Chirps from Center Ice

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

GAMEDAY: vs. Rochester 11/14

1 Comment Posted by on November 14, 2015

vs.     rch14_200

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Home Game: 8

AHL Game: 196

Who: Rochester Americans

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m.

Media Kit

Last Game: Last night at home vs. Hershey the Penguins won 7-0. Seven different Penguins scored goals and Matt Murray picked up his second shutout of the season. For the Amerks, they were in Lehigh Valley and lost 7-1. Colby Robak scored the only goal for Rochester in the loss.

Record: For WBS: 10-1-0-0 (10 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For RCH: 6-6-0-0 (12 pts., 6 place North Division)

Why you should care: The Penguins look to keep the hot start going against a Rochester team that lost big last night and will undoubtedly make changes from last night to tonight.

Referee(s): Peter Tarnaris

Linesmen: Francois Dussureault / Bob Goodman

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @WBSGameDay / @AmerksHockey 

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /RochesterAmericans

Instagram: wbspenguins / amerkshockey

Beat Writers: @CVSethLakso / @TLTomVenesky // @KevinODandC

Broadcasters: For WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / For RCH: Don Stevens @DonStevensAmerk

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @LetsGoAmerks

Radio: For WBS: WILK NewsRadio / For Rochester 1280 AM WHTK

Television: AHL Live

Promotion(s): None

Other Game to Watch: Bridgeport is in Hershey. Both teams are nipping at the Penguins heels in the division.

Next Five Games: @ HFD 11/15, @ BNG 11/20, @ ALB 11/21, @ BNG 11/25, vs. PRO 11/27

Gameday

Seven from Seven — Pens WIN 7-0

1 Comment Posted by on November 13, 2015

HER        vs.        WBS

0                                         7

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The fact that Matt Murray collected his second shutout of the season, his 14th overall in 50 total career games played is probably the fourth or fifth thing that the papers or other blogs are going to write about after this 7-0 obliteration of the Hershey Bears by the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins Friday night.

– The power play connected three times tonight and still is tops in the AHL.
– Seven different Penguins contributed goals tonight. Only Will O’Neill, Kevin Porter, Dominik Uher, Tom Kostopoulos and Niclas Andersen failed to record a point tonight.
– The Penguins were 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.
– Bears top line was held in check. Chris Bourque and Carter Camper can put up points at will and at a moments notice but didn’t tonight.
– Oh by the way, Matt Murray made 24 saves.

You would think with two NHL caliber goaltenders and guys like Bourque and Camper on your team that you would win a lot more than you lose and put up more of a battle against your biggest rival. I think that the Bears flaws were exposed tonight, in a big, bad way. Their defenders were a total combined -8 this evening.

It was Matt Murray against Dan Ellis.

Lines were…

Scott Wilson – Kael Mouillierat – Conor Sheary
Kevin Porter – Carter Rowney – Dominik Simon
Dominik Uher – Oskar Sundqvist – Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Kuhnhackl – J-S Dea – Josh Archibald

Derrick Pouliot – Steve Oleksy
Niclas Andersen – David Warsofsky
Tim Erixon – Will O’Neill

Matt Murray – Tristan Jarry

Scratches were Matia Marcantuoni, Tom Sestito and Barry Goers, all hurt. Marcantuoni and Sestito could be back next week, Goers is shelved three months after having hip surgery. Healthy scratches were Reid McNeill and Tyler Biggs.

First Period: The Penguins went up 1-0 on a power play goal when Conor Sheary centered to Kael Mouillierat in the slot. It wasn’t until 10:50 of the first period that Hershey recorded a shot and were down 7-0 in the category at the time.

Bears started to wake up though but Matt Murray made the save of the night when he slid across to stop a shot that caromed out front to Paul Carey but Dave Warsofsky was in the right place at the right time to keep it out of the net. Bears quickly caught up with the Penguins in the shot category.

Second Period: But as we have seen time and time again in the second period, that is when the Penguins come out determined and accelerate past their opponent. It didn’t take long.

:19 in, Dominik Simon picks a corner in close on Ellis for a 2-0 Penguins lead. I am trying to remember the last Penguin that had a set of hands on him that came close to Simon’s. He has lethal hands on him.

Later, Conor Sheary powered past Bears defenseman Madison Bowey and roofed shot over Ellis for a 3-0 Penguin lead. It was a bad goal to give up for the Bears at the time because the last thing that you wanted to do was chase the game even more against a team like the Penguins.

The second power play goal of the game came when Scott Wilson fired a shot at the net that deflected off of Aaron Ness’ stick and in for a 4-0 Wilkes-Barre lead. That goal chased Dan Ellis and Justin Peters came in relief. I was actually surprised that Peters didn’t get the start in net for Hershey because he has the better numbers.

Peters would stop Dea on a breakaway. Murray would stop a Nathan Walker chance. The Bears settled a bit but the task ahead was steep.

Third Period: The Penguins would break it open when J-S Dea steals a puck in the neutral zone, wheeled around ex-Penguin Zach Sill and go bare down on Peters for a filthy goal and a 5-0 Penguin lead. I had the sense that if Hershey had scored to open the period that the floodgates would open and the game would be closer.

It wasn’t. Oskar Sundqvist would score a late power play goal to make it 6-0. Want to know how good the power play unit is? Sullivan sent out what I thought was the “C” unit for the power play that consisted of Tim Erixon, Dominik Uher, Steve Oleksy, Sundqvist and Dominik Simon.

At 6-0, there was a feeling after the face-off that the Penguins wanted seven. They got it when Tom Kuhnhackl scored at 18:46.

Three Stars: 3) Kael Mouillierat (goal, assist, even) 2) Conor Sheary (goal, three assists, +2) and 1) Matt Murray (24 save shutout)

Some reaction from around the AHL in the form of tweets on this game:

[tweet https://twitter.com/pwilliamsahl/status/665357083236171776]

Patrick Williams is one of my idols and covers every angle of this league.

[tweet https://twitter.com/_NickHart/status/665357516130250752]

[tweet https://twitter.com/_NickHart/status/665377608381526016]

Facts are fun, and color man Nick Hart drops them often.

[tweet https://twitter.com/ChocHockey/status/665359117456965632]

It isn’t often that you see the Hershey Bears get smacked around like this. In fact,

[tweet https://twitter.com/ChocHockey/status/665362258567000064]

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Look, I don’t get too high when it comes to this franchise. It’s early. It’s November. But I am going to tell you. I cannot find a single weakness with this team right now. Every opponent be it Hartford who was once looking like a solid team or a hated rival like Hershey that comes in and always gives the Penguins fits and always spoils the party is water off of a ducks back. Wilkes-Barre will find your weakness and surgically tear you apart from the inside out. It may not be fun if you are an opponent, but as a Penguin fan that I am, this is fun to watch.

[tweet https://twitter.com/TLTomVenesky/status/665372345104773120]

Scary.

[tweet https://twitter.com/kyle_mace/status/665381682640482304]

I threw that last one in for fun.

Video highlights…

[youtube https://youtu.be/7wlibG6IZ_E]

Around the Division: Portland beat Hartford 3-2…Springfield continues to put up a ton of goals as they beat Utica 6-3…Lehigh Valley scored seven goals tonight as well as they punched Rochester in the mouth and won 7-1. The Amerks are in Saturday to face the Penguins…Albany beat Providence 4-2.

Standings: Penguins (.909 points percentage) — Bridgeport (.703) — Hershey (.577) — Springfield (.500) — Portland (.455) — Hartford (.433) — Lehigh Valley (.429) — Providence (.346)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers beat Reading 6-1 at home tonight Patrick McGrath took home first star honors with two goals.

The Pens finish out the home stand against the Rochester Americans Saturday at 7. Gameday for that will be up at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

RAPID RECAP — Pens WIN 7-0

Comments Off on RAPID RECAP — Pens WIN 7-0 Posted by on November 13, 2015

Matt Murray’s second shutout of the season is going to be the second or third footnote of this game, a 7-0 dismantling of the Hershey Bears tonight. Wilkes-Barre connected for three power play goals and shut down the Bears from the jump. 

More to follow in a bit.

Rapid Recap

GAMEDAY: vs. Hershey 11/13

1 Comment Posted by on November 13, 2015

vs.     her14_200

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Home Game: 7

AHL Game: 184

Who: Hershey Bears

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m.

Media Kit

Last Game: Last Friday at home against St. John’s the Pens won 4-1. The Penguins scored three goals in the span of about two and a half minutes in the third period to win the game. For Hershey, they lost to St. John’s the following night 4-3 in a shootout. Carter Camper set up three goals and Stan Galiev, down on a conditioning assignment, scored two goals in the loss.

Record: For WBS: 9-1-0-0 (18 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division) — For HER: 6-3-0-3 (15 pts., 3rd place Atlantic Division)

Why you should care: Pens are undefeated at home and are off to one of the better starts in team history. Wilkes-Barre has beaten every type of team that has come their way rather soundly of recent. How they start against their biggest rival is going to be key tonight.

Referee(s): David Banfield

Linesmen: Matt McNulty / Luke Murray

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @WBSGameDay / @TheHersheyBears

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /TheHersheyBears

Instagram: wbspenguins / thehersheybears

Beat Writers: @CVSethLakso / @TLTomVenesky // @davesottile

Broadcasters: WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / HER: Scott Stuccio @ScottStuccio

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @ChocHockey

Radio: For WBS: WILK News Radio / For Hershey: 1460 The Ticket 

Television: AHL Live

Promotion(s): Eyewitness News Fan Friday | tickets just $14 | $2 drafts (select drafts, 6-7:30pm)

Other Game to Watch: Tomorrow’s opponent, Rochester, is in Allentown tonight taking on the Phantoms. Let’s go with that one.

Next Five Games: RCH 11/14, @ HFD 11/15, @ BNG 11/20, @ ALB 11/21, @ BNG 11/25

Gameday

It’s Those Guys Again…

Comments Off on It’s Those Guys Again… Posted by on November 12, 2015

It’s really hard to imagine that it’s nearly mid-November and the Hershey Bears and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have yet to play a hockey game against each other yet this season, but that will all change Friday.

Hershey is third in the Atlantic Division with a 6-3-0-3 record through 12 games good for 15 points and a .625 points percentage.

It is easy to keep tabs on these guys. So here’s what I know.

They rotate two goalies, Justin Peters and Dan Ellis. Both have played six games each. Peters is in the top ten in goaltending leaders in the AHL with a 3-1-2 record with a 1.96 GAA and a .932 SV% and I am guessing that the Penguins see him Friday against Matt Murray.

They are middle of the pack in goals scored (2.92) and goals allowed (2.75) meaning that they can score them and give them up at will.

Whoever leads after two periods tomorrow is probably going to win the game. The Bears are 3-0-0-1 leading after two while the Pens are 6-0. Tied after two is almost dead even too with the Bears showing a 2-0-0-1 record and the Penguins with a 2-0 record.

Bears are 4-3 away from Giant Center and the Penguins have yet to lose at home.

The Penguins have the top power play in the AHL connecting at 27.5% of the time while the Bears are in the bottom third of the AHL with a 14% success rate. On the kill, Wilkes-Barre is in the top ten with a 87.8% kill rate while the Bears are middle of the pack at 83.7%.

No big surprise here, Chris Bourque is their leading scorer with a point a game (4-8-12 through 12 games) and Carter Camper is second on the team with 10 points (2-8-10)

Hershey will be without Liam O’Brien and Jakub Vrana. Vrana is out long term with a wrist injury while O’Brien is out midterm with a knee ailment.

Their last five games were as follows:

  • A 4-2 win over St. John’s at home on October 31. IceCaps cough up a 2-0 lead.
  • 5-4 shootout loss at home November 1 to Lehigh Valley. Phantoms cough up a 4-1 lead, Bears tie it late on a Zach Sill goal. It led to Whiteboard-Gate.
  • A pair of 4-2 wins over the Sound Tigers on November 4 in a kids day game in Bridgeport. Bears scored two goals in 1:06 late in the third and then…
  • November 6 in Allentown against the Phantoms in a game that the Phantoms were never in.
  • A 4-3 shootout loss to the St. John’s IceCaps on November 7. The IceCaps scored three consecutive goals after going down 3-0.

So what do we see Friday?

Honestly I don’t know. The Penguins have been the more consistent team. Remember Hartford a few weeks ago? They were the up an coming team in the division that got obliterated by Wilkes-Barre. Hershey is on that same ascent but the Penguins are a better team that St. John’s, Lehigh Valley and Bridgeport. Who knows. Remember the old saying, “buy the ticket, take the ride?” It applies here.

I think this is a big game for the Penguins, the best team in the AHL right now. Their biggest rival is coming in wanting to knock them down. I am not saying that the team that wins is going to win the division or that the team that loses is going to miss the playoffs, I am just saying that it’s a big game. The Bears feel the same way.

Gameday will be up on the blog Friday at 3.

The AHL, WBS

AHL Power Rankings: Week 5

Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings: Week 5 Posted by on November 9, 2015

Five weeks into the AHL season and teams are starting to gain an identity. Some are great no matter what, some are good one week and poor the next and some are terrible no matter how you slice it.

The challenge in curating this weeks version of the Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings was that the top 10 teams were all pretty easy to sort, as were the bottom 10. 11-20? Much harder. These are the teams I think that, depending on where you are (closer to 10 or closer to 20) can be great one week or bad the next.

It’s a familiar team atop this weeks rankings and when I say familiar, if you are a regular reader to this blog, you will see why when you click through the jump if you didn’t link in direct…

Read more of this post

Power Rankings

Nailers 2 @ Norfolk 6 11/7

Comments Off on Nailers 2 @ Norfolk 6 11/7 Posted by on November 7, 2015

WHL       @       NOR

2                                6

With the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins off this Saturday night, I figured I would fire up ECHL.TV and watch the Wheeling Nailers play the Norfolk Admirals at Scope Arena down on Hampton Roads tonight.

The Nailers got smoked 6-2. They drop to 4-4 on the season. The Admirals are trending upwards of recent, winning their third game in a row. The Nailers have lost two in a row.

Wheeling’s Brian Foster opposed Norfolk’s Ty Rimmer.

:27 into the first period, Connor Rankin swept in a puck shot from the far wall past Foster to give the Admirals a quick 1-0 lead. When this happened, the officials noted that the Nailers sent out the wrong starting lineup and assessed a minor penalty on them. I had never seen anything like that and there were some people that I follow on Twitter that never saw it either.

Later, Sahir Gill won an offensive zone face-off and a shot from the point by Clark Seymour was deflected in by Zack Torquato for a tie game.

:34 later, the Admirals went right back ahead when they put a shot on Foster, got him out of position and swept the puck past him and in to re-take the lead.

Riley Brace dispossessed Norfolk defenseman Joe Marciano deep in his own end and passed to a cutting in Jarrett Burton who rocketed a shot over the shoulder of Rimmer for a tie game once again.

Off the ensuing faceoff, Patrick McGrath and Gabriel Verpaelst were willing combatants in a buckets off hockey fight, but before a single punch was thrown, the linesmen jumped in and both would be pugilists were assessed delay of game penalties. That was stranger than the penalty for icing an illegal starting lineup.

With 26.6 left in the first period, Norfolk edged ahead again when a Michael Pelech shot at Foster was erroneously deflected by Burton and right to Charles-Olivier Roussel who scored to make it 3-2. There wasn’t anything Foster could do on that one.

The second period was a much tamer period because you didn’t have a penalty for an illegal lineup or linesmen jumping in to bust up fights. Both goalies settled in, referee Mike Sheehan put his whistle away, and about ten minutes of game time melted off the clock without a whistle. Brian Foster was making some nice saves.

Alexandre Ranger got a step Harrison Ruopp and scored on Foster to double the Admirals lead. I thought that the Wheeling defense was letting Foster down considerably. I saw a player cut right through a four man box and get a shot off on Foster and other plays made where there shouldn’t have been a shot in the first place.

In the third, the play of the game.

With Wheeling on a power play, Josh Currie danced around Zack Torquato, Derek Army and avoided a stick check from John McCarron and scored a ridiculous shorthanded goal that deflated the Nailers and made it 5-2. The Nailers were pressing to this point, but could never recover after that highlight reel goal by Currie.

Here’s a late look at the goal:

Steve Whitney hit an empty net with Foster pulled to round out the final score at 6-2.

Three stars were Alex Ranger with a goal, assist and a +2, Charles-Olivier Roussel with a goal, assist and a +3 and Josh Currie with two goals and a +1.

Ty Loney and Zack Torquato were a -4. Paul Cianfrini and Sahir Gill were -3. Harrison Ruopp and Jarrett Burton were -2.

Toledo lost to Adirondack, Kalamazoo beat Fort Wayne and Brampton lost to Manchester, so your North Division standings look like: Toledo and Kalamazoo with 9 points, Wheeling with 8 and Brampton with 5.

Here’s the infographic but out by Wheeling:

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My Week 5 AHL Power Rankings hit the blog at 4 pm. Monday.

Postgamer, Wheeling

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