Last Game: Last night in Utica, the Pens won 3-2. Derrick Pouliot’s third period goal held up as the game winner for the Penguins. Casey DeSmith stopped 27 of 29 to pick up the win. For Binghamton, the Senators lost last night to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 2-1. Jason Akeson scored the lone goal for the B-Sens in the loss.
Last Meeting: January 7 in Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins won 5-4. Danny Kristo had a pair of goals and Doug Carr picked up the win in net stopping 33 of 37 shots. Jake Guentzel had three assists.
Record: For WBS: 32-9-3-0 (67 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For BNG: 18-21-2-1 (39 pts., 6th place North Division)
Why you should care: Penguins are going to head into the All-Star break as the best team in the AHL. But, the Binghamton Senators are still going to try to take down the Penguins tonight at home in the two teams last ever meeting tonight on the Southern Tier. Ottawa is shipping its AHL operations to Belleville, Ontario next season.
Other Game to Watch: Lehigh Valley travels to Bridgeport to take on a Sound Tigers team that is hot and back in the playoff discussion in the Atlantic Division.
Next Five Games: STJ 2/3, LV 2/4, STJ 2/8, HER 2/10, BNG 2/11
Comments Off on Breaking the Eyes — Pens WIN 3-2
Posted by nafsnep on January 27, 2017
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Let me explain this lede here in the opening paragraph: The Penguins scored all three of their goals tonight from long distance and used most of their shots tonight from around the face-off dot back at Comets starting goaltender Richard Bachman. You will see that in the GIFs that the Penguins were nice enough to post on Twitter.
A 3-2 Penguins win tonight against an all of a sudden good Utica side that had come into tonight’s game on a long point streak and 8-1-1-0 in their last ten games.
Wilkes-Barre improves to 11-2 in the month of January and 32-9-3-0 overall.
Casey DeSmith opposed the aforementioned Richard Bachman.
Lines were…
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
Casey DeSmith – Tristan Jarry
Lineup Notes: Carter Rowney was re-assigned to the Penguins minutes before the teams took warmups in Utica. Also, as Seth reported yesterday, Tim Erixon was back in the lineup. Steve Oleksy, having cleared waivers Thursday, was listed as a healthy scratch.
First Period: Utica stayed step for step with the Penguins for the most part in the period but it was Wilkes-Barre that found the back of the net twice. Josh Archibald on this slapshot…
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 28, 2017
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The Penguins hemmed Utica in their zone for over a minute forcing the gassed Comets to ice the puck. Off the face off, Tom Sestito, the local native of nearby Rome, NY, makes a behind the back pass to Erixon who buried it from long range.
Second assist of the night for Kevin Porter who is heating up.
Second Period: About a minute in, Casey DeSmith made this save that kept it a 2-0 Penguins lead…
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 28, 2017
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That was Alex Grenier the unlucky man there unable to finish a Utica 2-on-1.
That was it from the highlight end of the period. Utica heavily dominated the period but trailed on the scoreboard. It was the Penguins defense and some nice saves by Casey DeSmith that preserved the Penguins 2-0 lead.
Game really opened up in the last minute and a half with Tim Erixon hitting a post followed up by Danny Kristo.
Third Period: :07 into a Utica power play with Stuart Percy in the box for a delay of game, Alex Grenier exacts his revenge on that save DeSmith made on him in the second period with a blast from the point that put the Comets on the board via a power play goal.
Utica came into tonight 2 for their last 38 on the power play.
Derrick Pouliot scored to re-establish the two goal lead as a power play expired for Wilkes-Barre…
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 28, 2017
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Utica had been building a crescendo towards a goal in the games final minutes but Casey DeSmith made a nice glove save that stopped any momentum that the Comets were building.
Bachman was pulled for an extra attacker and Evan McEneny scored to bring the Comets to within one.
Wilkes-Barre would ice the puck seven times an ran the clock out.
Around the Division: Lehigh Valley clips Binghamton on the Southern Tier by a 2-1 score to stay within arms distance of the Penguins for the top spot in the Atlantic….Providence takes down Hershey 3-2 in a shootout….Bridgeport wins its sixth straight, beating Hartford in a shootout 3-2, and is now even with points and regulation or overtime wins with Hershey and has two games in hand on the Bears for the fourth spot in the Atlantic….Syracuse deflects as late Springfield charge and hangs on to beat the Thunderbirds 4-3.
Wheeling Update: The Nailers beat the Quad City Mallards tonight by a score of 5-2. Cody Wydo scored a pair of goals and Sean Maguire picked up the win in net for Wheeling.
Video highlights….
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The Pens will bus down I-81 to Binghamton for Saturday’s meeting with the Senators on the Southern Tier Saturday at 7. Gameday setup hits the blog Saturday at 3.
Last Game: Wednesday at home against the Syracuse Crunch, the Penguins won 3-2 in overtime on David Warsofsky’s shot with 1.2 left in overtime. For Utica, the Comets lost in overtime to the Springfield Thunderbirds 2-1. Pascal Pelletier scored for Utica and Richard Bachman stopped 22 of 24 shots.
Record: For WBS: 31-9-3-0 (65 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For UTI: 18-16-6-1 (43 pts., 4th place North Division)
Why you should care: Utica is 8-1-1-0 in their last ten games and have for all intents and purposes turned things around and gotten back into the playoff discussion in the North Division. This is not a team that the Penguins want to take lightly in an environment which sells out every night.
Comments Off on Thursday Notes 1/26
Posted by nafsnep on January 26, 2017
Some roster moves made today.
Defenseman Steve Oleksy cleared waivers Thursday afternoon and his clearing paved the way to Carter Rowney’s recall from Wilkes-Barre to Pittsburgh. Rowney’s first NHL recall. To be determined is whether or not Rowney will actually dress when the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Boston Bruins tonight in Boston. Patric Hornqvist participated in the morning skate at TD Garden this morning and looked none the worse for wear. He’s listed as a game time decision.
If I were coaching the team instead of just blogging about it, I would let Hornqvist sit and dress Rowney. What is the point of holding Rowney out of Wednesday’s game against Syracuse, recalling him Thursday just to sit him and only send him back to Wilkes-Barre once the Penguins go on the all-star break? Let Hornqvist rest his leg and get closer to 100% and give Rowney a shot.
Jonathan had some interesting ideas based off of what can happen if Hornqvist can or can not go that you can read about here. He also had some quotes that Seth got from Tom Kostopoulos and Clark Donatelli on Rowney’s first call-up that are worth checking out as well.
Steve Oleksy is back in the AHL after spending the better part of the last two and a half months in the NHL. Oleksy’s last game with Wilkes-Barre was November 6 against the Providence Bruins.
Brett Stern remains up with the Penguins for now. My guess here is that he will likely be sent down to Wheeling by the weekend. They are probably keeping him up to insure that Erixon is indeed totally fine to go Friday in Utica.
I think that about covers it. Any other roster moves made will be addressed in the postgame recap of the Penguins trip to Utica Friday night. Look for the Gameday setup Friday at 3.
Comments Off on Dave’s Overtime Show — Pens WIN 3-2 (OT)
Posted by nafsnep on January 25, 2017
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One of the more exciting games I have witnessed from my seat at the Mohegan Sun Arena tonight. Two top quality teams just left it all out there and slugged away at one another.
Penguins win in overtime 3-2 on a David Warsofsky game winning goal with 1.2 seconds left. Vindication for Warsofsky who was left off of the initial all star roster when they were announced a few weeks ago but named as a replacement earlier this week.
Lazy legging lines again because I hate work night home games.
Tristan Jarry opposed Kristers Gudlevskis and was backed up by Casey DeSmith.
If you notice a certain name missing, it’s Carter Rowney’s. With news out of Pittsburgh today that Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist are both out for Thursday’s game against Boston, Malkin out till after all-stars and Hornqvist day to day after taking a puck off the knee Tuesday against St. Louis (a game he finished) Rowney was held out as a precaution in case he needs to be recalled Thursday. Of note, Pittsburgh only re-assigned Cameron Gaunce Tuesday and put Steve Oleksy on waivers Wednesday.
Other news, as mentioned in the lede, David Warsofsky is a snub no more. On Tuesday the AHL announced that he will replace Jake Guentzel at AHL All-Stars this weekend in Allentown.
First Period: Syracuse played like the better team and made the most of their shot opportunities, out shooting the Pens 17-8 and taking a 1-0 lead when Joel Vermin connected on a far dot shot after the Crunch cycled in the offensive zone coming out of a promo timeout. Neither team connected on the power play in the period.
Second Period: Pens scored twice in span of 2:15 when they came out of the locker room and started skating circles around the Crunch. First, Teddy Blueger got an outlet pass, entered the zone and waited for reinforcements. Tom Kostopoulos arrived and Blueger shot it at Gudlevskis and Kostopoulos was there to sweep the rebound in to tie it at one.
GOAL GIF: Here's a look at TK's tally. Another awesome effort from the captain. pic.twitter.com/6oFYWa2AaK
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 26, 2017
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Later, Crunch killer Kevin Porter collected a long pass from David Warsofsky and found himself behind the defense and scored to give the Pens a 2-1 lead.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) January 26, 2017
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But it felt like a false lead with the way the last period went for the Penguins and the way that the Crunch dominated the Penguins while shorthanded. Wilkes-Barre iced the puck twice on two separate power plays.
Tristan Jarry is unable to control a rebound and the Crunch tie it at two when Adam Comrie whacked in the loose puck.
Third Period: Back and forth period which felt like a playoff game with the intense play. Pens found themselves on the wrong end of a two man disadvantage for :47 but the Penguins killed it. Teams raced up and down the ice with neither team finding the back of the net forcing…
Overtime: Back and forth they went three on three. Pens get away with what looked like, at least to me, a tripping penalty. David Warsofsky races in with time dwindling down and wins it:
Wheeling Update: The Nailers hosted the Toledo Walleye tonight and beat the Walleye 7-6 in overtime. First overtime loss for the Walleye this season. Christian Hilbrich had two goals. Gage Quinney had a goal and three assists.
Video highlights….
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Pens are on the road in Utica Friday. Comets came into tonight winners of 6 in a row and are a vastly different team than they were a month ago, when they were just a point machine for opponents. But for breaking Thursday news, I’ll have the Gameday setup for the tilt with the Comets up on the blog Friday at 3.
Last Game: Saturday at home against Hershey, the Pens won 5-1. Ryan Haggerty scored two goals. For Syracuse, the Crunch were shutout at home by the Utica Comets 4-0.
Last Meeting: January 16 in Syracuse, the Crunch won 4-1. Carter Rowney scored for the Penguins, Adam Wilcox stopped 31 shots for the Crunch in goal.
Record: For WBS: 30-9-3-0 (63 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For SYR: 20-12-3-5 (48 pts., 1st place North Division)
Why you should care: Penguins host the North Division leading Crunch in a midweek affair. Call this a trap game for the Penguins here. It’s a sleepy midweek January home game against an opponent who is coming off getting shutout by its biggest rival.
Promotion(s): PA Lottery Giveaway (fans 18 and older)
Other Game to Watch: The Binghamton Senators are slowly edging their way towards playoff contention and travel tonight to Allentown to take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Next Five Games: @ UTI 1/27, @ BNG 1/28, STJ 2/3, LV 2/4, vs. STJ 2/8
Comments Off on Wheeling Wrap 1/24
Posted by nafsnep on January 24, 2017
Noon Tuesday means that it’s time to look at how the Wheeling Nailers did against the competition in the ECHL this past week.
It was a positive week or the Nailers, as they collect two wins this week.
They started Friday in Norfolk taking on an Admirals team which was undefeated in 2017. They beat the Admirals soundly by a score of 9-2. Sean Maguire stopped 25 of 27 to pick up the win and improve to 7-5-1. The Nailers were up 1-0 at the end of the first then scored four goals in the second. Norfolk would come back and score two, but the Nailers would score four more in the third to win handily. Gage Quinney scored a goal and assisted on three others to earn first star honors. Only three Nailers skaters did not pick up a point in this one sided affair.
The Nailers then bussed north to Reading for a date with the Nailers. The only offense they needed was off the stick of Cody Wydo who scored two goals. Nick Sorkin assisted on each of them. Recently assigned Michael Webster also had an assist then was recalled back to Wilkes-Barre after the game. Doug Carr stopped 34 of 35. The Nailers won 2-1.
The Nailers have a 20-14-3-0 record good for 43 points and fourth place in the North Division.
This week, the Nailers close out the month of January with four games, three at home. The Nailers welcome the Toledo Walleye on Wednesday, the Quad City Mallard and Brampton Beats Friday and Saturday before closing out the month with a trip to Kalamazoo on Sunday.
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WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 