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
vs.
2 3
–
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
–
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
–
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….
–
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.
Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings: Week 15
Posted by nafsnep on January 23, 2017
There is a new number one this week but last weeks number one isn’t too far behind.
The Grand Rapids Griffins take over the top spot in the Week 15 AHL Power Rankings. It would have been the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins by default but the Griffins had a slightly better week than the Penguins did and since these are really a week to week thing, Grand Rapids gets the nod over the Penguins.
A lot of shake up this week with teams going up and down so click through the jump if you didn’t link in direct.
Comments Off on Haggerty Takes Two — Pens WIN 5-1
Posted by nafsnep on January 21, 2017
vs.
1 5
–
This was a dominating win by the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.
To date, the Penguins are 7-2 against the Bears and 4-0 this month. A 5-1 win tonight keeps that rolling in the right direction.
Systems wise, the Bears are a mess. They are missing their best defenseman Madison Bowey because of injury and have no depth at the position. They have two goaltenders in Joe Cannata and Vitek Vanecek who would be better served in backup roles right now than trying to be the number one dog.
None of this matters to the Penguins who, despite personnel losses at forward and defense, keep racking up wins. They are the first AHL team to 10, 20 and now 30 wins this season.
Casey DeSmith opposed Vitek Vanecek
Lines were…
Garrett Wilson – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Dominik Simon – J-S Dea – Josh Archibald
Tom Sestito – Kevin Porter – Danny Kristo
Ryan Haggerty – Teddy Blueger – Patrick McGrath
Derrick Pouliot – Barry Goers
Stuart Percy – David Warsofsky
Brett Stern – Ethan Prow
Casey DeSmith – Tristan Jarry
Lineup Notes: Oskar Sundqvist is day to day with an upper body injury as told to the WBS media by Head Coach Clark Donatelli after the game tonight…Sahir Gill is the only healthy scratch the Penguins have right now as Lukas Bengtsson is still out with Lyme Disease, Thomas DiPauli is still recovering from back surgery and Tim Erixon with his concussion upper body injury and now Sundqvist. The Penguins sent Michael Webster to Wheeling today. He actually really went to Reading because that’s where the Nailers were tonight.
Before we get ripping on the post game recap, many thanks to the fellows at Chocolate Hockey for the GIFs tonight.
First Period: Carter Rowney cashes on a power play goal late in the period on a Tom Sestito shot from the near dot that gave the Penguins the lead in the first. It was the first time in seven games that the Penguins would score first…
Sestito to Rowney right in front on the power play gives Wilkes-Barre a 1-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/6NK44VIfx0
Second Period: Two goals by the Penguins 90 seconds apart by J-S Dea chipping a puck in and Ryan Haggerty scoring his first of two tonight on a nice feed by Teddy Blueger gave the Penguins a 3-0 lead quicker than the Bears knew what hit them…
Hershey called time out after the Haggerty goal but it didn’t matter, the Bears take two penalties sandwiched between a Garrett Wilson pummeling of Liam O’Brien. When are teams in the league going to learn not to throw with Wilson? He tagged the well traveled pugilist in O’Brien several times and won the fight easily. Big marks to O’Brien for not crumbling as some of the shots by Wilson were heavy and on target.
Ryan Haggerty scored his second to make it 4-0 Penguins. This goal ended Vanecek’s night. Enter Joe Cannata.
Wilkes-Barre scores again. Vanecek pulled. Four goals on 15 shots for the Penguins pic.twitter.com/zkNEcuOTwR
Bears took another penalty. They were down to start the period, needed to make a push on the road in front of a packed house, and only fired a meek 5 shots at DeSmith in the period and only had two through the first 12:28 of the period. It was all one way traffic by the Penguins.
Third Period: Zach Sanford pounded in a rebound that broke up DeSmith’s shutout and put the Bears on the board…
Before you started to think of a Bears comeback, Tom Kostopoulos scores this goal, mid-air and parallel to the ice, puts home a rebound to re-establish the Penguins four goal lead…
Josh Archibald takes three penalties in the game but the Penguins go 4/4 on the penalty kill and hang on to win 5-1.
Three Stars: 3) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, assist, even) 2) J-S Dea (goal, assist, +2) and 1) Ryan Haggerty (two goals, +2)
Around the Division: Can we please pump the brakes on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms being a Calder Cup threat? The Providence Bruins, probably the best team in the Atlantic Division, throttle the Phantoms in Allentown by a score of 9-1. No, really, nine to one. The Phantoms have a full compliment of players and aren’t missing anyone due to injury / recall. Calder Cup contending teams don’t get obliterated like this. I am not saying by any means that this final score by default makes the Penguins a favorite by the way.
Wheeling Update: Nailers beat Reading 2-1 in Reading tonight. Cody Wydo had a pair of goals. Doug Carr had 34 saves on 35 stops.
Video highlights….
–
The Week 15 AHL Power Rankings hit the blog Monday at 4, the Wheeling Wrap goes up Tuesday at noon. Lehigh Valley and Hershey play Sunday afternoon in Hershey. You want a Bears win if you are a Penguins fan. I may watch that game on AHL Live Sunday.
vs. 
vs. 
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 