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There were no fights in this game, but this game was a slugfest between two rival teams. The Penguins came out on the short end of the game with a 4-3 loss.

They did a lot of things right in this game. But what they did wrong, cost them, and big.

Jeff Zatkoff vs. Peter Mannino.

Lines were essentially unchanged but for a late Conor Sheary scratch. He took warmups and was skating his usual top line position but was announced as a scratch. Must have been an injury, because he leads the team in points and you aren’t going to scratch a guy that leads in that category. J-S Dea took his spot in the lineup.

First Period: Penguins jump was noticeable, holding the B-Sens to without a shot for the first ten minutes of play. Really great to see.

Then out of no where, Mike Sdao scored through a screen that made it 1-0 Binghamton. Probably the second shot of the game.

Off the face-off, Troy Rutkowski high sticked Tom Kuhnhackl and drew blood. Penguins 4:00 power play. Off that face-off, Buddy Robinson scored to make it 2-0 Binghamton. That was the fourth shot on goal for the B-Sens in the period. Not good at all.

Penguins finally cashed on the power play though with Danny Syvret’s first as a Penguin.

Second Period: Penguins carried momentum into the second period and were rewarded with a goal in the first minute. Taylor Chorney put the puck on the pads of Mannino and Carter Rowney, who has been excellent of late, pushed it past Mannino and in for a tie game.

Game then hit a lull which I said at the time benefitted the B-Sens.

In the final minute though, Scott Wilson cashed on a rebound of a Tom Kostopoulos shot that made it 3-2 Penguins.

Third Period: I don’t know what it was. Whether the Penguins played tentative or what. Binghamton is a team that plays fast and loose and if you are not used top playing that style of hockey, you get burned. It happened to the Penguins. Max McCormick scored on a one timer that came out of nowhere that tied the game at three.

Barry Goers left the ice bloodied and holding his left arm as play was stopped so he could get off. He did not return.

Penguins had a few chances late on the power play to either take the lead or tie the game after a Shane Prince backhander of a fluttering pass to him that made it 4-3.

With Zatkoff pulled with over a minute to play, the Penguins never found the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Cole Schneider (assist, even) 2) Taylor Chorney (three assists, a career high, +2) and 1) Shane Prince (game winning goal, +1)

Around the Division: Bears win in overtime up in Portland by a score of 4-3. Hershey has 6 points in their last three games and are getting hot again. Lehigh Valley got thumped by Worcester 6-1 and Norfolk lost 4-3.

Standings: Hershey 87 — Penguins 79 — Lehigh Valley 65 — Binghamton 64 — Norfolk 54

Conference: 1) MCH (88) 2) HER (87) 3) SYR (82) 4) WBS (79) 5) PRO (79) 6) HFD (77) 7) POR (76) 8) SPR (75)

Wheeling Update: Nailers lost 2-1 in Elmira.

SendToNews Highlights: Aren’t up yet. If I remember Sunday morning I will look again.

Pens face-off against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tomorrow at 5:05. Gameday for this at 1 here on the blog.

Let’s Go Pens!!

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Depending on whether or not the Hartford Wolf Pack can catch the Northeast Division leading Crunch, Syracuse is probably going to win that division.

The Crunch have 82 ponts. Really depending on whether Hershey or Wilkes-Barre win the East Division and where they finish, what I am getting at here is that a Wilkes-Barre / Syracuse playoff series would be a fun one.

That was because despite a 2-1 overtime loss to the Crunch, this was a really defensive battle and a fun game to watch in retrospect. Adjust here and alter there and the Penguins can easily go seven games with this Crunch team.

Matt Murray vs. Kristers Gudlevskis.

Lines were…

Conor Sheary – Jayson Megna – Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Kuhnhackl – Carter Rowney – Dominik Uher
Scott Wilson – Matia Marcantuoni – Bobby Farnham
Pierre Leblond – Adam Payerl – Josh Archibald

Brian Dumoulin – Taylor Chorney
Scott Harrington – Danny Syvret
Derrick Pouliot – Barry Goers

J-S Dea took warmups but was scratched. Nick D’Agostino was the only other healthy scratch. were the other healthy scratches. Injury wise, Nick Drazenovic, Reid McNeill and Bryan Rust are still, “week to week.”

First Period: Ended with the shots 10-10 and was an even period, but the Crunch opened with a large swath of offensive zone time, then it opened up considerably, then the Penguins took advantage. Seemed to me that the Penguisn were taking too many chances that weren’t paying off, including making too many passes. At one point, it was a 7-2 shot advantage for the Crunch. Wilkes-Barre nearly scored on the power play with a few good chances by Carter Rowney at the end of the period.

Second Period: Game was slowly into a defensive struggle when Syracuse’s Yanni Gourde scored from the slot to make it a 1-0 lead for the Crunch. What scant offense the Penguins did manage to generate, they did so in spurts. Syracuse enjoyed about 75% of the possession and offensive zone time, yet somehow, the shots were an even 17 all at the end of the period.

Third Period: Started really herky-jerky. At one point, the Crunch would win an offensive zone face-off, shoot and Matt Murray would make the save. This continued a couple times in a row. Pens needed something to break up the monotony of the lack of offense.

It came when Leblond went offsides entering the offensive zone but shot the puck anyway at Gudlevskis. Jake Dotchin took offense and started shoving Leblond before the linesmen stepped in. Refs put both Dotchin and Leblond into the penalty boxes which opened up four on four ice for both teams. Derrick Pouliot made a pass to Tom Kostopoulos….

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/579088073578844160]

…and the captain scored with three Syracuse players draped on him to tie the game at one a piece.

John Hynes at this point was shuffling up lines and was looking for anything to get a goal. Nothing came of it and it was off to…

Overtime: Penguins dominated the overtime period but it was the Crunch that scored when Jonathan Marchessault made a flip pass to Slater Koekkoek when the Crunch were three on one in three on three and Syracuse would take away the extra point.

Three Stars: 3) Matt Murray (27 saves on 29 shots) 2) Kristers Gudlevskis (27 saves on 28 shots) and 1) Slater Koekkoek (game winning overtime goal, even)

Around the Division: Hershey wins 3-2 in overtime in Portland. Binghamton beat Norfolk 4-3 at home. Lehigh Valley lost in Hartford, 3-2.

Standings: Hershey 85 — Penguins 79 — Lehigh Valley 65 — Binghamton 62 — Norfolk 54

Conference: 1) MCH (86) 2) HER (85) 3) SYR (82) 4) WBS (79) 5) PRO (77) 6) HFD (76) 7) POR (75) 8) SPR (73)

Penguins get help from Providence and Springfield losing in regulation. Magic number for playoffs will be 19. It was 22.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers won 2-1 in a shootout in Elmira.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here.

Penguins are at home tomorrow against the Binghamton Senators. Gameday setup hits the blog at 3 Saturday afternoon.

Let’s Go Pens!!!