Last Game: Last night at home against St. John’s, the Penguins lost 5-2. Tom Kostopoulous had two assists in the loss. For Lehigh Valley, the Phantoms beat Albany 4-3 in New York and used three third period goals to do so.
Last Meeting: January 20 in Allentown, the Phantoms won 5-3. Taylor Leier had a goal and two assists, Colin McDonald had three assists for Lehigh Valley. Teddy Blueger had two assists in the losing effort for the Penguins.
Record: For WBS: 33-10-3-0 (69 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For LV: 30-12-2-0 (62 pts., 2nd place Atlantic Division)
Why you should care: Here we go with the Phantoms becoming regular visitors to the Mohegan Sun Arena with the first of six meetings in front of what is going to be a big crowd. The Phantoms will be looking to close within five points of the Penguins for first in the Atlantic and Wilkes-Barre will be looking to shake off the stink of last nights 5-2 frustrating loss to the IceCaps.
Other Game to Watch: Hershey hosts St. John’s. Are the Bears a serious playoff threat? Can the IceCaps continue to rack up points and push the North Division leaders?
Next Five Games: STJ 2/8, HER 2/10, BNG 2/11, LV 2/14, @ ALB 2/17
That’s your ballgame right there, as the Penguins fall 5-2 to the hands of a very good St. John’s IceCaps team who is playing some great hockey as of late. Wilkes-Barre sees their five game winning streak at home come to an end and suffer just their tenth loss in regulation in the first weekend of February.
Tristan Jarry opposed Charlie Lindgren
Lines were…
Tom Sestito – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Garrett Wilson – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Dominik Simon – Teddy Blueger – Ryan Haggerty
Danny Kristo – Sahir Gill – Patrick McGrath
Derrick Pouliot – Steve Oleksy
Stuart Percy – David Warsofsky
Cameron Gaunce – Ethan Prow
Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith
Lineup Notes: J-S Dea was out tonight battling an illness. He skated the extra in warmups. Steve Oleksy was back in the lineup for the Penguins for the first time since November and this was his 500th game as a professional.
First Period: Both teams would score on their first shots of the game. Ryan Johnston would score for the IceCaps at 1:02 to give St. John’s the lead and 1:45 later Ethan Prow scores his first as a professional that made it a tie game at one.
Its would be the last power play that the Penguins would score for the remainder of the game.
Second Period: The St. John’s IceCaps were playing a song and lulling the Penguins monster to sleep. Wilkes-Barre registered its first shot on goal 6:06 into the period. The game was getting almost boring, with both teams transitioning back and forth up and down the ice. I don’t think I have seen another team counterpunch as well as St. John’s does.
Finally, the IceCaps tied it on a Daniel Carr shot through a screen that beat Jarry that made it 2-2.
The Penguins were then gift wrapped a 4:00 double minor and were not able to score on it.
Third Period: Penguins think that they score on a puck that goes in the net through a scrum but referee Terry Koharski, right on top of the play and standing on the net loses sight of the puck. In the mass of bodies crashing the net, Koharski has to maintain his balance to keep from falling down and washes out the goal which would have tied the game. Koharski invoked the intent to blow rule which means that if the referee loses sight of the puck but can’t get whistle to mouth in time before the puck crosses the line and goes in the goal is disallowed. Fairweather fans don’t undertstand that rule and neither do some of the fans that come to every game. I, personally, thought it was the right call under the circumstances.
Michael McCarron, who seemingly always scores big goals against the Penguins, scored to give St. John’s the lead at 3-2 when he scored on a bad Jarry rebound.
All of a sudden after, the Penguins found themselves on a 1:35 of two man advantage. St. John’s killed it, but not for lack of puck movement by Wilkes-Barre.
Dan Carr scored on a laser beam shot that extended the IceCaps lead to two.
Wilkes-Barre had yet another power play come and go after that goal. Since the Pouliot first period goal, the Penguins went 0-for-6 on the man advantage.
Old buddy Bobby Farnahm, who was up to his old antics again tonight, scored an empty net goal that made it 5-2 St. John’s.
Three Stars: Daniel Carr (two goals, +2) 2) Tom Kostopoulos (two assists, +1) and 1) Michael McCarron (goal, two assists, +2)
Around the Division: Lehigh Valley continues to score third period goals, getting three tonight in Almaty and winning 4-3….Bridgeport has won its eighth straight game with a 3-2 win against the Rochester Americans at home….Hershey wins in Binghamton 5-3. Stan Galiev had a hat trick for the Bears in the win….Providence beats Springfield 3-1 and Hartford beats Utica 4-3.
Wheeling Update: Jordan Kwas, Darryl Lloyd and Gage Quinney score goals, Doug Carr stops 26 of 28 and the Wheeling Nailers beat the Kalamazoo Wings tonight in Michigan by a 3-2 score.
Video highlights….
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Penguins are back on home ice again Saturday night against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the first time all season. Gameday setup hits the blog Saturday afternoon at 3.
Comments Off on RAPID RECAP: Pens LOSE 5-2
Posted by nafsnep on February 3, 2017
Penguins lose their tenth game in regulation against a very good, high quality opponent in St. John’s.
Wilkes-Barre’s inability to score on a 4:00 power play and more than 1:45 two man advantage in the second and third periods respectively doom the top team in the AHL tonight.
Last Game: Last Saturday in Binghamton, the Penguins won 6-2. Tom Kostopoulos scored his 500th AHL point in the win. For the IceCaps, they hosted the Toronto Marlies on last Saturday and were shutout 4-0.
Last Meeting: December 4 in St. John’s the Penguins lost 3-2 in overtime. Oskar Sundqvist and Chad Ruhwedel scored for the Pens in the loss.
Record: For WBS: 33-9-3-0 (69 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For STJ: 20-18-5-1 (46 pts., 3rd place North Division)
Why you should care: Much different IceCaps team from the one we saw in December. This team is a playoff team right now and has been one of the better teams in the North Division for a while now. The Penguins will need a full 60 minute effort tonight if they want to get their unofficial start of the second half of the season off on the right foot.
Other Game to Watch: Lehigh Valley travels to Albany to take on the Devils. Albany is second in the North, a strong team, and should put up a good fight against tomorrow’s opponent for teh Penguins.
Next Five Games: LV 2/4, STJ 2/8, HER 2/10, BNG 2/11, LV 2/14
Comments Off on Wheeling Wrap 2/1
Posted by nafsnep on February 1, 2017
It’s Tuesday and a new month, so it’s time to take a look back at the week that was for the Wheeling Nailers.
The Nailers played four games last week starting with a Wednesday game against the Toledo Walleye and won a wild one by a score of 7-6. Wheeling scored two goals in the third period to force overtime and Christian Hilbrich’s goal with :57 left sent the Wesbanco Arena crowd home happy as the Nailers completed the comeback. Gage Quinney had a goal and three assists.
Wheeling continued its busy week with a visit from the Quad City Mallards and won 5-2. Sean Maguire picked up the win in goal for the Nailers, stopping 25 of 27 shots. Cody Wydo had two goals and an assist. Nick Sorkin added a goal and two assists. The Nailers scored four of their goals on the power play.
The momentum continued Saturday as the Nailers hosted the Brampton Beast and shut them out 4-0. Sean Maguire stopped all 25 shots sent his way. Jarrett Burton scored two goals.
But the momentum ran out for the Nailers playing their fourth game in five games in Kalamazoo, Michigan as the Nailers fell narrowly by a score of 5-4. Gage Quinney scored a goal and assisted on two others. The Nailers came back from two goals but the K-Wings scored the go ahead with under five minutes left.
The Nailers are up to third in the North Division with 23-15-3-0 with 49 points, two off second place Reading and ten back of the division leading Manchester Monarchs.
Wheeling three games this week, on the road this Thursday in Cincinnati, Friday again in Kalamazoo before hosting the second place Royals Saturday night.
Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings: Week 16
Posted by nafsnep on January 30, 2017
We have hit the AHL All-Star break and there are teams that are mainstays at the top and teams playing hot potato for the fourth spot in seemingly every division.
One team which as been at the top of the AHL Power Rankings is a team that if you are a regular to this blog, are familiar with.
With this special noon Monday debut time, I wanted to get this out of the way in advance of the all star exhibition later this night. So hit the jump if you didn’t link in direct and enjoy.
Comments Off on 500 Reasons to Have Your Best Month Ever — Pens WIN 6-2
Posted by nafsnep on January 28, 2017
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6 2
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When this headline hits the social media feeds I have, I wonder if it will get flagged for spam.
Nothing processed about this one though, a 6-2 win in Binghamton tonight capping off the Penguins franchise best month of hockey improving to 12-2 in the month of January. Tom Kostopoulos scores his 500th AHL point in the third period making him the 91st player in the American Hockey League to achieve this milestone.
The Pens are rolling now with their best forward (Jake Guentzel) and defenseman (Chad Ruhewedel) up in Pittsburgh. They are winning with guys like Teddy Blueger and David Warsofsky. It was built in the offseason to be a deep team. I was looking back at some old stuff from a few years ago, when injuries hit Pittsburgh necessitating call ups from Wilkes-Barre, Pens were playing and winning with guys like Ty Loney and John McCarron. They made sure that if injuries hit the NHL team again, that the farm would be stacked with talent that could carry the flag.
Tristan Jarry vs. Chris Driedger.
Lines were the same as they were the night before in Utica…
Garrett Wilson – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Sestito – Kevin Porter – Josh Archibald
Dominik Simon – Teddy Blueger – J-S Dea
Ryan Haggerty – Sahir Gill – Danny Kristo
Derrick Pouliot – Tim Erixon
Stuart Percy – David Warsofsky
Cameron Gaunce – Ethan Prow
Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith
Lineup Notes: Same lineup as before for the Penguins was noted, Steve Oleksy isn’t believed to be actually with the team as Pittsburgh is apparently giving him a few days off. This per Seth’s speculation pregame.
First Period: Penguins opened and were carrying the momentum and it felt like the dam was going to break at any minute.
In the span of eight minutes, the Penguins scored four times and allowed one. The first goal was coming out of a break when Ryan Haggerty raced out of the zone and fired a puck past Driedger and gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead. It was Haggerty’s fourth goal in five games.
Dominik Simon scored to make it 2-0 when Teddy Blueger literally kicked a puck over to him in a pile in front of the B-Sens net and Simon scored on the wide open cage to double the lead. David Warsofsky collected an assist in this goal giving the all-star defenseman his tenth multipoint game trailing none other than Jake Guentzel.
Binghamton looked to have made it a game when Jason Akeson dangled through the defense, and shot it where Nick Paul was there to put the rebound in.
That goal seemed to enrage the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.
J-S Dea scored 1:05 later when Teddy Blueger hit him with a perfect cross ice pass that Dea put in on the back door that re-established the Penguins two goal lead.
:20 later, Blueger scored his own goal that made it 4-1 Penguins.
So to recap, just in the first period alone, Teddy Blueger and Dominik Simon had there points. Blueger’s first three point game. First four goal period for the Penguins since 11-5 against Bridgeport.
Second Period: Matt O’Connor relieved Chris Driedger in goal. It worked in the short term in lighting a fire under the B-Sens as Chad Nehring tipped a Alex Krushelnyski shot from the blue line that made it 4-2.
But then a great individual effort by Derrick Pouliot, snaking through pretty much everyone on the ice in a Binghamton sweater, to feed a pass over to Danny Kristo to put he Penguins back ahead by three goals. Danny Kristo has four goals for the Penguins ice the trade, three of them have come against the Binghamton Senators.
Ben Harpur and Tom Sestito fought after Harpur hit Danny Kristo into the boards in an earlier sequence. Sestito was given an instigator penalty giving the Senators a power play that they would not score on.
Third Period: Both teams had a chance on the opera play but it was better kills by the side down a man. Then Tom Kostopoulos scored for his 500th point in the AHL on a nice backdoor feed tat made it 6-2 Penguins. Penguins made sure that the Senators didn’t get any closer.
Three Stars: 3) Danny Kristo (goal, assist, +2) 2) Teddy Blueger (goal, two assists, +3) and 1) Dominik Simon (goal, two assists, +3)
Wheeling Update: Sean Maguire with a 25 save shutout as the Wheeling Nailers defeat the Brampton Beast at home by a score of 4-0.
Video highlights…
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The Week 16 AHL Power Rankings will get dome sometime Sunday afternoon by me and I will have them Monday at noon in advance of the All-Star Classic Monday at 7. The Wheeling Wrap will hit the blog Tuesday at noon. So check for all that stuff later this week. I may drop a blog on anything newsworthy coming out of the AHL All-Star Classic in Allentown this weekend also.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 