Chirps from Center Ice

A fan blog about the AHL's Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins

2016 Division Final Previews

Comments Off on 2016 Division Final Previews Posted by on May 2, 2016

There are eight teams left in the Calder Cup Finals. These division previews look like they are going to be classic battles and some could go the distance.

Will they?

This is my stab at predicting a winner. I was 5-3 last round, and picked three of those five series perfectly, so let’s give it a go again!

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button_ont200   Ontario (P1) vs. San Diego (P2)   button_sd200
Pacific Division Final

How the Reign got here: Dispatched the San Jose Barracuda in four games, San Jose gave the Reign a fight, but Ontario was too good to lose in even a five game series.

How the Gulls got here: In a complete role reversal from the regular season, it was the Gulls that got the better of the Texas Stars. San Diego dominated special teams and that is enough to get by an opponent in the short five game series.

How they matchup: They met 12 times with San Diego going 8-4 over the Reign with the Gulls winning once in overtime and once in a shootout.

Key player so far for Ontario: Nic Dowd. Four points (2-2-4) in four games for Dowd. Honorable mention to Peter Budaj, the reigning Goaltender of the Year.

Key player so far for San Diego: Chris Mueller. Anything you can do, Nic Dowd, I can do better. 2-3-5 in four games, including a power play goal and an assist.

Prediction: Ontario in six. These are the Calder Cup Champions from last year who have experience in these big moments. Ontario’s big game background is enough to see them through to the Conference Finals.

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button_le200   Lake Erie (C2) vs. Grand Rapids (C4)   button_15gr200
Central Division Finals

How the Monsters got here: A sweep of the Rockford IceHogs. IceHogs didn’t put up much of a fight and Lake Erie breezed through.

How the Griffins got here: Swept the Central Division Champion Milwaukee Admirals. The streaky Griffins are on an uptick right now and that could spell bad things for the Monsters.

How they matchup: Met 12 times. Grand Rapids has the slight edge (7-4-0-1) to Lake Erie (5-3-3-1) in the head to head, and the stats on paper look dead even.

Key player so far for Lake Erie: Joonas Korpisalo. The Monsters goaltender is 3-0 with a 2.00 GAA and a .924 SV% so far in the series.

Key player so far for Grand Rapids: Martin Frk. 1-3-4 in four games so far for the Czech.

Prediction: Grand Rapids in seven. This has the makings of a roller coaster series between these two. Grand Rapids offense trumps Lake Erie’s inexperience and it’s the Griffins moving on.

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TOR   Toronto (N1) vs. Albany (N2)   ALB
North Division Finals

How the Marlies got here: Swept the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in three games. Came back from 4-1 down in Game 3 to win 6-4.

How the Devils got here: Beat Utica in four games. But for one slip up in overtime in Game 3 in Utica, Albany coasted.

How they matchup: They met six times. Toronto won two in overtime. Albany kept the Marlies honest all season at least on paper, but the Marlies were built in the beginning to be a juggernaut.

Key player so far for Toronto: Connor Carrick. Came over from the Washington organization and has flourished. His seven points far and away leads the Marlies.

Key player so far for Albany: Scott Wedgewood. Albany’s “backup” boasts a minuscule 1.93 GAA and a .922 SV%.

Prediction: One of two things will happen in this series. Toronto wins in a sweep or five games or Albany drags this to seven. I think Albany is too good to get swept but Toronto is too deep to lose in a Division Final. Toronto in seven.

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HER   Hershey (A1) vs. Wilkes-Barre (A3)   WBS
Atlantic Division Finals

How the Penguins got here: Wilkes-Barre swept Providence in three games, all in overtime. Providence’s inexperience in pivotal moments was the key to their doom. An upset, for sure.

How the Bears got here: Beat Portland in five games. After losing in triple overtime in Game 3, Justin Peters only allowed one goal the rest of the way. Portland’s historical inability to close out an opponent on the brink cost them again.

How they match up: About as even as you can get between two teams. Penguins were 6-5-0-1 and the Bears were 6-5-1-0 in the head to head series between the two teams. Justin Peters, the hero against the Pirates this postseason, is 2-2-1 with a 3.45 GAA and a .884 SV% against Wilkes-Barre.

Key Player so far for Wilkes-Barre: Jake Guenztel. The rookie has  7 points in three games plus the series clinching goal for the Penguins over the Bruins.

Key Player so far for Hershey: Jakub Vrana. The Bears rookie leads the team in points this postseason.

Prediction: I’ll give it to you Tuesday.

The AHL

Re-Visiting Predictions

Comments Off on Re-Visiting Predictions Posted by on May 1, 2016

Note: The Hershey Bears advance to the Atlantic Division Finals to take on the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins which begins Wednesday in Hershey. In case you missed the blog earlier, here are words and a schedule.

With the Divisional Semifinals over and the Division Finals set, it’s time for us to see how wrong I was in my first round predictions.

Wilkes-Barre / Providence

What I said: “Providence in four. Providence’s high powered offense overmatches the Penguins disarray of flavor of the week goaltending and Wilkes-Barre is blown away in four games.”

What actually happened: The exact opposite. The Penguins rode rookie Casey DeSmith over Tristan Jarry and he delivered, including a franchise high 59 saves in the series clincher. Providence’s offense never came to life, Wilkes-Barre swept in three games.

Lake Erie / Rockford

What I said: “Lake Erie in five. Monsters methodical, come at you from all sides tactics is enough to dismiss Rockford in the short five game series.”

What actually happened: Monsters advanced as expected, but it only took three games. Really expected Rockford, who came into the series and out of the regular season on a three game winning streak, to put up more of a fight. They didn’t.

Toronto / Bridgeport

What I said: “Toronto in three. Marlies will make this round easy.”

What actually happened: The blind squirrel found his nut. I was right. The Marlies swept the Sound Tigers easily.

Milwaukee / Grand Rapids

What I said: “Milwaukee in five. One of two series out West that goes the distance.”

What actually happened: Not only did I get the pick wrong, the Griffins, who came into the postseason losing five straight, sweep away the Central Division Champions in three games.

Albany / Utica

What I said: “Albany in four. Comets steal a game early, but the Devils correct, lock down and don’t let go.”

What actually happened: I got this one right too. Comets are too good to get swept, used home ice in Game 3 to steal a game in overtime but their Devils adjusted and blew the Comets out in Game 4 and it wasn’t close.

San Diego / Texas

What I said: Stars in four. San Diego steals one, probably in overtime, but the matchup heavily favors the Stars to advance.

What actually happened: The reverse, or Gulls in four. Take everything out of what you saw in the regular season between these two and toss it. San Diego dominated special teams and got an offensive shot in the arm when parent Anaheim lost Game 7 of their series with Nashville.

Ontario / San Jose

What I said: Ontario in three. It won’t be pretty for San Jose.

What actually happened: Barracuda took Game 2 but fell in four games to the Reign. If not for anything, San Jose gave the Reign a fight, which may have me leaning more in San Diego’s favor in the Pacific Division Finals.

Hershey / Portland

What I said: Bears in five. Of all the series in the East, this one goes the distance.

What actually happened: Bang biscuit. Got this one right too. Portland went up 2-1 in the series, but Justin Peters locked down and only allowed one goal the rest of the series. Portland’s historic inability to close a series continues to haunt them.

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5-3 in picks, got the Hershey, Albany and Toronto series perfect.

Monday, I get to do it all again with the Division Final Previews.

 

The AHL

Like Father, Like Son – Hershey Advances

Comments Off on Like Father, Like Son – Hershey Advances Posted by on May 1, 2016

At the NHL level, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals are currently involved in a war. A seven game series, tied 1-1 currently, has been thrill a minute, back and forth hockey with neither team having the advantage as of yet.

Get ready for the same thing to happen with the AHL affiliates.

The Hershey Bears advance to the Atlantic Division Finals after defeating the Portland Pirates in five games with a 2-1 win tonight.

Here is your series schedule between the two teams, with Game 1 starting Wednesday in Hershey:

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Blog wise, I will have a quick, “how’d you do” blog post looking back on the first round later tonight. Monday, I’ll have a Division Finals preview and then Tuesday I will have my series breakdown with prediction of the Hershey / Wilkes-Barre series.

Buckle up.

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

They’re Going the Distance…

Comments Off on They’re Going the Distance… Posted by on April 30, 2016

The Hershey Bears got all the offense they needed in the first period of Game 4 tonight and force a decisive Game 5 with a 2-0 win tonight at home tonight against the Portland Pirates.

So the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins opponent, and schedule for said opponent, will need to wait another day.

The winner take all Game 5 goes off from Hershey Sunday at 5.

Deliberately Uncategorized

Weekend Update 4/29

1 Comment Posted by on April 29, 2016

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are still awaiting word on their second round opponent. They can find out as soon as tomorrow night or as late as Sunday evening.

The Portland Pirates can close the series out with the Hershey Bears with a win Saturday after a 2-1 win in triple overtime Thursday. Rob Flick scored the game winning goal and Mike McKenna stopped 41 shots. Both teams went a combined 0/16 on the power play.

Head Coach Clark Donatelli and his staff made the short trip down to Hershey to take in Game 3 Thursday, per WBS media. They certainly got their money’s worth and more.

Elsewhere in the Calder Cup Playoffs…

Albany and Toronto will meet in the North Division Finals after Albany closed out Utica in Game 4 Thursday and Toronto stormed back from a 4-1 deficit over the Sound Tigers and swept Bridgeport by a 6-4 score.

That series will be one to watch. The schedule for that series will be out Friday.

In the West, Grand Rapids and Lake Erie both swept their series and the California teams San Diego and Ontario are both up 2-1 in their series and can close out the first round Friday.

In the ECHL, the Wheeling Nailers closed out the Florida Everblades in six games after a 2-1 win Monday. The Nailers welcome the Reading Royals for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Friday night.

So for the weekend, I will probably drop in a brief blog update Saturday night on either the series with Portland or the winner take all between the Bears and Pirates if Hershey forces a Game 5.  I’ll have a schedule for a preview of coming attractions this weekend at some point this weekend.

The AHL, Wheeling

The Legend of Casey DeSmith — Pens WIN 5-4 (2OT)

2 Comments Posted by on April 24, 2016

   button_adk200       @       WBS

  5                                          4

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Casey DeSmith is a goaltender that, for the longest time, was buried on the depth chart in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers for much of their season.

He did not see regular season action for the Nailers until December.

No, that is right, December. You put your kids to school in September, had a Halloween and Thanksgiving, before DeSmith saw action for the Nailers. That was in a December 5 game where he came in relief in mop up duty as the Nailers were dispatched by the South Carolina Stingrays by a score of 6-1.

DeSmith didn’t start seeing regular action for the Nailers until January. He didn’t pick up his first win until January 22. You celebrated Christmas, rang in a New Year and were probably complaining about how the Penguins should fire Clark Donatelli then.

DeSmith set the all time record for saves any a Wilkes-Barre / Scranton goaltender with a 59 save performance in Game 3 against the Providence Bruins as the Penguins sweep the Bruins in 3 games by a 5-4 score in double overtime.

Think of all the stud goaltenders and legends that have come and gone through here. Fleury. Murray. Curry. Chioido. Thiessen. Casey DeSmith, a guy that the Penguins signed on a PTO, stared down the Providence Bruins attack of names like Czarnik, Khokhlachev, Vatrano and Griffith and dismissed the second place team in the Atlantic Division in three games. All in overtime. Sweep.

And how about Clark Donatelli? Here is a guy that Penguins fans wanted to run out of town on a rail. The fact that he stuck to his guns and trusted in DeSmith over the guy we all expected and hoped for in this series in Tristan Jarry speaks volume about how in tune Donatelli is with the team and how much he has his finger on the pulse of what works and what doesn’t.

The Penguins will not know their second round opponent for at least a week, as Hershey and Portland are 1-1 in their series with Game 4 set for next Saturday.

DeSmith opposed Zane McIntyre.

Lines were…

Kael Mouillierat – Dustin Jeffrey – Daniel Sprong
Jake Guentzel – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Mattias Plachta – J-S Dea – Dominik Simon
Tom Sestito – Teddy Blueger – Josh Archibald

Niclas Andersen – Steve Oleksy
Ryan Parent – Barry Goers
Tim Erixon – Will O’Neill

Casey DeSmith – Tristan Jarry

Lineup Notes: No shuffling in or out personnel wise for the Penguins. Daniel Sprong was put on the top line. Casey DeSmith started his third straight game. For Providence, Zane McIntyre made the start in net for the Bruins.

First Period: It did not take long for the Penguins to get on the board. Jake Guentzel…

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…:35 in and it was 1-0 Penguins. Steve Oleksy with the initial shot that Guentzel collected and finished.

Zane McIntyre was forced into some key saves and it easily could have been 2-0 or 3-0 Penguins early on. Providence did not register its first shot on goal till around 4:30 into the period. With ex-Penguin Max Talbot in the box for a high sticking penalty, Dominik Simon scored the first power play goal of the series for either team and it was 2-0 Penguins.

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Penguins scored twice on six shots.

Providence couldn’t get anything going. Due to technical difficulties on AHL Live, I was on the home feed and heard Providence Bruins broadcaster Craig Durham say that this showing by the Bruins was uncharacteristic of the Providence team that finished second in the division.

Second Period: Casey DeSmith stopped Noel Acciari early on when the Penguins turned it over in their zone. Wilkes-Barre’s fourth line had a good :40- of zone time just cycling the puck in the zone with the Bruins doing little to take it off of them.

Then the Penguins turned it on again. Jake Guentzel hit Dustin Jeffrey with a perfect thread pass. The recipient was tripped by Zane McIntyre, Penguins power play.

Off of the ensuing power play, Daniel Sprong took a low, quick shot that went in for a goal that made it 3-0 Penguins…

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Blink and you’ll miss it. Caught McIntyre leaning, went near side low.

DeSmith again. This time stopping Frank Vatrano twice in close. DeSmith would later stop a Vatrano bid with a flashy glove save. I noticed then that the Penguins had 3 goals on 11 shots.

Shots dried up for the Penguins but time started to move quickly for the Penguins. But off of a face-off after a media time out, Austin Czarnik scored that brought the P-Bruins to within two again. The Pens were caught scrambling.

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Pens could have packed it in and played tight, but the offense quickly exploded again and they were back ahead by three on this firecracker by Tim Erixon…

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Wilkes-Barre started to look a bit too lax for my liking after getting scored on. They made something out of nothing and were back ahead by three heading into the…

Third Period: Bruins would outshoot Wilkes-Barre 20-5 and score three times to force overtime.

Chris Breen from the blue line that made it 4-2…

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Tommy Cross from almost the same spot that made it 4-3. This was power play goal…

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Pens were being outplayed, outshot and out hustled. What they didn’t need to do was do something stupid.

Will O’Neill did something stupid…

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Austin Czarnik scored his second of the game that tied it at 4.

Dustin Jeffrey had a chance to end it in overtime on a partial breakaway but could not get the shot off.

Overtime: J-S Dea had two shots blocked early. Casey DeSmith stopped one with his mask. Dustin Jeffrey had a chance to end it. Shots were 13-11 Bruins here. No one scored. It was off to…

Second Overtime: P-Bruins ended up on the penalty kill when Alex Khokhlachev cleared a puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty. Then, on the penalty kill, Brandon DeFazio slashed the stick of Will O’Neill in two. The Penguins had :17 of 5-on-3 to work with and called their timeout.

Providence killed it all.

Past half way, Tom Kostopoulos centered Jake Guentzel…

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Ballgame.

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Three Stars: 3) Casey DeSmith (59 saves on 63 shots) 2) Austin Czarnik (two goals, assist, +1) and 1) Jake Guentzel (two goals, two assists, double overtime game winner, +2)

Not only have the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins qualified for playoffs for 14 straight years, they have made it to the second round for six straight years. It’s one thing to make it. It’s another to make it past the first round. That these Penguins, left for dead by many, including myself, not only get past the Providence Bruins but sweep them, speaks volumes to the personnel in the room and the coaches. You and your #FireDonatelli hashtag on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook be damned.

Pens will draw the winner of the Hershey / Portland series which like I stated in the open will go at least four games with Game 4 set for next Saturday. It’s 1-1 heading to Hershey for Game 3 this Thursday. Game 5 would be Sunday, May 1 if necessary. You would think that Game 1 of the Atlantic Division Finals starts the following Wednesday at the very least.

I will keep you posted.

Sunday at some point I will have an update to my postseason charts. I will tweet a link sometime Sunday.

Now, go. Forget about hockey for at least a week. Rest up. We still have work to do.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

Atlantic Division Semifinal Game 3: Providence Bruins (WBS leads 2-0)

Comments Off on Atlantic Division Semifinal Game 3: Providence Bruins (WBS leads 2-0) Posted by on April 23, 2016

@     15PRO

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Atlantic Division Semifinal — Game 3

AHL Game: B3

Who: Providence Bruins

Where: Dunkin’ Donuts Center

When: 7:05 p.m.

Series: WBS leads 2-0 (Best of Five)

Media Kit

Last Game: Thursday in Game 2 in Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins took a commanding 2-0 series lead against the second seed Bruins with another overtime win. This time it was rookie Daniel Sprong doing the honors for the Penguins, scoring his second goal of the game.

What to watch for: Changes for Providence. Expect Zane McIntyre in goal for the Bruins and changes defensively and at forward for the once favored Bruins, who are playing for their playoff lives tonight. I wouldn’t expect any changes for Wilkes-Barre and that includes in goal, where I expect Casey DeSmith to get the start over Tristan Jarry. Wilkes-Barre just needs to continue to do what they have been doing all series long and not get complacent. Once again, expect Providence’s best tonight as they try to extend this series to a Game 4 Monday.

Referee(s): David Banfield / Geno Binda

Linesmen: Jack Millea / Todd Whittemore

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @WBSGameDay / @AHLBruins

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /providencebruins

Instagram: wbspenguins / ahlbruins

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @TLTomVenesky // @MarkDivver

Broadcasters: For WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / For PRO: I don’t know the guys name or if he is on Twitter.

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep

Radio: For WBS: WILK NewsRadio / For Providence: WNRI 1380 AM

Television: AHL Live

When is Game 4?: A Wilkes-Barre win tonight and there is no Game 4. If Providence wins it is Monday at 7:05 back at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center

Gameday

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