Comments Off on Wheeling Wrap 3/7
Posted by nafsnep on March 7, 2017
It’s noon Tuesday and time to look back at the web that was for the Wheeling Nailers.
It was a rough week for the Nailers, who continue to slip away from the third place Adirondack Thunder, six points behind the third place Thunder.
Friday, the Nailers were in Indy and took on the Fuel and won 3-2 in overtime. Nailers fell behind 2-1 before getting a third period goal from Tyler Currier to even it up at two, before Cody Wydo scored in overtime to give the Nailers the win. Doug Carr stopped 21 of 23 in net.
Saturday, the Nailers traveled to Fort Wayne for the first of two with the Komets. They lost a close one 4-3 to Fort Wayne. The Nailers blew a 3-1 lead in the third period as the Komets stormed back to scored three even strength goals and take the win. Doug Carr took the loss with 33 saves on 37 shots. Wheeling scored two power play goals.
Sunday in the rematch, the Fort Wayne Komets swept the weekend with a 2-1 win. Gage Quinney opened the scoring for the Nailers but Wheeling was not able to hold on as the Komets scored two to take the win. Sean Maguire stopped 41 of 43.
The week, the Nailers host the Quad City Mallards for a pair of games Friday and Saturday before taking on the Toledo Walleye Sunday. The Walleye have already locked up a playoff spot.
Wheeling sits fourth in the North Division with a record of 28-23-6-0, good for 62 points.
Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings: Week 21
Posted by nafsnep on March 6, 2017
Week 21 has come and gone in the American Hockey League and so has the NHL trade deadline. Some teams re-tooled and the results were immediate and helped in their playoff push this weekend.
There is a new number one at the top of the rankings, as the top five from last week are jumbled up a bit. Click through the jump and see who it is and where your favorite team ended up this week.
Tom Sestito – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Jarrett Burton – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Dominik Simon – Teddy Blueger – J-S Dea
Ryan Haggerty – Sahir Gill – Patrick McGrath
Tim Erixon – Barry Goers
David Warsofsky – Frank Corrado
Cameron Gaunce – Ethan Prow
Casey DeSmith – Tristan Jarry
Lineup Notes: Should have figured that Head Coach Clark Donatelli wasn’t going to play Thomas DiPauli in back to back games and that suspicion was confirmed as he was the scratch for Patrick McGrath. No other lineup changes for the Penguins. Tom Sestito played in his 500th professional game and picked up his 100th professional assist.
First Period: It was a special teams party where every goal was scored on the power play.
The Penguin opened the scoring with this goal from Kevin Porter with Oskar Sundqvist setting the screen in front of Halverson…
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 5, 2017
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The biggest problem that the Penguins faced in this period was the fact that they were letting Hartford run with them. The Wolf Pack hit two posts and were pretty much step for step with Wilkes-Barre the whole period. They got on the board via a Niklas Jensen power play goal that evened things at one a piece.
Penguins had a power play come and go which was effectively killed by Hartford. They got another one via good stick handling work by Tom Sestito when David Warsofsky banged this puck in in a pile of bodies which was confirmed via video replay…
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 5, 2017
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40th point of the season for David Warsofsky.
Shots ended up 12-10 for the Penguins heading into the…
Second Period: Back and forth period that the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins sleepwalked through the first half, went down a goal after the Penguins led by a goal, then roared back for three unanswered goals. Here is the setup…
Up 2-1 to start the second, the Penguins killed a Hartford penalty then as a puck was caroming around in front of Halverson it went quickly out to Jensen and he scored again to make it a 2-2 game.
1:59 later, Matt Carey pounded home a drop pass that made it 3-2 Hartford. The wheels were coming off! The Penguins were sleepwalking through a Sunday game with a last place team! The horror!
The Penguins finally came alive. A Jarrett Burton twirling pass to Josh Archibald camped out in front made it a tie game again.
David Warsofsky scored his second of the game that re-established the lead for the Penguins. Goals 90 seconds apart. Warsofsky’s two goals so far gives him 14 on the season and second most among AHL defensemen.
Looking at the score line and the shot board, I came to the realization that the Penguins were still allowing the Wolf Pack to stick around and maybe jump up and sting them again. Then J-S Dea scored at the buzzer with .8 seconds left to make it 5-3 Penguins…
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 5, 2017
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So the Hartford Wolf Pack run step for step with the best team in the Atlantic Division, get careless for one second and the best team in the division make them pay. Tim Erixon fired a shot at the net and Dea, all alone with no one checking him, makes it a two goal game for the Penguins heading into the…
Third Period: The Wolf Pack switched goalies with Magnus Hellberg coming on for Brandon Halverson. I picked up the vibe that this move was made because Hartford was still in things.
They were, in part, getting a couple of breakaways, but Casey DeSmith was more than up to task. This one with the skate denied Marek Hrivik…
Last Game: Last night in Hershey, the Pens lost 2-1. Josh Archibald had the only goal for Wilkes-Barre in the loss. For Hartford, they hosted the Phantoms Saturday afternoon and lost 3-1. Matt Carey had the only goal for the Wolf Pack in the loss.
Last Meeting: January 3 in Wilkes-Barre, the Pens won 3-2. Derrick Pouliot had two assists and Chad Ruhwedel had a goal and an assist.
Record: For WBS: 38-16-3-0 (79 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For HFD: 21-31-3-2 (47 pts., 7th place Atlantic Division)
Why you should care: Pens will look for a win today in Hartford. They will need to stay disciplined, something they weren’t last night in Hershey, giving the Bears six power plays.
Comments Off on Power Failure – Pens LOSE 2-1
Posted by nafsnep on March 4, 2017
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You just can’t give Hershey six power plays in a game and expect to win.
Especially a close game, in front of a big crowd on the road against a team out of a playoff spot right now.
Tristan Jarry played an outstanding game, stopping 25 of 27 shots, but he was beaten by the Bears momentum and Pheonix Copley was better, stopping 36 of 37.
Tom Sestito – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Thomas DiPauli – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Dominik Simon – Teddy Blueger – J-S Dea
Jarrett Burton – Sahir Gill – Ryan Haggerty
Tim Erixon – Barry Goers
David Warsofsky – Frankie Corrado
Cameron Gaunce – Ethan Prow
Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith
Lineup Notes: DiPauli’s first game action since November 26. Frankie Corrado had his visa issues figured out and he was in the lineup as well.
First Period: Penguins jump out of a 1-0 lead on a redirect of an Oskar Sundqvist shot by Josh Archibald.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 5, 2017
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Pens didn’t allow the Bears a shot on goal for more than ten minutes and were smothering Hershey. It felt like the Penguins should be up two or more goals at the time but Copley was keeping Hershey in it.
Colby Williams scored to make it 1-1 when the Penguins couldn’t clear a pin balling puck. Pens had a 12-4 shot advantage going into the…
Second Period: Score remained 1-1 when Stan Galiev, the Penguin killer himself, scored on a deke that beat Time Erixon and Barry Goers and then finally Jarry, to put the Bears ahead 2-1. At the end of the period Copley would be needed again, this time stopping a Penguin two on one.
Third Period: But the penalty train continued for the Penguins and and momentum built up by the Penguins was killed or slowed down by the referees arm going in the air to but the Bears on the power play.
Tristan Jarry kept it a one goal game with some dazzling saves. Here is just one of those…
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 5, 2017
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Bears power play after power play was met with Tristan Jarry save after save.
Pens didn’t register a shot on goal until halfway through the third, not a recipe for getting back into the game, but hard to do when you are constantly killing penalties 200 fee the other way.
Penguins, with Jarry vacated for the extra man, were never able to find the equalizer.
Three Stars: 3) Christian Thomas (two assists) 2) Stan Galiev (game winning goal, assist) 1) Pheonix Copley (36 saves on 37 shots)
Around the Division: Lehigh Valley beat Hartford 3-1 earlier in the day…Rochester beats Bridgeport 4-3 in overtime. Providence and Springfield were off.
Last Game: Last Saturday in Allentown, the Penguins won 4-3 in overtime. Barry Goers’ first goal since April 2015 was the overtime game winner and snapped the Penguins four game losing streak. For Hershey, the Bears were in Syracuse last night and won 5-1. Christian Thomas had two goals in the winning effort.
Last Meeting: February 10 in Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins won 4-3. Kevin Porter scored the goal in overtime and also assisted on three other goals.
Record: For WBS: 38-15-3-0 (79 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For HER: 29-17-8-3 (69 pts., 5th place Atlantic Division)
Why you should care: New and improved Bears team who are out of a playoff spot which did some tinkering and re-aquired Pheonix Copley and shipped Joe Cannata to San Antonio. The Bears are a desperate team now and the Penguins cannot overlook them.
Comments Off on A Deeper Shade of Blue — NHL Trade Deadline Recap
Posted by nafsnep on March 1, 2017
The NHL trade deadline came and went at 3 p.m. Eastern today and here is what shook out for the Pittsburgh Penguins and here is how it affects the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins…
Pittsburgh / Wilkes-Barre
Jim Rutherford flipped Steve Oleksy and Eric Fehr for Frank Corrado from Toronto and acquired Mark Streit from Tampa Bay for a draft pick. Streit was briefly with Tampa Bay, having been acquired there from Philadelphia hours before.
Wilkes-Barre defense is as follows…Cameron Gaunce, David Warsofsky, Frank Corrado, Brett Stern, Stuart Percy, Ethan Prow, Stuart Percy and Barry Goers. It was announced today after practice that Ethan Prow should be good to go this weekend from his injury and that Lukas Bengtsson is done for the year after still dealing with the symptoms of Lyme Disease.
Pittsburgh has a wealth of defensemen now. Ian Cole, Trevor Daley (hurt) Brian Dumoulin, Ron Hainsey, Kris Letang (hurt) Olli Maatta (hurt) Derrick Pouliot, Chad Ruhwedel (not waived yesterday, will not return to Wilkes-Barre) Justin Schultz and Mark Streit. You figure that as soon as Letang, who is the closest to returning as his status is simply day to day, gets healthy that Pouliot will be back in Wilkes-Barre lickety split.
This season, Wilkes-Barre’s strength has been through its blue line.
On Corrado, he’s been buried on the depth chart in Toronto. He is 1-11-12 with the Marlies. He’s recently started playing again with the Marlies and they are 13-1-1-0 since January 22. He’s played on the top pairing there and its no surprise that the Marlies are on the precipice of overtaking the Syracuse Crunch for tops in the North Division. Here’s more long form on Corrado if you’d like to read up on the Penguins latest asset and a Q&A.
In my opinion it’s a step up for the Pens. They lost Steve Oleksy who was a glue guy and a good quote to the papers and was 1-4-5 for Wilkes-Barre vs. a diamond in the rough player in Corrado.
Moving Eric Fehr means that we will have to wait a bit longer for Carter Rowney in Wilkes-Barre. Conor Sheary is days away, so you are looking at getting Bryan Rust back first before seeing Rowney back here.
Here’s what else happened in the AHL’s Atlantic Division…
Here’s what I think: Springfield gets pillaged. They get nothing in return for the McIlrath trade since Vanek is an NHLer, lose a future Hall of Famer in Mike McKenna for Wilcox, whose numbers aren’t anything to write home about. (19-9-2, 2.87, .895 SV%) and get a slight upgrade in Scarlett over Harper. The Thunderbirds aren’t making playoffs and are just playing for pride at this point.
NY Rangers / Hartford Wolf Pack
Justin Fontaine for Taylor Beck. Beck was the Bakersfield Condors leading scorer with 50 points. It’s a bandaid on a bullet wound for a Hartford side who will probably finish last in the Atlantic Division.
Washington / Hershey
Washington sent Joe Cannata packing to the San Antonio Rampage in exchange for Cody Corbett. Cannata was the odd man out for the Bears crease after the reacquisition of Phoenix Copley on Monday night. Corbett is a depth defenseman.
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As for the rest of the division, Lehigh Valley and Providence didn’t make any moves. Neither did Bridgeport, who still have G Jaroslav Halak. If you want a dark horse to make it out of the Atlantic, it’s Bridgeport. Personally, I’m not buying it. Wilkes-Barre is the best team in the division, Lehigh Valley, Providence and Bridgeport are on the same tier, Hershey is a step below then you have Springfield and Hartford. A lot can happen in this final quarter of the AHL season.
Pens are off Friday, so but for anything breaking between now and Saturday, look for the next blog update to come Saturday afternoon for the Gameday setup at Hershey.
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Pittsburgh / Wilkes-Barre 
Florida / Springfield 
NY Rangers / Hartford Wolf Pack 
Washington / Hershey 
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 