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Late in the third period, with the game already well decided to the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, Springfield forward Dana Tyrell cherry picked a Penguin turnover from the blue line and skated across center ice and towards Matt Murray on a breakaway. Brian Dumoulin was trailing.

Tyrell made a few moves and backhanded the goal past Murray and in. It ended a record that Matt Murray had set for shutout minutes. The number? 304:11, breaking the old record set by Barry Brust a few years ago of 268:17.

Out of all the saves that Murray made, 130 in total during this remarkable, remarkable run, he will probably say that the seemingly weak and savable shot that Tyrell made was one he could have saved 99 out of 99 times.

304:11. A new record in the 79 year history of the American Hockey League. Good luck breaking that one.

The Penguins won the game 4-1 and continue to rack up points to the good and for the run to the 2015 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Murray opposed Oskar Dansk

Lineups were essentially unchanged from last night. Josh Archibald skated the warmups but was scratched. Last night in Manchester is was J-S Dea.

First Period: Springfield started with jump, with old pals Brian Gibbons and Ryan Craig buzzing about generating chance after chance. Penguins then started to take control of the period and got a power play. Tom Kostopoulos scored this goal that counted…

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/574651978913030144]

.. my first retain, and you can hear my voice at the end of the video, was that Kostopoulos kicked it in. Referee Darcy Burchell disagreed with me and the goal stood. It was on a power play.

Falcons came alive after that goal and started to generate more chances with Gibbons and Craig continuing to pressure. Matt Murray shut the door.

Second Period: Berfore history was made, it almost never came to fruition. Sean Collins broke in on a break but Murray made the save. Gibbons with a shot from far, Murray a cool glove save. It was just a matter of time before Murray made history and he did, with the Falcons bearing down.

Adam Payerl scored off of a rebound of a Scott Wilson shot that made it 2-0. No video of this one. Sorry.

Andrew Ebbett scored this ridiculous goal being hauled down. Take a look at this one…

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/574667821046718465]

Just nasty.

Third Period: Matt Murray continued to make history. He had a sequence of unreal stops on a Springfield power play. I would have got video of that, but I am sure that Brian Coe and the Penguins brain trust on Coal Street will have a video montage of Murray’s history making run. You will want to check that out if they every put one out.

Wilkes-Barre continued to control the period. Time was dwindling… then Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond did this…

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/574679550262669314]

Tyrell scored on the breakaway with about a minute or so remaining bringing the shutout streak to an end. It was the first goal scored by the Springfield Falcons against the Penguins in true four meetings.

By the numbers….

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Three Stars: 3) Andrew Ebbett (goal, assist, even) 2) Tom Kostopoulous (goal, assist, even) and 1) Matt Murray (32 saves on 33 shots)

Around the Division: Hershey lost 5-1 to the Portland Pirates at home. Charlotte beat Norfolk 4-2 in North Carolina. Binghamton beat Syracuse 4-2.

Standings: Hershey 79 — Penguins 74 — Lehigh Valley 59 — Binghamton 58 — Norfolk 51

Conference: 1) MCH (79) 2) HER (79) 3) SYR (74) 4) WBS (74) 5) PRO (72) 6) POR (70) 7) SPR (70) 8) WOR (68)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were in Evansville, and lost to the IceMen 2-1.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here.

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Penguins finally home and host the Hershey Bears Wednesday and Saturday this week. My Week 22 AHL Power Rankings will hit the blog Monday at 4. I’ll get started on the chart refresh Sunday night. Check back.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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It’s becoming a trend.

Whenever Matt Murray skates out to the net the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are defending at the beginning of the game, the Penguins have a chance to win.

What does a goaltender do? Stops shots. Helps the team win. Murray has done his job, masterfully. His #1 status in Wilkes-Barre, the AHL Goaltender of the Month Award for February backs up that statement.

But he is on another planet. Another shutout today, his ninth overall and fourth in a row, breaking a Wilkes-Barre / Scranton team record for consecutive shutouts with four.

But wait, there is more. Murray can make AHL history tomorrow if he skates out to the net the Penguins defend tomorrow afternoon in Springfield and does his job for another 23 more minutes.

That would be the AHL record for consecutive shutout minutes, set by Barry Brust of the now defunct Abbotsfoird Heat a few years ago. The record is 268:17. Murray’s streak is 245:22.

You think Murray is aware of this? You think he cares? You think Head Coach John Hynes is aware of this, you think he cares?

My money bets no. The Penguins are in a playoff battle and are chasing the Hershey Bears for the East Division lead and 6 other teams in the Eastern Conference for a playoff berth. Murray, Hynes and Company are probably more focused on just winning tomorrow against the Falcons and nothing else. The rest is gravy. The Penguins won the game today 3-0.

Murray opposed Patrik Bartosak today in net.

Lines were….

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

Brian Dumoulin – Taylor Chorney
Scott Harrington – Barry Goers
Nick D’Agostino – Harrison Ruopp

Matt Murray – Jeff Zatkoff

Lineup Notes: Josh Archibald was scratched. J-S Dea took warmups but was scratched. I had a booster club member tweet in and tell me that they saw Reid McNeill with a cast on his left hand in the elevator, thus Harrison Ruopp was in for him today. Obie said on the broadcast that he is week to week.

First Period: Penguins opened with a slower pace to start and got physical after every whistle that stopped play. The game plan worked. Forechecking pressure by Dominik Uher caused a turnover by the Monarchs right to Matia Marcantuoni who was parked right in the slot, collected the puck, fired and scored….

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/574308974939533313]

Penguins limited the Manchester chances, let the game come to them, and led the Monarchs in shots 12-8 after the first period.

Second Period: Penguins kept the Monarchs to the outside, played a team centric game and at times smothered the Monarchs, who remember are one of the AHL’s best teams at home and one of the best teams in the AHL all season long. Conor Sheary kept his eye on the puck….

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/574316534170058752]

… and doubled the Penguins lead.

The Penguins continued to pressure the Monarchs. What little momentum they did build was halted when they took a penalty late in the period. The Penguins continued to smother Manchester late.

Third Period: If Murray does make AHL history should he start tomorrow in Springfield, point back to this period as the period that helped him get the record…

1) The Penguins started out on the penalty kill with a late second period penalty to Adam Payerl. Manchester had 1:58 of power play time on clean ice to work with. The Monarchs have the top unit in the AHL.

2) Brian Dumoulin was nabbed for elbowing, putting the Monarchs back on the power play. The Penguins did a good job of holding off the Monarchs power play the last time, but did an even better job this go around because Tom Kuhnhackl scored just the second shorthanded goal of the season for the Penguins here….

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/574330342577934336]

3) Scott Harrington was caught closing his hand on the puck in the crease when there was a mass of bodies in front of the net. After discussion, referees awarded a penalty shot. Sean Backman took it and missed.

4) Monarchs got yet another chance on the power play, but did not capitalize.

Penguins took just five shots in the third. Manchester had seventeen. They threw everything they had at Murray, had the benefits of three power plays and a penalty shot, and came up empty. Remember this is the same Manchester team that subjugated the Penguins the night before.

Three Stars: 3) Tom Kuhnhackl (shorthanded goal, +1) 2) Matia Marcantuoni (goal, +1) and 1) Matt Murray (32 save shutout)

Around the Division: Hershey beat Hartford 5-3 so the lead between Hershey and Wilkes-Barre remains seven to the Bears…Portland beats Lehigh Valley 5-4 in Allentown. Binghamton and Norfolk were idle.

Standings: Hershey 79 — Penguins 72 — Lehigh Valley 59 — Binghamton 56 — Norfolk 51

Conference: 1) HER (79) 2) MCH (77) 3) SYR (74) 4) WBS (72) 5) PRO (70) 6) SPR (70) 7) WOR (68) 8) POR (68)

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 4-3 against Indy in Indiana. Alex Boak had a goal. Big win for Wheeling.

SendToNews Highlights: Manchester doesn’t send them. Click on my replays of everything for all that you need.

Will Murray get the net tomorrow? Will he make history? Tomorrow’s game in Springfield is a 3 p.m. start. Remember to set your clocks ahead one hour!

Let’s Go Pens!

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A couple of questions will surround this Penguins team tonight into tomorrow, after a 6-3 loss to the Manchester Monarchs in New Hampshire tonight….

— Can the Penguins run with the elite teams? Manchester has a great home record (24-6-1-0) and just doesn’t lose at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
— Is Wilkes-Barre a one-dimensional team that, with proper personnel and scouting, you can shut down? The Penguins were out shot 28-18 tonight and had just 11 shots through 40 minutes of play.
— Is this the end of the Jeff Zatkoff as we know him? Zatkoff has been insulated by the stellar play by February’s AHL Goaltender of the Month Matt Murray and is basically the backup for the Penguins coming down the stretch.

As I was watching this one on AHL Live tonight, with the game already decided, I wondered if Head Coach John Hynes will even sleep tonight, with the teams rematching Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

The answer to my third question really wouldn’t have mattered and you are silly if you pin the loss 100% on Jeff Zatkoff’s shoulders. The Penguins lost this game tonight because they played bad as a team, not because of the play of the goaltender tonight.

We don’t have to wait very long to see how the Penguins respond to this loss, which snaps a 10game point streak.

The aforementioned Jeff Zatkoff vs. Jean-Francois Berube.

Lines were…

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

Brian Dumoulin – Taylor Chorney
Reid McNeill – Scott Harrington
Nick D’Agostino – Barry Goers

Jeff Zatkoff – Matt Murray

Harrison Ruopp skated the warmups but was a scratch. J-S Dea and Pierre Leblond did not participate in warmups and were the other healthy scratches.

Nick Drazenovic (upper body) and Bryan Rust (lower body) are still week-to-week and are not on the trip.

First Period: There are a few teams in the AHL that you just cannot make a mistake against. The Monarchs are one of them. After a really bad turnover by Taylor Chorney to Jordan Weal, Manchester jumped out to the quick 1-0 lead. They quickly made it 2-0 off a Brian O’Neill slam dunk far post. The Penguins were trapped on the ice for an icing, got caught trying too hard to get the puck out of the zone and forgot that O’Neill was camped out far post.

Penguins got one back on the power play off of Scott Harrington’s first of the season….

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/574004355470352384]

It was also the eighth straight game that Wilkes-Barre has scored a power play goal.

Manchester re-established the two goal lead on a power play goal from Colin Miller.

Second Period: Frustrating period for the Penguins, who managed just one shot on goal for the first ten minutes/ They didn’t do themselves any favors, gift wrapping the Monarchs a long 5-on-3 power play that Vincent LoVerde scored on at the very end of to make it 4-1. The Monarchs continued to contain the Penguins. Finally, late, the Pens had two consecutive power play opportunities and scored on this one from Taylor Chorney…

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/574019023819702273]

Just when you think the tide is turning for the Penguins, Andrew Bodnarchuk scores to make it 5-2 for the home team in the final minute.

Felt like that whenever the Penguins took a step forward, they followed it up with two steps backward.

Third Period: Penguins opened with a sense of urgency and got this goal from Dominik Uher to draw back within two…

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/574025418166157312]

Carter Rowney set that play up by cycling the puck low and threw the puck on Berube. Uher was there to clean up the rebound.

Josh Archibald took his first of two tripping calls in the period and that ended any hope of a Penguins comeback because the Penguins needed to kill a penalty. They were successful, but then Jordan Weal picked up his fourth point of the night when he deked Nick D’Agostino out of his jock and scored to make it 6-3.

[tweet https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/574030543261732864]

Yikes.

Credit to Manchester. Every piece of momentum that the Penguins countered with they responded to. That needs to be cleaned up quickly and should.

Three Stars: 3) Zach O’Brien (two assists, +3) 2) Brian O’Neill goal, assist, +3) and 1) Jordan Weal (two goals, two assists, +2)

Around the Division: All wasn’t lost from a Penguins perspective because Hershey lost 2-1 to Providence. Binghamton beat Norfolk 3-2 in overtime and Lehigh Valley beat Bridgeport 2-1 also in overtime.

Standings: Hershey 77 — Penguins 70 — Lehigh Valley 59 — Binghamton 56 — Norfolk 51

Conference: 1) MCH (77) 2) HER (77) 3) SYR (74) 4) WBS (70) 5) SPR (70) 6) WOR (68) 7) HFD (68) 8) PRO (68)

Wheeling Update: After playing four games in five games this week, the Nailers had a much needed Friday night off.

SendToNews Highlights: Are not up yet. Doubt you’d want to look anyway. If I remember at some point tomorrow I will link in. No promises.

Gameday for the rematch vs. these Monarchs will be up at 11 a.m. for the 3 p.m. start.

Let’s Go Pens!