Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings: Week 25
Posted by nafsnep on April 3, 2017
Week 25 and the playoff picture in the AHL is starting to come together.
The first Eastern Conference team has punched a playoff ticket in Wilkes-Barre.
There is a game being played of hot potato for the fourth sport in many divisions.
San Jose remains your number one team this week as it appears it will be down to the Barracuda and the Penguins to decide who wins the regular season championship.
Penguins jump up to second this week, their biggest rivals in Hershey take a nosedive out of the top 20.
Click through the jump to see where your team ended up this week if you didn’t link in direct.
Comments Off on Wilkes-Barre XV — Penguins Punch Ticket to 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs
Posted by nafsnep on April 2, 2017
Fifteen straight years.
Like death and taxes, you can nearly guarantee that the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins will be in the Calder Cup Playoffs when players start filtering to Coal Street in late September.
After today’s shootout loss to the Utica Comets, all eyes turned to Hershey, Pennsylvania where the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and the Bears were playing a 5:05 start. The Phantoms beat the Bears 4-2 on a Chris Conner hat trick and this cemented the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins playoff status.
Fifteen straight years. Longest streak in professional hockey. The parent team in Pittsburgh has been there 11 straight years. They teach similar styles to that what they expect in Pittsburgh.
The one thing which has eluded us in Wilkes-Barre which Pittsburgh has three of and the team that put us in the playoffs just now has eleven of at the AHL level is the Calder Cup.
Fourteen years and they have come away empty handed. With this team, one that has run the table seemingly since they dropped the puck in October, I get the sense that this year may be different.
We will see.
Step one is playoffs. Step two is the Atlantic Division Championship, the Macgregor Kilpatrick trophy is step three then step four is fifteen more wins in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Comments Off on DemKO’d — Pens LOSE 3-2 (SO)
Posted by nafsnep on April 2, 2017
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In the hurry up because its Wrestlemania Sunday.
Penguins got a late power play goal by Oskar Sundqvist to drive their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to one pending the outcome of Lehigh Valley / Hershey ongoing. Don’t come back to this post to see if the Penguins are the first Eastern Conference team to clinch a spot in the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs. That will get it’s own post if need be later.
I have people waiting for me at home for The Showcase of the Immortals so here’s a quick rundown of the action today in Wilkes-Barre, a game that the Penguins lost 3-2 in a shootout.
Tristan Jarry opposed Thatcher Demko in net. Only lineup change was Garrett Wilson for Jarrett Burton for Wilkes-Barre.
In the first, the Comets got on the board first at 2:28 when a shot from Jordan Subban was deflected by Cody Kunyk that got Utica the lead. Penguins were being badly outshot in the period when Utica fell into penalty trouble that saw them killing a five-on-three for more than two minutes. Penguins set up in the offensive zone but didn’t cash on a game tying goal or a go ahead one.
In the second, Tom Kostopoulos sets up Zach Aston-Reese on a power play goal that ties the game at one but Utica edged ahead when another shot from the point by Subban was put home by the Comets defenseman. Puck inadvertently went off of a piece of equipment belonging to Frank Corrado.
The third period brought the Penguins still trying to push to get the tying goal which took 19:02 seconds with Jarry pulled and the Penguins on a power play. Oskar Sundqvist pushed one home to force overtime.
Overtime came and went without a whistle.
Curtis Valk was the only skater to score in the three person shootout to give Utica the extra point.
Three stars wereDerrick Pouliot with two assists, Tom Kostopoulos with two assists and Thatcher Demko with 43 saves on 45 shots.
Around the Division: Lehigh Valley did the Penguins a solid beating the Bears 4-2 in Hershey tonight officially clinching the playoffs for Wilkes-Barre for the fifteenth straight year. The Bears lost all three games this weekend….Providence beats Hartford 4-1 to stay in third. Idle Bridgeport stays in fourth now with a game in hand over the Bears who are still a point out of a playoff spot.
Wheeling Update: The Wheeling Nailers were officially eliminate form Kelly Cup Playoffs today with a 5-3 loss to the Reading Royals. The Nailers have three games left before a caravan of Black Aces head to Wilkes-Barre. More Tuesday in the Wheeling Wrap.
Last Game: Last night against Lehigh Valley, the Pens beat the Phantoms 3-0. It was the first regulation shutout for Casey DeSmith, who stopped all 26 shots faced. Troy Josephs scored his first professional goal as well…. For Utica, the Comets hosted Rochester and won 5-3. Jake Virtanen scored twice and was named first star of the game.
Lat Meeting: Last Sunday at home, Casey DeSmith backstopped Wilkes-Barre to a 2-1 win over the Comets with 45 saves. Sahir Gill and Dominik Simon scored for the Penguins.
Record: For WBS: 47-19-3-0 (97 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For UTI: 32-28-7-2 (73 pts., 5th place North Division)
Why you should care: Win and you are in. If the Penguins win this game this afternoon in any form or fashion, they are the first Eastern Conference team registered for the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs. Utica poses a threat because they are in fifth place and still have a lot to play for.
Comments Off on Coming Up Aces — Pens WIN 3-0
Posted by nafsnep on April 1, 2017
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A lot of things to get to so let’s not waste time.
The Magic Number to clinch a playoff spot to the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs is two after a Hershey regulation loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers which drops the Bears out of a playoff spot by open point.
The Magic Number for home ice for the first round of the playoffs (essentially a finish of no worse than second) is 6.
The Magic Number for the Atlantic Division Championship is 7. I don’t know what the magic number for the Eastern Conference Championship is, but since the North Division is a numbers fire, it’s probably 7.
Casey DeSmith picked up his first regulation shutout of his career with a 26 save shutout of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tonight.
Frank Corrado and Troy Josephs scored their first goals for the Penguins. For Josephs, it is his first professional goal. Derrick Pouliot scored a third period goal that put it away for the Penguins, who beat the Phantoms 3-0 to go seven clear of the Phantoms and second place in the division.
Points, second on fifth in case you are wondering, cannot be tighter.
Three points, second to fifth, in the Atlantic Division. 90-89-88-87.
Penguins have a shutout streak of 155:38 over Lehigh Valley going back to Jarry’s shutout of the Phantoms and DeSmith’s tonight. The penalty kill is 14/14 during this time as well.
That should about cover it. As for the game, the Penguins and Phantoms went after each other hot and heavy in the first period with every stoppage leading to pushing and shoving. I thought that referees Evgenii Romasko and Micheal Mullen were outstanding tonight in controlling a powder keg situation. There is a time to call penalties and a time to let things sort themselves out. Running a guy for looking at a guy wrong in a game that has huge implications for both isn’t the best way to officiate in my opinion. These two did a great job of controlling a situation which looked out of hand, but was in fact, under control.
Frank Corrado scored his first for Wilkes-Barre on a shot by Dominik Simon which went over Lehigh Valley Phantoms starting goaltender Alex Lyon and sat in the crease. Corrado swooped in and poked it across to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead….
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) April 2, 2017
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Penguins would extend the lead to 2-0 after a long offensive shift hemming the Phantoms deep in their own zone. David Warsofsky put one on net that Troy Josephs deflected in for his first professional goal…
DeSmith made a skate save on Greg Carey to preserve the two goal lead and his shutout bid….
While we're waiting for the third period to start, let's check out the save of the night (so far) from Casey DeSmith. #LHVvsWBSpic.twitter.com/V9Rg7sdsUr
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) April 2, 2017
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Chris Conner had two chances on breakaway to bring the Phantoms back within one. On his first attempt he shot it into the chest of DeSmith and on his second he put the shot wide.
Derrick Pouliot would connect on a rocket that has Lyon screened which made it 3-0…
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) April 2, 2017
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DeSmith never had to make a tough save after that and Lehigh Valley put up the white flag replacing Lyon with Martin Ouellette.
Lineup wise, Josh Archibald was recalled to Pittsburgh earlier in the day when word came out that Chris Kunitz is down with a lower body injury. Garrett Wilson had the night off and will play tomorrow. Ethan Prow was in for Jeff Taylor on the blueline. Troy Josephs and Adam Krause were in for the recalled Archibald and Wilson who was held out as he’s just coming back from injury.
Three stars were Dominik Simon with two assists, Frank Corrado with a goal and an assist and Casey DeSmith with a 26 save shutout.
Comments Off on RAPID RECAP – Pens WIN 3-0
Posted by nafsnep on April 1, 2017
Casey DeSmith has finally done it. A regular season shutout. 26 saves tonight as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defeat the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 3-0 to move seven clear of second place in the Atlantic Division and should move the magic number for a spot in playoffs to two points.
Goals by Frank Corrado, Troy Josephs and Derrick Pouliot. More in a bit.
Last Game: In Springfield last night for the Penguins, they lost 3-1. Ryan Haggerty had the goal for Wilkes-Barre. At home against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Phantoms fared no better and lost 3-1 also. Colin McDonald had the goal for Lehigh Valley in the loss.
Last Meeting: Last Saturday in Allentown, the Penguins won 4-0. Tristan Jarry had a 35 save shutout to pick up the win.
Record: For WBS: 46-19-3-0 (95 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For LV: 43-21-4-0 (90 pts., 2nd place Atlantic Division)
Why you should care: Penguins have a bit of a cushion on Lehigh Valley for first in the division. They can really pad that and cut down their magic number to clinch a playoff spot with a win tonight at home. The home team in this regular season series hasn’t done too well, so it’s a quirky trend that Wilkes-Barre will have to buck if they want the two points tonight.
Television:AHL Live and on WBRE locally in the Wilkes-Barre area.
Promotion(s): None.
Other Game to Watch: Huge one tonight in Hershey as the Bears host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Sound Tigers sit one point out of the playoffs. The team that occupies that spot is Hershey.
Next Five Games: UTI 4/2, @ LV 4/7, @ HFD 4/8, @ PRO 4/9, LV 4/12
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 