vs.          

2                                              4

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Couple things out of the gate about this five game winning streak that the best team in the American Hockey League is on right now…

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So is it a question of this Penguins team being a good team or a hard to play against team? I think the answer is in both the questions. Teams that are good are hard to play against. Teams that are hard to play against are usually good.

A 4-2 Penguins win and a long overdue one against a Springfield Thunderbirds team that is a lot better than their record and place in the Atlantic Division would indicate. Springfield would probably be a playoff team anywhere else in the AHL, just not the Atlantic Division which is full of great teams.

Tristan Jarry opposed Mike McKenna

Lines were…

Dominik Simon – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Jake Guentzel – Teddy Blueger – Danny Kristo
Garrett Wilson – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Tom Sestito – J-S Dea – Reid Gardiner

Cameron Gaunce – Stuart Percy
David Warsofsky – Lukas Bengtsson
Tim Erixon – Barry Goers

Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith

Lineup Notes: Chad Ruhwedel was recalled to Pittsburgh earlier in the day with the injury to Trevor Daley. Pittsburgh chose Ruhwedel over someone like Warsofsky because Ruhwedel is right handed. Other notes included Gardiner for Ryan Haggerty on the fourth line, Blueger up centering Guentzel and Kristo. Tim Erixon was in for the recalled Ruhwedel and Barry Goers appeared in place of Ethan Prow.

First Period: Very even period in every facet really, with no scoring and the Penguins leading in shots 13-10. Springfield plays such a similar style to the Penguins in terms of blocking shots and getting tremendous goaltending from Mike McKenna. McKenna is going into the AHL Hall of Fame someday and would win a ton of games with the right team in front of him.

Second Period: What I said earlier about the teams being so similar happened in the following sequences.

A shot from the point by Springfield was initially stopped by Jarry but went in the net behind him off of Danny Kristo’s skate. An own goal by the Penguins that gave the Thunderbirds the lead.

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About five minutes later, on the power play, Springfield would put a goal in their own net as well when David Warsofsky would get credit of a puck that would go in off of Ian McCoshen that would set off the annual teddy bear toss.

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Score sheet says David Warsofsky got credit.

More similarities. Both teams got breakaways on the same shift but were stopped by the puck stoppers.

Penguins edge ahead for good on an Oskar Sundqvist goal. Tim Erixon put the puck on net and Sundqvist was there to push it across.

For good measure, the Penguins got another power play goal in the period when Sundqvist skated in close, threw a puck off the pads of McKenna in an impromptu set play where it leaves the puck wide open to Garrett Wilson to put across the line to open the Penguins lead to 3-1.

Third Period: Thinking to myself, “Jake Guentzel hasn’t scored yet” as Guentzel races by me at center ice, and scores to make it 4-1.

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That is an NHL caliber type play from a player who belongs in the NHL.

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Springfield would get one back late when Jarry stopped the initial three attempts flopping all over the crease but couldn’t stop the fourth one. With McKenna vacated for the extra man, Springfield would get no closer and the Penguins would hold on for their fifth straight win.

Three Stars: 3) Garrett Wilson (goal, +1) 2) David Warsofsky (goal, assist, +1) and 1) Oskar Sundqvist (goal, assist, +1)

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley cuts down the Providence Bruins 13 game point streak and is the first AHL team to 20 wins with a 7-1 blowout win over the Bruins. Syracuse beats Bridgeport in Central New York in a game that included a goalie fight 5-3…Hartford has won two games in a row since their loss Wednesday against the Penguins and beat Hershey 5-4.

Standings: Penguins (.759 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.732) — Hershey (.667) — Providence (.611) — Bridgeport (.593) — Springfield (.519) — Hartford (.407)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were unable to complete the comeback like last night against the Fort Wayne Komets again tonight in Indiana and lost 4-3. Garrett Meurs and Cody Wydo scored goals for Wheeling.

Video highlights…

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Content wise for the blog this week, I will have the Week 10 AHL Power Rankings here on Monday at 4. With there not being a ton of games next week with a lot of teams off now till after Christmas, Penguins included, I have decided to combine Weeks 11 and 12 so the next time you will see the AHL Power Rankings after Monday will be January 2. Also the Wheeling Wrap will be here Tuesday at noon.

Let’s Go Pens!

          vs.          

1                                                  4

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Methodical win by the Penguins tonight, who defeat the Rochester Americans 4-1 tonight.

I asked my pal John on the concourse tonight during the first intermission of a 1-0 Penguins lead at the time and he offered that the Americans were running with the Penguins step for step. There were 25 shots total in the period (13-12 Penguins) and Wilkes-Barre led 1-0 off of a guffaw turnover by Rochester right to the wrong man in Jake Guenztel who buried it past starting Americans goaltender John Muse to give the Penguins a lead they would never relinquish.

Wilkes-Barre would avalanche the visitors in the second period and led 3-0 and were outshooting the Americans 13-3 at one point.

A good team crushed a bad team tonight. Wilkes-Barre never let off the gas pedal tonight in a game when you looked at the records and statistics coming in you had that shadow of a doubt that they could have. Starting goaltender Casey DeSmith lost his shutout with 1:22 left to play. DeSmith improved to 7-0-2 and Wilkes-Barre won their fourth straight game.

About DeSmith, and this headline (compliments of Kaitlyn from Twitter) – DeSmith didn’t face a ton of shots tonight, but when he did they came in a flurry and shut down Rochester. DeSmith has not allowed opponents to one goal in five of his last nine starts.

Lines were…

Dominik Simon – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Jake Guentzel – J-S Dea – Danny Kristo
Garrett Wilson – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Tom Sestito – Teddy Blueger – Ryan Haggerty

Stuart Percy – Chad Ruhwedel
David Warsofsky – Lukas Bengtsson
Cameron Gaunce – Ethan Prow

Casey DeSmith – Tristan Jarry

Lineup Notes: Derrick Pouliot was recalled to Pittsburgh on Thursday with the injury to Kris Letang. Only lineup change that affected Wilkes-Barre was Ethan Prow taking Pouliot’s spot.

First Period: Penguins started strong. Garrett Wilson rung a post. Pens were really knocking on the door. Shorthanded, Ryan Haggerty was denied twice and Oskar Sundqvist was denied on the followup rebound by John Muse. Rochester then couldn’t score on a small flurry in front of DeSmith in what was going to be a precursor of things to come.

Jake Guentzel stole a Rochester outlet pass and made it 1-0 Penguins…

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High octane first period for both teams with the Penguins leading the Americans in shots 13-12 heading into the…

Second Period: David Warsofsky scored through bodies that doubled the Penguins lead…

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Josh Archibald scored on a power move that made it 3-0 Wilkes-Barre just past halfway through.

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As mentioned in the lede, Wilkes-Barre was leading Rochester 13-3 in the second period and completely smothering the Americans.

Then Rochester all of a sudden found themselves with a 5-on-3 power play for 1:22.

Enter Casey DeSmith.

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If you don’t have a Twitter account and are wondering what the attribution is from the Penguins to me is in this tweet, it’s because they initially credited this save to Tristan Jarry.

Another look. Still photo.

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If you are looking for a turning point in the game, you found it here with the saves by DeSmith. If Rochester makes it a 3-1 or even 3-2 game in the power play, who knows what the third period brings.

Third Period: Penguins didn’t GIF this one, but Lukas Bengtsson scored his first North American goal with a sweet dangle on John Muse and backhanded it past Muse to give the Penguins a 4-0 lead.

Coal Street highlight package will have it.

You would think that the Penguins, up big on home ice in the third period, would let off.

Nope.

Rochester didn’t get in their own zone for a while. Penguins were still sniffing for their fifth goal.

But it was Norfolk Admirals Legend Kyle Bonis* that would break up Casey DeSmith’s shutout bid with 1:22 left in regulation.

Three Stars: 3) Casey DeSmith (26 saves on 27 shots) 2) Jake Guentzel (goal, assist, +2) and 1) David Warsofsky (goal, assist, +4)

Notes: Third straight game where a Penguin scored his first goal of the year. (Percy, Gaunce, now Bengtsson) … Jake Guentzel had his fourth one goal, one assist performance in five games since returning from assignment from Pittsburgh…David Warsofsky has 11 points (2-9-11) in his last nine games…10 different players scored the last 10 goals for the Penguins. That is depth.

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley beats Hershey 3-2 in a shootout. There aren’t shootouts in playoffs, just saying….Providence does nothing until 4:38 left in their game with Bridgeport. Down 2-0, the Bruins explode for three unanswered goals and run their point streak to 13 games with a 3-2 win. Frank Vatrano (down on I hope is a conditioning stint) scored a goal, which is 37 straight games where Vatrano has scored a goal. Thirty. Seven. Straight. Games. If he sticks around, the Pennsylvania teams are in trouble….Springfield beats Binghamton 3-1 and Hartford picks up a 2-1 shootout win over the Syracuse Crunch.

Standings: Penguins (.750 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.712) — Hershey (.692) — Providence (.635) — Bridgeport (.615) — Springfield (.540) — Hartford (.385)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers storm back from down 4-0 to stun Fort Wayne 6-5. Adam Krause netted a hat trick.

Video highlights…

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Gameday setup for tomorrow’s game vs. Springfield will be up on the blog Saturday at 3.

* – source

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2                                              6

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Here’s where I think that the game was decided tonight in favor of the Penguins and sort of shut down the Hartford Wolf Pack’s attempts at giving the Penguins a run.

Second period of a 1-0 Penguins lead Niklas Jensen, fresh off NHL re-assignment, scored to make it a tie game at 1-1. Hartford had been building a crescendo all period to bring it level and finally did.

Ensuing face-off at center ice, :16 later, Wilkes-Barre regains the lead. Lukas Bengtsson puts a shot on starting Hartford goaltender Magnus Hellberg, rebound spills to Kevin Porter who cashes on the rebound and the Penguins are back out in front 2-1 and never look back.

6-2 the final tonight and the Penguins cruise over a bad luck Hartford side. Dominik Simon had four assists. For someone who had been slow to get out of the gate to start the year, Simon has 1-9-10 in his last eight games. He’s shaking off his sophomore slump in a big, big way.

I was out celebrating the ninth anniversary of my 29th birthday tonight, so I only got to watch the third period in front of the computer. So I am going to piecemeal this recap the best I can.

Lines were…

Dominik Simon – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Jake Guentzel – J-S Dea – Danny Kristo
Garrett Wilson – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Tom Sestito – Teddy Blueger – Ryan Haggerty

Derrick Pouliot – Chad Ruhwedel
David Warsofsky – Stuart Percy
Cameron Gaunce – Lukas Bengtsson

Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith

Lineup Notes: Ryan Haggerty for Reid Gardiner was the only lineup change from Sunday in Bridgeport.

Garrett Wilson scored in the first period off of a Hartford turnover. He followed his shot and roofed his own rebound into the net behind Hellberg.

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In the second, Hartford was building towards a goal and got one by way of Niclas Jensen. Tie game. :16 later the Penguins respond…

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Kevin Porter on a rebound of a Lukas Bengtsson shot that made it 2-1 Penguins and as I mentioned in the lede, where Wilkes-Barre really sucked the life out of the Wolf Pack.

Wilkes-Barre extends the lead to 3-1 on Cameron Gaunce’s first in a Penguin sweater with :29 seconds to play in the period…

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Most excellent feed from Kevin Porter to Gaunce who found a lane and cashed. Dominik Simon won a board battle that set the whole thing up to start.

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In the third, the Pens made it 5-1 before Hartford responded to make it 5-2. Tom Sestito then scored on a power play late that brought the score to its final at 6-2.

No really, Tom Sestito scored a goal. On the power play. He also set up this Ryan Haggerty goal to make it 4-1 Penguins…

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Sestito played in a milestone AHL game, his 300th, tonight.

If Hartford had any thoughts of coming back in this game, giving the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins three straight power plays wasn’t the best game plan.

Pens didn’t cash on the first one, but they are up 4-1 cruising in a weekday game.

OK, so you’re giving us a second one? We will score on that one. Tom Kostopoulos, ladies and germs…

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If you are thinking that the Penguins have been scoring a lot of power plays recently you are not wrong, that’s seven straight games where the Penguins have scored at least one power play after going cold and not scoring a single power play in almost 30 attempts.

Late, Tom Sestito scored with one second left in a power play that turned this one into a laugher. 6-2 Penguins, what a pass by Teddy Blueger here…

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Sestito was a fight away from a Gordie Howe with an assist and a goal. When you are getting these types of results from these types of players, you know that no matter what you step in, you know it’s going to turn up gold.

Three Stars: 3) Tom Kostopoulos (power play goal, +2) 2) Dominik Simon (four assists, +2) and 1) Kevin Porter (goal, assist, +2)

Jake Guentzel registered four shots and was a -1. He did not record a point tonight.

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley sees a 5-1 lead evaporate in 7:40. Bridgeport ties it at 5-5, but Lehigh Valley ultimately wins 8-6. This is the number one reason why you can’t trust the Phantoms. All-Star defense, lets four goals past in 7:40? Calder Cup winning teams don’t allow this. I can’t take this team seriously, sorry. Everyone else in the division was off.

Standings: Penguins (.740 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.700) — Hershey (.700) — Bridgeport (.667) — Providence (.620) — Springfield (.521) — Hartford (.360)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were defeated at home by the Orlando Solar Bears 5-2. Sean Maguire stopped 25 of 30 and was pulled after the fifth Solar Bears goal. Doug Carr stopped all 8 shots he faced. Christian Hilbrich and Cody Wydo scored for the Nailers. Orlando struck twice on the power play.

Video highlights…

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Pens are back in action Friday at home against Rochester. But for anything newsworthy Thursday, next blog update comes at 3 p.m. Friday for the Gameday setup against the Americans.

Let’s Go Pens!