Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings: Week 5
Posted by nafsnep on November 14, 2016
Week 5 and we are approaching mid-November. Have you made Thanksgiving plans yet?
There is a bird at the top of the AHL Power Rankings this week which is the same bird that was number one last week. It’s the Penguins.
Here’s the reasoning why. They get shutout at home by the Toronto Marlies Friday, then turn around and allow the P-Bruins and Wolf Pack to score just one goal a piece. Meanwhile, Toronto goes to Allentown and is obliterated by the Phantoms 7-2. The Penguins are the best team in the AHL despite the setback to the Marlies.
Now the Phantoms? Lehigh Valley is the hottest team in the AHL right now, winners of six straight. They are number two this week and have a huge date with the Penguins at home Wednesday. If the Phantoms win Wednesday, the Chirps from Center Ice clairvoyants foresee Lehigh Valley being number one next week.
But that’s getting too far ahead of ourselves.
If you notice that a team in the top ten this week has fallen far this week, it’s because there are a boatload of teams that are making a case for a higher ranking and really no room in the top 15 or 20 for these teams, which you will see drop out of the top 10 and into the bottom 10.
I won’t keep you any longer. Click through the jump to see the full list if you didn’t link in direct.
Comments Off on First to Ten, Perfect on Sunday’s — Pens WIN 4-1
Posted by nafsnep on November 13, 2016
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It’s gotta be something about Sunday’s.
The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins remain perfect on Sunday afternoon games and are the first team in the American Hockey League to ten wins as they beat the Hartford Wolf Pack by a score of 4-1. Two power play goals in the first period were enough cushion that the Penguins needed to pick up the win.
Here are some more nuggets for you.
Pens are undefeated in the third game of three-in-threes (3-0-0-0) For that matter, unbeaten whenever they played the night before (7-0-0-0)
Thomas DiPauli – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Garrett Wilson – Jake Guentzel – Dominik Simon
Reid Gardiner – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Ryan Haggerty – J-S Dea – Patrick McGrath
Reid McNeill – Chad Ruhwedel
David Warsofsky – Lukas Bengtsson
Cameron Gaunce – Stuart Percy
Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith
Lineup Notes: Thomas DiPauli, Reid Gardiner and Patrick McGrath were all in the lineup for the Penguins for Kevin Porter, Sahir Gill and Jarett Burton. Porter, if you were around this afternoon, was suspended for the game. I had words with video on that here. Defensively, Tim Erixon yielded to Stuart Percy. It was the pro debut for Lukas Bengtsson, who took the spot that Ethan Prow had last night. Also, the “Greek” line was busted up. With Porter suspended, Jake Guentzel put in work at second line center.
I don’t know what is up with Reid McNeill and why Donatelli and company keep playing him. Reid had three penalties Saturday night against Providence and looked frustrated. Perhaps there is insulating going on with Ethan Prow, but they should let the rookie play.
Lots of video here with this one, so if you didn’t link in direct, hit the jump.
Comments Off on Kevin Porter Suspended One Game
Posted by nafsnep on November 13, 2016
Sunday afternoon, the AHL announced that Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins forward Kevin Porter has been suspended one game for this hit on Colin Smith Friday against the Toronto Marlies:
VIDEO: Slow motion replay of the hit that got Kevin Porter suspended a game 11/11 vs. Toronto: pic.twitter.com/T4mnjPP0W8
In real time, it looks worse than it is. Porter could have gotten more games if slow motion didn’t exist in my opinion. It does not look like that head was the principal point of contact and Smith did have his head down. Just one of those things that happened late in the third period of a 3-0 loss by the Penguins.
Porter will miss this afternoon’s contest against Hartford in what would have been his 300th AHL game. Presumably, he will hit the 300 mark this Wednesday in Allentown when the Penguins face-off against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.
More in a bit as the Penguins are in Hartford squaring off against the Wolf Pack at 5 p.m.
Last Game: Saturday at home against Providence, the Pens won 3-1. J-S Dea, Oskar Sundqvist and Jake Guentzel all scored and Casey DeSmith stopped 28 of 29 shots. For Hartford, the Wolf Pack were in Utica last night and lost in overtime to the Comets 3-2. Mat Bodie and Tanner Glass collected goals for Hartford in the loss.
Last Meeting: It was opening night in Wilkes-Barre back on October 15 and the Penguins won 6-2. Six different Penguins recorded a goal including Jake Guentzel, who also had three assists to go along with his gaol, good for first star of the game.
Record: For WBS: 9-2-1-0 (19 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For HFD: 3-7-2-0 (8 pts., 7th place Atlantic Division)
Why you should care: Penguins cannot take the Wolf Pack lightly this afternoon. Good teams beat all teams, not just some teams. Are the Penguins a good team or a really good team I think we all know the answer to this question, but the true answer may not come until the end of this game tonight,.
I don’t know how much of a narrative there is going to be when your team is 9-2 and both goaltenders are playing at the top of their levels right now.
But the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins needed a strong performance after getting run out of the rink by a Toronto Marlies side and shutout Friday night at home.
The man to help deliver that was Casey DeSmith.
DeSmith must really love playing against the Bruins because I can’t remember the last time he lost to Providence. DeSmith stopped 28 of 29 and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defeat the Providence Bruins by a score of 3-1.
Jake Guentzel – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Garrett Wilson – Kevin Porter – Dominik Simon
Jarrett Burton – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Sahir Gill – J-S Dea – Ryan Haggerty
Reid McNeill – Chad Ruhwedel
David Warsofsky – Ethan Prow
Cameron Gaunce – Tim Erixon
Casey DeSmith – Tristan Jarry
Lineup Notes: Ryan Haggerty returned from injury. There were no bodies listed on the injured list. Ethan Prow took the place of Stuart Percy. Thomas Di Pauli did not warm up and was a healthy scratch.
First Period: Pens jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Sahir Gill centered to J-S Dea to put the Penguins on the board.
Providence pushed back almost immediately, and got a power play out of it but DeSmith was up to the task, stopping a redirect from an Alex Grant shot and a Peter Mueller redirect.
Second Period: Said this at the time after the Penguins killed a McNeill high stick…
Pens kill it. Starting to get the sense that more than one goal is going to be needed in this one.
Later, as a power play for the Penguins expired, Oskar Sundqvist powered one through the pads of Subban to double the Penguins lead.
Then, Casey DeSmith stole the show with two saves on Peter Mueller in one series.
First on a two on one, DeSmith lunged over to deny Mueller, as the puck cycled around Mueller stayed camped out at the near post and was fed the puck again and DeSmith lunged over at the last second and again denied Mueller this time with the stick. Mueller, aghast at what happened to him in one shift, left the ice bewildered.
It ended up being an important save.
Third Period: Danton Heinen scored on his own rebound that punched out to him and put the puck over DeSmith’s glove and under the bar to put the Bruins on the board via a power play goal. The Bruins had been pushing all period to get any type of offense going and got one.
Pens got a power play and I felt at the time that they needed to cash here despite only leading by one. Then it was Malcolm Subban that made some big saves for his team, stopping Dominik Simon and then Carter Rowney on a two on one. Later, with Subban vacated for an extra man, Jake Guentzel found a puck and raced out of his own zone to put it into the empty net that gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead and iced the game away.
Three Stars: 3) J-S Dea (goal, +2) 2) Casey DeSmith (28 saves on 29 shots) and 1) Oskar Sundqvist (goal, +1)
Around the Division: The Phantoms owe the Penguins big time because Wilkes-Barre softened top the Marlies bad enough to where the Phantoms crushed Toronto 7-2. A good Phantoms team is a dangerous Phantoms team. Quietly, that’s five in a row for the Phantoms. Tomorrow’s game in Hartford may be a trap game for the Penguins as Wilkes-Barre travels to Allentown Wednesday night….Bridgeport beats Hershey 4-3 in a shootout in a back and forth affair between those two teams. Hershey hosts the Phantoms Sunday afternoon…Springfield shuts out Binghamton 4-0….Utica beat Hartford 3-2 in a battle of bad teams.
Comments Off on RAPID RECAP: Pens WIN 3-1
Posted by nafsnep on November 12, 2016
Needing a better performance after laying an egg last night, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins come out and win this one tonight 3-1 against the Providence Bruins. A big performance by Casey DeSmith, and goals by Jake Guentzel, Oskar Sundqvist and J-S Dea and the Pens are back to, at least on this night, only allowing opponents to one goal a game.
Last Game: Last night in against Toronto, the Pens were shutout and lost 3-0. Second regulation loss for the Penguins and in that, second time they were shutout. For Providence, the P-Bruins were in Binghamton and won 4-2. Malcom Subban stopped 38 of 40 shots and picked up his first win since a throat injury which sidelined most of his season last year.
Last Meeting: This past Sunday in Providence, the P-Bruins were the first team in eight games to score more than one regulation goal on the Penguins but it was Wilkes-Barre that would emerge the victor in a shootout. Garrett Wilson’s bottom of the fourth round shootout goal was the one that secured the weekend sweep for Wilkes-Barre..
Record: For WBS: 8-2-1-0 (17 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For PRO: 4-5-2-1 (11 pts., 6th place Atlantic Division)
Why you should care: Penguins and Bruins rematch Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre after their stellar, back and forth affair this past Sunday. If that game was any indicator how this series between these two clubs is going to be this year, tonight should be another great game.
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WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 