Last Game: Sunday in Bridgeport, the Pens won 4-1. Teddy Blueger scored his first professional goal, Stuart Percy scored his first as a Penguin and Tristan Jarry stopped 26 of 27 shots. For Hartford, the Wolf Pack were in Providence Sunday and defeated by the Bruins in a shootout, 2-1. Matt Carey scored the only goal for the Wolf Pack in regulation and Magnus Hellburg turned aside 40 of 41 shots.
Last Meeting: Sunday, November 13 in Hartford, the Pens won 4-1. The Penguins used two first period power play goals, limited Hartford to just 23 shots and took 40 of their own on a tail end of a three in three weekend.
Record: For WBS: 16-5-3-0 (35 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For HFD: 7-13-3-1 (18 pts., 7th place Atlantic Division)
Why you should care: Penguins face a midweek trap game with Hartford. The Wolf Pack have been up and down of recent. Wilkes-Barre will need a strong start in order to get the win tonight because if you leave Hartford hanging, they may just snap up and get you.
Comments Off on Wheeling Wrap 12/13
Posted by nafsnep on December 13, 2016
It’s another Tuesday and time for the weekly Wheeling Wrap, where we look back at the goings on with the ECHL affiliate, the Wheeling Nailers.
This one is going to be quick this week, because the Nailers were in Canada this week and were handed a 4-2 defeat by the Brampton Beats twice.
On Friday, the Nailers penalty kill unit allowed two power play goals to the Beast. Miloš Bubela’s first goal of the season tied the game in the third period :17 in, but the Beast scored the second of their power plays to edge ahead of the Nailers about halfway through the period. The Beast hit an empty net with Doug Carr pulled. Carr stopped 21 of 24 shots.
Sunday, Sean Maguire made his season debut for the Nailers in goal. It was Sean Maguire’s first look at live fire this season after recovering from an injury that paused his start of play this season. The Nailers couldn’t hold onto a 2-0 lead on the Beast and see Brampton score four unanswered goals. The Beast connected again on two power plays. Derek Army, fresh from his AHL call-up from Milwaukee, scored a power play goal. Maguire stopped 28 of 32 and from what I was following on Twitter Sunday afternoon, some of them were really highlight reel worthy.
The Nailers currently sit fourth in the North Division with just 24 points good for a 11-8-2-0 record.
The Nailers week ahead looks like this. They host the Orlando Solar Bears Wednesday then play a home and home with the Fort Wayne Komets Friday and Saturday beginning Friday in West Virginia.
Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings: Week 9
Posted by nafsnep on December 12, 2016
We are here in Week 9 in the AHL Power Rankings and there is not an Atlantic Division team in the number one slot this week.
The first Atlantic Division team featured in the rankings isn’t even a playoff team.
Wait, what?
The Stockton Heat have consistently been a good team and one that is been at the top of the Pacific Division all season. So have the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins you say, but they aren’t the number two team.
That team is the Providence Bruins, a team on an absolute tear, with points in 12 straight games. With how top heavy the Atlantic is, it’s Providence that has maintained the most consistent of the top four teams in the Atlantic, so that is why they are number two this week.
Jump through to see it all laid out with the logos of the teams instead of me explaining it to you in the long form version.
Comments Off on Catch a Tiger by His Tail — Pens WIN 4-1
Posted by nafsnep on December 11, 2016
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Here’s something to consider.
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers are 16-8 this season and a damn good hockey team.
Four of those eight losses have come against the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.
What does that make the Penguins?
The best team in the AHL right now based off of percentage points. There are a lot off good teams in this league. Four of them are at the top of the Atlantic Division alone. Milwaukee is good. Stockton is a surprise, lots of good teams.
For the Penguins organization, who is as healthy as ever, the hope is that this run keeps on keeping on.
Dominik Simon – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Garrett Wilson – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Jake Guentzel – J-S Dea – Danny Kristo
Tom Sestito – Teddy Blueger – Reid Gardiner
Derrick Pouliot – Chad Ruhwedel
David Warsofsky – Stuart Percy
Cameron Gaunce – Lukas Bengtsson
Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith
Lineup Notes: Fourth line switch up again for Clark Donatelli’s crew as the line of Sestito-Blueger-Gardiner played Friday against Hershey and replaced Patrick McGrath, Jarrett Burton and Ryan Haggerty from last night’s win against the Bears. On defense, Lukas Bengtsson drew in for Ethan Prow. Josh Archibald left Saturday’s game with what appeared at the time to be a bad knee injury, but he actually was on the ice for warmups in Bridgeport and played.
First Period: Despite outshooting the Sound Tigers by a two to one margin (10-5) the Penguins trailed 1-0 off of a Kane Lafranchise goal with Josh Holmstrom screwing in front. J-S Dea left the game in the first period when a puck deflected by Ryan Pulock deflected up high and caught him in the mouth. Dea left the ice to the locker room for a repairs.
Reid Gardiner was robbed by this nice save by Stephon Williams…
Williams was dialed in, also stopping Jake Guentzel when the Penguins rookie weaved past all five Sound Tigers skaters but was denied by the Bridgeport netminder.
Second Period: Teddy Blueger collected his first professional goal with this deflection of a Jake Guentzel shot…
Third Period: Its as all about either preserving or extending the lead for the Penguins because with Bridgeport being rested having not played Friday, it could have been a different result had the Sound Tigers tied the game.
It didn’t happen.
Stuart Percy collected his first goal as a Penguin when his shot went off of Travis St. Denis stick and past Williams that made it 3-1 Wilkes-Barre.
Then Jake Guentzel just walked the dog on Williams and scored his goal of the game that made it 4-1 Wilkes-Barre.
No scoring the rest of the way as the Penguins were trying to preserve the lead and the Sound Tigers were shuffling line combinations to kickstart anything in their favor.
Three Stars: 3) Tristan Jarry (26 saves on 27 shots) 2) Jake Guentzel (goal, assist, +2) and 1) David Warsofsky (goal, two assists, +1)
Around the Division: Hershey pounds Rochester 6-1 and Providence keeps their point streak running to 12 with a 2-1 shootout win at home against Hartford. Springfield is flying back from Newfoundland and Lehigh Valley was off.
Last Game: Last night at home against the Hershey Bears, the Penguins won 6-2. Oskar Sundqvist joined the likes of Erik Christensen and J-F Jacques with four goals in a game. For Bridgeport, the Sound Tigers battled back in the third period to force overtime, where they are perfect this year, and won 4-3 in Binghamton. Eamon McAdamn improved to 7-0 in goal for Bridgeport.
Last Meeting: November 26 in Wilkes-Barre, Tristan Jarry collected the first shut out of the season for the Penguins who won 1-0. Jean-Sebastien Dea scored the only goal of the game.
Record: For WBS: 15-5-3-0 (33 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For BRI: 16-7-0-0 (32 pts., 3rd place Atlantic Division)
Why you should care: It seems ridiculously fun when these teams play hockey together and I expect this evening’s game to be no different. Whoever scores first here tonight I think is going to have the easier game. Expect Tristan Jarry for the Penguins and probably Stephon Williams for Bridgeport in goal. Josh Archibald was hurt last night for the Pens so who slots in for his absence?
Radio: For WBS: WILK NewsRadio / For BRI: I don’t think Sound Tigers games are on radio. Here’s the link to Mixlr where you could here the Sound Tigers call if you want to.
Let’s get something out of the way quick. The answer to the question in the headline is in the slug. If you don’t know what the slug is, open this post on its own window, bereft of anything else as far as content on the blog, and tell me what you see. Hint: I leave the occasional easter egg from time to time in the slug.
It looks like the Penguins were going to get housed again by Hershey when the game just turned on a dime in the Penguins favor in a big, big way.
The win puts the Penguins back to first place in the Atlantic Division and drops the Bears, with wins by Lehigh Valley and Bridgeport, to fourth place. That’s how ultra competitive this Atlantic Division is. Hershey’s ten game point streak comes to an end as well.
Casey DeSmith opposed Joe Cannata.
Lines were…
Dominik Simon – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Garrett Wilson – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Jake Guentzel – J-S Dea – Danny Kristo
Ryan Haggerty – Jarrett Burton – Patrick McGrath
Derrick Pouliot – Chad Ruhwedel
David Warsofsky – Stuart Percy
Cameron Gaunce – Ethan Prow
Casey DeSmith – Tristan Jarry
Lineup Notes: Swap Percy for Lukas Bengtsson on defense and the entire fourth line from last night (Teddy Blueger, Tom Sestito and Reid Gardiner) f0r Haggerty, Burton and McGrath.
First Period: Pens had the pop going early but it was Hershey that found the back of the net first when Christian Djoos scored when Casey DeSmith lost his stick to make it 1-0 Bears.
Key to remember: The Bears have scored the first goal of the game 16 times this season (most in the AHL) and are 12-0-3-1 in those games
On that goal, Chris Bourque collected his 600th AHL point. It feels like half of those have come against the Penguins, but I congratulate Bourque on the milestone nevertheless.
Chandler Stephenson scored when a pass setup for a guy in front was whiffed on. Stephenson was there as the safety net and scored it to make it 2-0 for the Bears. You could feel the rout coming again. It was setting up as another lifeless performance for the Penguins.
Oskar Sundqvist doesn’t speak that language.
He literally put the team on his back tonight. He scored to cut it to one late in the first period. A big hit led to the goal and it was 2-1 Bears.
Second Period: Oskar Sundqvist tied the game off a bad rebound that was left by Cannata. Then Jake Guentzel scored because it wouldn’t be a Penguins game if not for a Guentzel goal that made it 3-2 for the Penguins. That goal happened :29 after the Sundqvist goal.
Sundqvist completed his hat trick on a power play that made it 4-2. It was all Penguins and they were pouring it on. Wilkes-Barre limited the Bears to just six shots in the period.
Third Period: Sundqvist netted his fourth of the game off a breakaway that made it 5-2 Penguins. Then the Bears had a power play that DeSmith stopped. The Bears sling the puck around on the man advantage with sickening pin point accuracy but DeSmith read it all like a comic book and squelched any seedlings of a comeback by the Chocolate and White.
Sundqvist has tied Erik Christensen and Jean-Francois Jacques the franchise record for most goals in a game with his four tonight!
The last time that an opponent scored four goals against Hershey? The year was 1993.
– The player was Steve Konowalchuk of Portland on October 10, 1993.
– Oskar Sundqvist wasn’t even born.
– The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins were six years from being born.
– You were paying about a dollar for a gallon of gas.
– This blogger was a freshman in high school.
Josh Archibald left the game after a nasty knee on knee hit by Joey Leach. It was his right knee, but it wasn’t his right knee that was injured as told to the WBS media post game by Clark Donatelli. He is considered day-to-day.
Off the ensuing major power play, Tom Kostopoulous banked in a pass intended for Jake Guentzel off of Colby Williams’ skate and in to make it 6-2.
Tux missed the extra point. There would be no seventh goal tonight.
Three Stars: 3) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, even) 2) Jake Guentzel (goal, assist, even) and 1) Oskar Sundqvist (four goals, +2)
Pens will bus to Bridgeport overnight for the 5 o’clock game with the Sound Tigers, who will be the more rested team having not played Friday. Gameday setup for that one hits the blog Sunday at 1.
vs. 
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 