Comments Off on RAPID RECAP – Pens WIN 8-1
Posted by nafsnep on March 10, 2017
Eight goals tonight scored by eight different players and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins absolutely tear to shreds the Hartford Wolf Pack tonight 8-1.
It went about as well as a number two overall team in the AHL vs the number twenty nine team in the league would be. Every Hartford player was in the minus tonight but for the line that scored. Lots of Penguins had points. Derrick Pouliot had a 4 point game.
Last Game: Wednesday at home against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Penguins were shutout 3-0. For Hartford, they last played Sunday against the Penguins.
Last Meeting: In Hartford on March 5, the Penguins won 6-3. Dave Warsofsky and J-S Dea scored twice for the Penguins and Niclas Jensen scored twice for the Wolf Pack.
Record: For WBS: 39-17-3-0 (81 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For HFD: 21-32-3-2 (47 pts., 8th place Atlantic Division)
Why you should care: Penguins need to get back to their winning ways against the last place Hartford Wolf Pack. They have to stay disciplined and not take seven penalties like they did last game. If not, their lead on the division may be in jeopardy.
Comments Off on You Can’t Hide From Lyon’s Eyes — Pens LOSE 3-0
Posted by nafsnep on March 8, 2017
vs.
3 0
–
Every coach draws up a game plan pregame with a formula to beat the opponent. Happens in every sport.
For the Penguins opponents, its simple, force them into penalties.
Lehigh Valley went 1-7 on the power play tonight, the Penguins went 0-1.
Now were referees Pierre MacDougall and Pierre Lambert the reasons the Penguins lost this game 3-0 tonight to Lehigh Valley? Hardly. The Penguins played from behind from the opening moments and weren’t able to convert any offense in front of Alex Lyon and, coupled with having to kill penalties seemingly every five minutes, lost the game.
Lazy legging lines again because the common theme on this blog is that I do not like games where I have to get up the next morning for my real job. So here they are…
Tristan Jarry started and was opposed by Alex Lyon and was backed up by Casey DeSmith.
Lineup Notes: Derrick Pouliot was sent down from Pittsburgh earlier in the day as the Penguins recalled Tom Sestito and Cameron Gaunce for insurance on their Western Canada trip. Patrick McGrath took warmups but was scratched. Thomas DiPauli was back in the lineup after being a precautionary scratch Sunday in Hartford. Christian Hilbrich was recalled from Wheeling Tuesday and was in the lineup on the fourth line.
First Period: Lehigh Valley jumped all over the Penguins and used that hot start to jump out to a 1-0 lead when Ryan Haggerty wasn’t able to clear the zone and Chris McCarthy scored his first of the season to give the Phantoms a 1-0 lead.
Pens seemed to settle after that. They played the period better shorthanded where they found themselves twice, and didn’t allow the Phantoms a shot on goal. Shots after one were 11-8 Wilkes-Barre.
Second Period: No scoring this period. Kevin Porter was stopped for the second time in the game on a breakaway. Wilkes-Barre continued to find themselves in penalty trouble but were able to manage to get away unscathed. Wilkes-Barre finally got a power play but weren’t able to score.
Third Period: Penguins were still desperately searching for a goal and staying in lockstep with the Phantoms on the shot board but it was Colin McDonald shooting one past Jarry at 12:02 through a screen that doubled Lehigh Valley’s lead and seemingly was the death knell for the Penguins chances in the game.
For good measure, Mark Zengerle poked one in far post in a scramble in front of Jarry that made it 3-0. Colin McDonald put the shot on net and Zengerle corralled the rebound and pushed it in.
Three Stars: Colin McDonald (goal, assist, +1) 2) Chris McCarthy (goal, +1) 1) Alex Lyon (31 save shutout, his fourth)
Last Game: Sunday in Hartford, the Pens won 6-3. J-S Dea and David Warsofsky both had two goals and an assist. For Lehigh Valley, the Phantoms were in Providence and lost 7-3. The Phantoms got passed for second in the division by the Bruins as a result of that loss at the time.
Last Meeting: February 25 in Allentown, the Penguins won 3-2 in overtime on a Barry Goers goal, his first since 2015. It also broke a four game losing streak for Wilkes-Barre.
Record: For WBS: 39-16-3-0 (81 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For LV: 36-18-3-0 (75 pts., 2nd place Atlantic Division)
Why you should care: Get ready for a lot of the Phantoms, who the Penguins play three more times this month and three more times in April. Will the division championship come down to these two teams?
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
–
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
–
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
–
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…
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 