If the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins lose out to the Hershey Bears for the Atlantic Division Championship at the end of the year by a few points, it will be this weekend here that they can point back to and say cost them. Or, at the very least, this weekend will have played a big part.
But for one lineup change for both teams, it was the same teams and just a different day. Same goaltenders too, with Tristan Jarry opposing Stephon Williams again. It was the same scoreline as well, a 3-2 win for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
The Sound Tigers started the weekend in Syracuse Friday and lost 5-2. They came to Wilkes-Barre with a goaltender that gave up five goals the last time he saw the Pens and were stymied by him Saturday. Today, they were lulled to sleep by the Sound Tigers and Justin Florek scores all the goals for Bridgeport and beat a Penguins team that had come into the weekend winners of three of their last four games. A Penguins team decimated by call-ups that was still managing to keep its head above water.
Not so fun fact: The first ever hat trick scored by a Bridgeport Sound Tiger against the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.
So a crushing weekend for a Wilkes-Barre team pursuing first place being pursued by a Providence team on a tear for second or higher. It will be interesting to see how Clark Donatelli prepares his team for a huge weekend against the Hershey Bears in a weekend home and home next weekend.
I have a lot of videos here in this recap, so hit the jump if you didn’t link in direct…
Last Game / Last Meeting: Last night in Wilkes-Barre, the Pens lost 3-2. Stphon Williams stopped 30 of 32 shots. The Pens scored two power play goals.
Record: For WBS: 36-20-4-1 (77 pts., 2nd place Atlantic Division) — For BRI: 32-23-3-3 (70 pts., 4th place Atlantic Division)
Why you should care: Penguins are out for revenge this afternoon. A backup beat them soundly Saturday on their own patch of ice so Wilkes-Barre will look to repay the favor today in Southern Connecticut.
Other Game to Watch: Obvious choice here is Hershey rematching against the St. John’s IceCaps in Newfoundland today. The Bears are out for revenge of their own today as well after losing 2-1 last night.
Next Five Games: HER 3/19, @ HER 3/20, BNG 3/23, @ BNG 3/25, PRO 3/26
Comments Off on His Glove Has Eyes — Pens LOSE 3-2
Posted by nafsnep on March 12, 2016
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In my Rapid Recap tonight, I used a run-on sentence to sum up the play of Bridgeport Sound Tigers starting goaltender Stephon Williams tonight and summed up the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins night as a whole.
A puck left harmlessly in the crease of Williams as the Penguins were pressing for the third goal late may have been another key to the way this one went, a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Penguins were unable to take over first place in the Atlantic Division with Hershey losing 2-1 to St. John’s earlier in the evening.
Williams was opposed by Tristan Jarry, back from illness.
Lines were…
Kael Mouillierat – Dustin Jeffrey – Josh Archibald
Mattias Plachta – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Ty Loney – J-S Dea – Adam Krause
Jarrett Burton – Oskar Sundqvist – Patrick McGrath
Will O’Neill – Barry Goers
Tim Erixon – Steve Oleksy
Reid McNeill – Niclas Andersen
Tristan Jarry – Franky Palazzese
Lineup Notes: Harrison Ruopp skated the extra in warmups. As eluded to in the lede, Conor Sheary and Dominik Simon were recalled to Pittsburgh an hour and a half before the game in the wake of the news that Evgeni Malkin will miss 6-8 weeks with a wrist upper body injury. In the Simon / Sheary transaction, Tom Sestito was sent back. Coal Street earlier in the day recalled Adam Krause. Krause is the twelfth player from Wheeling that started the season there. Seth mined a gem that the Pens have averaged roughly one new call-up from the ECHL affiliate in West Virginia very five games this season.
First Period: Stephon Williams was quickly introducing himself to the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and was clearly in revenge mode. The last time that Sound Tigers head coach Brent Thompson put Williams out there to face the Penguins, they put five pucks behind him. Not this time. Williams slides over to stop Josh Archibald one-thing a shot from a Kael Mouillierat setup on a 2-on-1 and then later Ty Loney took a shot from the high slot that Adam Krause got to but Williams got over in time to deny.
Turning point of the game would end up coming 10:52 into the first period when Kane Lafranchise tripped Mattias Plachta then four seconds later Matt Careener took a cross checking penalty and the Penguins were on a 5-on-3 for 1:56. The Penguins could not score. Bridgeport ground through and Williams made stop after stop with his glove.
Then Adam Krause found himself alone in on a breakaway. Not only did Williams stop Krause, he denied the rebound attempt then lost his stick then stopped the puck in his chest.
The Penguins threw 16 shots at Williams and he stopped them all.
Second Period: A dirty goal was going to be the only thing that beat this hot Bridgeport goaltender in Stephon Williams. Who else but Tom Kostopoulous to deliver it on a power play that made it 1-0 in favor of the Penguins:
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 13, 2016
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While the teams were four-on-four, Steve Oleksy blocks an initial shot but the puck caromed right to Colin Markison who had all day and all the space needed to fire one past Jarry that made it 1-1.
Dustin Jeffrey attempted a shot through heavy screen. Any mortal goaltender is fishing that one out of his net and the Pens are glove tapping to Val Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love” in front of a bunch of fans wearing ecto plasma St. Patricks’ Day Penguins themed hats, but not Stephon Williams. He made the glove save like David Wright sees a line drive at third base for the New York Mets.
Third Period: Bridgeport scored to make it 2-1 off a quick developing 2-on-1 that Carter Verhaeghe blew by Jarry. Will O’Neill tossed a shot into traffic that got blocked by Bridgeport which resulted in the odd man rush.
Oh, that Williams guy. His glove had eyes I tell you. A Tim Erixon shot from the point through bodies is gloved by the Bridgeport netminder.
Then the Sound Tigers made it 3-1 on a power play when James Wright takes the shot from the point and Mike Halmo deflects the puck past the five hole of Jarry to make it 3-1. Deflating goal to give up considering the Sound Tigers power play is ranked 29th overall in the AHL and dead last on the road.
Pens couldn’t score on a power play but figured it out and scored on another when Kael Mouillierat ripped a shot off a face-off win just two second into the man advantage that made it 3-2.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 13, 2016
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Then Carter Rowney was denied of a goal that I celebrated as one from my seat that surely should have gone in but was swept away at the last second that ultimately preserved the win for the Sound Tigers. With Jarry pulled, the Penguins never found the equalizer.
Three Stars: 3) Carter Rowney (two assists, -1) 2) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, -1) and 1) Mike Halmo (goal, assist, +1)
If I was the one picking three stars it would have been 3) Rowney 2) Halmo and 1) Williams 30 saves on 32 shots)
Carter Rowney picked up two assists, giving him nine points (5-4-9) in his last four games. I think he is making a case for AHL Player of the Week. We will see.
All of a sudden it’s Providence who is snaking up on Hershey and Wilkes-Barre for first or second in the division. The P-Bruins have a game in hand on both the Bears and the Penguins, too.
Wheeling Update: The Nailers won tonight at home against the Kalamazoo Wings by a score of 4-2. Brian Foster stopped 18 of 20, including a penalty shot. Cody Wydo had two goals.
Comments Off on RAPID RECAP – Pens LOSE 3-2
Posted by nafsnep on March 12, 2016
The last time the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins saw Bridgeport Sound Tigers goaltender Stephon Williams, they put five goals behind him.
Not tonight.
The Penguins scored two power play goals tonight, put 32 shots at Williams but lose 3-2 when the Sound Tigers scored two third period goals to essentially win the game.
Williams and his glove were the story of the game and the Penguins inability to score on a 1:56 of 5-on-3 in the first prior missing trigger men Conor Sheary and Dominik Simon who were recalled to Pittsburgh an hour before the game was one of the keys to the loss.
Last Game: Wednesday at home against Lehigh Valley, the Penguins staged a third period comeback down 5-2 and won in overtime 6-5. Penguins captain Tom Kostopoulos has five assists in the game. For Bridgeport, the Sound Tigers were in Syracuse last night and lost 5-2. Bracken Kearns and James Wright scored goals for Bridgeport in the loss.
Last Meeting: February 6 in Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins lost 3-2. Carter Rowney had both goals in the loss.
Record: For WBS: 36-19-4-1 (77 pts., 2nd place Atlantic Division) — For BRI: 31-23-3-3 (68 pts., 5th place Atlantic Division)
Why you should care: Penguins lineup should look retooled and revamped with the additions of Conor Sheary back from Pittsburgh and Oskar Sundqvist coming off of injury. The Penguins will be the fresher group on the ice with Bridgeport having battled the night before in Syracuse. Look for a quick start from the Penguins out of the gate.
Television:AHL Live and locally on MyNetworkTV and on 22 The Point in Pittsburgh
Promotion(s): None
Other Game to Watch: Toronto heads to Providence to take on the P-Bruins where the Bruins have a home point streak currently ongoing since December 4. Does that continues against the best team in the AHL tonight?
Next Five Games: @ BRI 3/13, HER 3/19, @ HER 3/20, BNG 3/23, @ BNG 3/25
Comments Off on Transaction Thursday 3/10
Posted by nafsnep on March 10, 2016
I wasn’t expecting to have a blog entry today, but the events of the day almost require it.
The organization is finally getting healthy.
Starting up top, the Pittsburgh Penguins reassigned forward Conor Sheary to the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins today. This after word from the morning that basically everyone practiced today including injured players like Broke Beau Bennett, Eric Fehr and even Ben Lovejoy. It was a full compliment of players. 15 forwards, 8 defensemen and 3 goaltenders. Almost like the week before the regular season when the final cuts need to be made.
Then news today out of Coal Street that Oskar Sundqvist practiced in full and should be good to go for Saturday against Bridgeport. That is good news for the Penguins because getting the firepower of Sheary injected back into the lineup with Sundqvist balancing out your third or even fourth line is certainly welcome.
Defenseman Niclas Andersen is recovered from his illness and is looking like he is ready to go again for this weekends games.
Goaltender Tristan Jarry did not practice. Donatelli indicated today that he is, “getting better.”
The thought here with many is that Foster was a mess last night and Palazzese won the game for the Penguins without giving up a goal in his AHL debut. I don’t agree with that at all. The Penguins are most successful when they play in front of goaltenders not named Matt Murray or Tristan Jarry when they are successful at shot suppression. They limited Hershey to five shots in the third period Sunday in a 5-4 game in the third game in three nights for both teams. They limited Lehigh Valley to three shots in the third period yesterday playing in front of Palazzese and one shot in overtime. They need to insulate whoever the backup is to Jarry as best they can in order to have a chance at winning. It is that simple.
The Pens reassigned three to Wheeling today in what I am guessing is a sign of things to come from Pittsburgh. I would assume that you will see one more transaction at least from Pittsburgh before Saturday nights game against Bridgeport. You may even see a second. But who?
I think the Pittsburgh Penguins are at an interesting crossroads when it comes to Derrick Pouliot. Pouliot has been scratched the last two games in the NHL while the Penguins worked Justin Schultz into the rotation. Ben Lovejoy is getting healthy enough to play. In practice today Pouliot was on the fourth defensive pairing. Pittsburgh is in a fight for its playoff life amidst a battle with its Metropolitan Division brethren. Every point is crucial for them going forward so Head Coach Mike Sullivan needs to dress the best players available now that everyone is seemingly healthy again. Does the organization want to stunt the continued progress of Pouliot by burying him in the press box night after night or do they want him to play top defensive minutes?
Maybe I am grasping at air falling backwards, but don’t be surprised if you see Derrick Pouliot back in Wilkes-Barre sooner rather than later.
Who knows. Certainly I don’t or else they would be paying me to write these things. Time will tell.
They will be talking about this one for a while. In the history of Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins comebacks, this one will rank right up there.
After two periods, the Penguins were down 5-2. Brian Foster started the game and stopped just 15 of 20 shots. The Penguins just signed goaltender Franky Palazzese to a PTO in the morning and things were looking bleak. It wasn’t looking like the Penguins night.
But Wilkes-Barre mounted an epic comeback. Two early goals in a span of :44 in the third period that cut it to one then J-S Dea scored with 4.1 seconds left that forced overtime. Carter Rowney scored the overtime game winner.
I am working on my fourth paragraph and haven’t even mentioned his name yet. Tom Kostopoulos had not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE assists in the game. It is his second three assist game or more in a row for the Penguins captain.
Early in the day today it was announced that Carter Rowney was signed to a two year NHL contract by the Pittsburgh Penguins that begins in the 2016-17 season. Certainly well deserved contract for Rowney who has been the most consistent player on the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins amidst countless call-ups to Pittsburgh.
Brian Foster opposed Anthony Stolarz.
Lines were…
Kael Mouillierat – Dustin Jeffrey – Dominik Simon
Matthias Plachta – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Ty Loney – J-S Dea – Josh Archibald
Derek Army – Jarrett Burton – Patrick McGrath
Ryan Parent – Steve Oleksy
Will O’Neill – Barry Goers
Reid McNeill – Tim Erixon
Brian Foster – Franky Palazzese
Lineup Notes: Nic Andersen is ill and he must have passed it onto Jarry as that was the official word given as to why Jarry missed the game. Harrison Ruopp and Anton Zlobin were the healthy scratches. Derek Army replaced Tyler Biggs place on the fourth line. Biggs has an upper body injury, apparently from the hit that Garrett Mitchell laid on him Sunday.
First Period: Sleepy start to begin. Many whistles. Finally the Phantoms chipped one behind Foster’s net and won the race to the puck when Aaron Palushaj found Kevin Goumas parked in front. Goumas shot the puck over Foster’s shoulder and in for the 1-0 Phantoms lead.
About five minutes later and after a Penguins power play that came and went, Steve Oleksy hammered his second goal of the year home when Stolarz was screened for a tie game at one.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 10, 2016
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Lehigh Valley edged ahead off of a face off play when Cole Bardreau one timed one past Foster and in far post for a 2-1 Lehigh Valley lead.
The Penguins were getting shots to Stolarz, 11 of them exactly, so the offensive effort was there.
Second Period: Phantoms extended it to 3-1 off a similar play that opened their scoring. Phil DiSimone scored a tap in when Lehigh Valley chipped it in deep. Pens couldn’t make the clear needed.
Phantoms would score on both power plays awarded them in the period. Adam Comrie took a shot from the mid slot that beat Foster that made it 4-1. The Penguins blocked the initial shot but it went straight to Comrie who got all of it.
Foster to this point stopped just 4 of 11 shots.
Pens got one back on a power play goal by Carter Rowney. Will O’Neill took the shot that Rowney deflected.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 10, 2016
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The Pens were a step quicker than the Phantoms and were buzzing for the third goal. Not for anything but you had the sense that despite the play of their goaltender and the two goal deficit that they were still in the game.
So the last thing they needed to happen, did. Tim Erixon took an interference penalty and that changed the momentum completely for the Penguins.
Danick Martel left his stick on the ice, Max Lamarche made a perfect slap pass to Martel’s tape and the puck deflected top shelf and in. Nothing Foster could have done there. It was an elite deflection goal by Martel.
Third Period: Franky Palazzese took over for Foster to begin the period. It was his AHL debut. Foster stopped 15 of 20 Phantoms shots sent his way.
The comeback was on.
In a span of :44, the Pens made it a one goal game.
Kael Mouillierat swept in a puck left on the paint by Stolarz on a power play.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 10, 2016
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The Phantoms were on tilt. The Penguins were winning every single puck battle. But time was beginning to become the enemy of the Penguins. Then with 70 seconds left, Clark Donatelli used his timeout and pulled Palazzese for the extra attacker.
The Penguins actually went with six forwards in a desperate effort to tie the game.
It wasn’t looking like the Penguins were going to get the equalizing goal but then Dustin Jeffrey took a shot that Tom Kostopoulos collected a rebound on, Kostopoulos calmly slid the puck over to J-S Dea and Dea scored with 4.1 seconds left.
(Coal Street didn’t post a GIF of the Dea tally, sorry)
The six forward gamble paid off big.
Overtime: Palazzese had a big save in overtime that led to the Rowney goal that ended it…
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 