – Blomqvist is what I would go with. Or, call up Murashov and have him get the start in Hershey.
Really good point was made by someone this week was that Murashov is just eating starts in Wheeling which helps acclimate him to the North American game vs. playing backup to Joel Blomqvist.
Artur Akhtyamov, Cal Petersen and Hunter Shepard for the opposition if you made me guess.
Who’s Running the Show?
Mason Riley and Adam Tobias will hand out discipline and Ryan Knapp and Jud Ritter will keep them onsides on Wednesday. Bobby Jo Love and Jim Curtain with Chandler Yakimowicz and Tommy George are here Saturday and Curtain will take the trip down I-81 to meet up with Jake Kamrass with Jeremy Faucher and Richard Jondo on the lines.
I don’t mind seeing Jim Curtain, he’s one of my favorite refs. Calls it straight, let’s them play.
Looking Ahead…
The Penguins close out 2024 with a Friday home game against the Hershey Bears and then a Saturday trip to Hershey.
Give us a bold prediction…
They win a game this week without the requirement of a hat trick being scored for them.
Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings — Week 10
Posted by nafsnep on December 16, 2024
So, the curse is very real.
I put Hershey at the top of the Power Rankings last week and they were shutout in one game and only scored a goal in the other. In the game that they won, they needed a late goal and overtime to win against a team they had no business losing to.
I think the curse is real. Sorry Wranglers fans, but you get the dubious number one distinction this week after being skipped over for weeks due to my ineptitude or East Coast bias, one or the other.
Oh, a note about the records section of the Rankings. Those will return next week. Too many games played on Sunday for me to wait until 10:30 p.m. to fill all of them in with an 8 p.m. start and work in the morning. The Penguins and Bears are the last team out of the gate Sunday, they will return in the Week 11 version. Apologies in advance.
Let’s go!
1. Calgary Wranglers
Last Week: 2nd (up 1)
We will see if the Chirps from Center Ice #1 curse is real or not. Wranglers get the dubious distinction this week.
2. Grand Rapids Griffins
Last Week: 6th (up 4)
I’d say that was a productive trip out to Loveland, getting points in every game in a hostile environment.
3. San Jose Barracuda
Last Week: 5th (up 2)
Barracuda look good but still some flaws with this club.
4. Cleveland Monsters
Last Week: 10th (up 6)
Monsters are in the middle of an eight game homestead and looking pretty good leading the North Division.
5. Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins
Last Week: 9th (up 4)
Up and down week for the Penguins who split with Charlotte and win a nail biter against Springfield. A midweek date with Toronto seems like a nice measuring stick.
So I believe I had this week nailed. From this past Wednesday’s Weekend Preview…
Give us a bold prediction…
We all make dentist appointments next week after we grind our teeth to dust. Pens split with the Checkers and take the Thunderbirds to overtime and find a way to win. Everything stays tight a week before Christmas.
Indeed, the Penguins split with the Checkers and nearly lost it all in the third period of Saturday’s game against Springfield but win 5-4 in overtime off of an Emil Bemstom power play goal, the Penguins third of the night and Bemstrom’s third off the night, a hat trick, their third in five games.
So I hope the trend of needing a hat trick to win a hockey game doesn’t continue because the last three games where they have won a player has recorded a hat trick.
Here’s how they lined up. I thought the embeds were fixed, didn’t use them Friday so I am crossing my fingers for Saturday…
Lineup Notes: Corey Andonovski for Marc Johnstone was the only change.
First Period: 1:53 in and Rutger McGroarty scores a goal that unleashed a flurry of fur as it was the Annual Teddy Bear Toss Night. After a brief delay, they were back underway but let’s hope the embeds still work and check it out below.
I think the only two people who knew the puck was loose were Sylvegard and the referee.
But the Penguins would respond three minutes later when Vasily Ponomarev found Valtteri Puustinen for yet another power play goal that re-establihed the two goal lead.
Just under three minutes later, ex-Penguin Scott Harrington scored his first of the season for the Thunderbirds and it was a one goal lead for the Penguins.
Puck left sitting in the slot and there’s Harrington to sweep it in.
They managed to eat a lot of time off the clock but then they took a late penalty with about two minutes left to play. Springfield opts to pull Vadim Zherenko. Oh boy.
Tie game. Aleksanteri Kaskimaki. I feel for any Springfield bloggers out there that have to type that name on a daily basis.
Somehow, someway, they managed to drag that flaming wreck of the third period off to….
Overtime: Penguins get a late opportunity on the power play and while the goal was initially credited to Boris Katchouk, after review post game the goal was attributed to Emil Bemström, for a hat trick.
Three Stars: 3) Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (goal, assist) 2) Emil Bemström (three goals) 1) Boris Katchouk (assist)
Katchouk was initially credited with first star honors because, at the time, everyone though he scored the OT GWG.
The Good: 3/4 ob the power play. That should win you plenty hockey games.
The Bad: I didn’t particularly like that third period. Bad team effort. Thankfully they built up enough credit and were able to drag it to overtime.
Turning Point: I want to go back to the disallowed goal that Springfield scored because that could have ganged things a lot. I won’t thought, the Bemstrom power play hat truck goal gets it here.
Around the Division: Hartford beats Laval 4-2….Charlotte beats Hershey 2-1 and the number one curse in my Monday Power Rankings is alive and well….Lehigh Valley beats Cleveland 3-2 in overtime.
Standings: Hershey 39 – Penguins, Charlotte 29 – Providence 28 – Hartford 27 – Springfield 26 – Lehigh Valley 25 – Bridgeport 14
Wheeling Update: The Nailers win again. 13 straight wins. Longest in franchise history. 4-1 win against Reading. Sergei Murashov stopped 30.
I have an Ethan Prow Christmas jersey I swear is cursed.
I can’t remember the last time the team this blog is dedicated to won a game when I was wearing it. I busted it out because it is the holidays and because the Penguins did beat the Checkers on Wednesday but tonight, a 4-0 Checkers win, proves that the Prow Christmas jersey is bad luck.
Even moreso now that I think of it because :15 into the game, a turnover leads to a Rasmus Asplund goal that put the Penguins in an early hole, before most of the patrons even made it to their seats.
Then about five minutes later an Asplund pass to teammate John Leonard actually caromed off Leonard and into the net of Joel Blomqvist for a 2-0 lead for the visitors.
Penguins couldn’t muster any type of offense in front of Ken Appleby, who had a 29 save shutout, his second consecutive (vs. Rochester last weekend) and third overall. The only time I thought he was tested was when Tristan Broz had a chance point blank, but Appleby flicked it away with the pad. This was in the second period right after the Penguins killed off :61 of a two man advantage for Charlotte.
The Penguins had an opportunity at 4 on 3 after a timeout called by Kirk MacDonald to get back into it, but did not.
Patrick Giles then goes unmarked into the Penguins zone and whizzes a shot through Blomqvist’s five hole that gives the Checkers a lead at 13:50 0f the second.
Charlotte connects on a third period power play when a Wilmer Skoog shot is kicked out by Blomqvist but right to Ben Steeves who put it home.
Wilkes-Barre went 0/5 on the power play, and that was one of the many things that cost them the game.
You had to know that Charlotte would come out juiced up after losing Wednesday and they did. It was a picture perfect start for them and their goaltender did the rest.
That’s really it. They got defensemen Mac Hollowell and Filip Kral, forward Emil Bemström back from injury and released Chris Ortiz of his PTO and sent him back to Wheeling. Corey Andonovski and Mats Lindgren came out of the lineup. I thought the infusion of Bemstrom would help, it didn’t.
Three Stars were John Leonard with a goal, Rasmus Asplund with a goal and an assist and Ken Appleby with 29 saves in that order.
Providence beats Bridgeport 5-3 and Hershey pulls another rabbit from its arse with a late goal from Ethen Frank to tie it in Syracuse and then the Bears win in OT on a Bogdan Trineyev goal to win 2-1. The rest of the Atlantic was idle.
Wilkes-Barre will slip to third in a tie with Charlotte with 27 points, a point behind Providence’s 28 and 12 points back of division leader Hershey.
Wheeling wins 4-1 down the road in Reading for a franchise record longest point streak at 15 games. There are a lot of players there that belong here. Matty De St. Phalle is one, who had two goals for nine on the season. Jordan Martel had three assists. Taylor Gauthier stopped 28. Give them a look.
No highlights to this one.
Back at it under hopefully the old conventional way tomorrow after the Springfield contest. I saw their broadcaster on radio row getting his equipment set up so I know the Thunderbirds are already in town, unless he drove down himself with coaches. Doubtful Springfield is one of if not the hottest team in the AHL currently, so the Penguins need to be ready. More then.
Comments Off on Bing! Bang! Boris! — Pens WINS 6-4
Posted by nafsnep on December 11, 2024
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The second hat trick in three games for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, this time by Boris Katchouk, who also added another goal for four on the night, is enough to carry the Penguins to a 6-4 win over the Charlotte Checkers Wednesday night.
These teams rematch Friday.
I’d love to stay and chat, but the job that actually pays me starts at 8:30 and it’s past 10:30 now and I don’t normally stay up this late on work night, so let’s get moving!
Lineup Notes: Ten guys injured for the Penguins. Minutes after the Weekend Preview went up, Coal Street signed Chris Ortiz to a PTO. He, Justin Lee and Mats Lindgren were in for Nikolai Knyzhov, Mac Hollowell and Filip Kral, all injured. Forwards from Sunday were unchanged, but shuffled.
First Period: Boris Katchouk was either hooked on a long delayed call that award him a penalty shot or Jaycob Megna’s stick throwing in the defensive zone at a puck caused a penalty shot, which Katchouk buried here…
I got the sense that despite the lead, they were playing with house money.
Second Period: Charlotte has the leagues best power play. The Penguins, who were not only badly outshot in the period, gave the Checkers opportunity after opportunity on the man advantage.
Only a matter of time before future AHL Hall of Famer and Checkers captain Zac Dalpe scored ti tie the game on the power play.
Shots were 30-12 Checkers for the game and 15-6 in the period, same as the first.
Third Period: They adjusted in this period.
They get the kickoff goal from probably a player that isn’t long for the AHL if he keeps this up, Tristan Broz scored at 3:43 off a rebound of an Isaac Belliveau shot that tied the game.
But here’s where the game got interesting. Wilmer Skoog scored at 17:02 that made it 5-3 and then John Leonard followed about a minute and a half later with Chris Driedger pulled that made it a one goal game!
(The Checkers didn’t bother to post these goals)
Geordie Kinnear called time out but then Boris Katchouk stepped back up and flipped a shot in front of his own goaltenders crease 190′ down the ice and scored into the empty net that sealed the deal for good.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 