Chirps from Center Ice

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

GAMEDAY: @ Hershey 2/7

Comments Off on GAMEDAY: @ Hershey 2/7 Posted by on February 7, 2015

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Away Game: 23

AHL Game: 697

Who: Hershey Bears

Where: Giant Center

When: 7:00 p.m.

Media Kit

Last Game: Tuesday at home vs. Springfield, the Penguins won 5-0. Matt Murray collected his fifth shutout of the season, third against Springfield, with a 28 save shutout. For the Bears, they were in Binghamton last night and won 3-2. Ex-Penguin Chris Conner had two goals for the Bears.

Last Meeting: January 3 in Hershey, the Pens lost in a shootout 2-1. Matia Marcantuoni scored the only goal for the Penguins in the loss.

Record: For WBS: 25-18-1-3 (54 pts., 2nd place East Division) — For HER: 26-13-4-2 (58 pts., 1st place East Division)

Why you should care: The Bears have points in their last eight games. They are playing like an East Division leader and are, rightfully. The Penguins need to win head-to-head games against Hershey if they have any chance of looking to re-take first in the East, just with all the games in hand Hershey seems to have on Wilkes-Barre. Will be a great test for the Penguins tonight in Hershey against the Bears.

Referee(s): Jamie Koharski

Linesmen: Tom George / Jud Ritter

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @WBSGameDay / @TheHersheyBears

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /TheHersheyBears

Instagram: wbspenguins / thehersheybears

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @TLTomVenesky // @timleone

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

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @ChocHockey

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

Television: AHL Live

Other Game to Watch: Tomorrow’s opponent, Bridgeport, hosts in state rival Hartford.

Next Five Games: @ BRI 2/8, BNG 2/11, POR 2/13, LV 2/14, PRO 2/21

Gameday

Scoreboard Watching…

Comments Off on Scoreboard Watching… Posted by on February 6, 2015

The Penguins have been off since Tuesday’s 4-0 win against Springfield. They have played the most games among the top teams in the Eastern Conference (47) so they are letting everyone catch up with them. Here’s what happened as we head to Saturday….

— Wednesday night —

Some games of interest starting on Wednesday. All benefitted the Penguins.

ALB      1
button_14mch200      4

The Devils were a point off the Penguins with a game in hand Wednesday. They burned that game in hand in Manchester and lost 4-1. The Monarchs got a got from Brad Richards who recently cleared waivers and was assigned to the Monarchs.

button_hfd200     2
SYR     3

Hartford and Syracuse are two teams with three games in hand on Wilkes-Barre coming into Wednesday. The Crunch were hurt by injuries coming into the game, had three more players get hurt but manage a 3-2 win against the Hartford Wolf Pack.

WOR     4
button_lv200     3

Two more teams with three games in hand played in Allentown Wednesday. The Sharks beat the Phantoms 4-3. Even if the Phantoms won all three of their games in hand they still would be behind the Penguins but it was a game worth watching with the way that the Phantoms dealt with the Pens Saturday night.

There was also some ECHL action of interest Wednesday.

WHL     1
REA     2

The Nailers received reinforcements in the form of J-S Dea, Josh Archibald and Eric Hartzell Wednesday afternoon.. Hartznell started in goal for the Nailers Wednesday in Reading and opposed ECHL Goaltender of the Week Connor Knapp and lost 2-1 in controversial fashion as a goal with 15.9 seconds left in the third period was disallowed. There is no replay in the ECHL and the call was overturned, somehow. The Royals won their eighth game in a row.

So that was Wednesday.

— Friday Night —

POR     8
STJ     1

Portland blitzkrieged St. John’s tonight on The Rock and won 8-1. Every skater registered at least a point except for Cory Trivino. Even goaltender Mike McKenna notched an assist, his fourth of the season. That Pirates win bumps the Penguins down to ____ and draws the Pirates even with the Penguins in games played.

ALB     1
button_spr200     4

Those pesky Devils lost to Springfield tonight 4-1. Really a golden opportunity lost for Albany to insulate themselves as playoff contenders in mid February. Instead they are on the outside looking in after the dust settles tonight.

HER     3
BNG     2

The Bears burned off one of their three games in hand in Binghamton tonight and made it count with a 3-2 win in Binghamton. Ex-Penguin Chris Conner had two goals. Hershey is 7-0-0-1 in their last eight games and are four points ahead of the Penguins with two games in hand.

WOR     0
NOR     3

A team that should be on your radar is the Worcester Sharks. The Sharks were a playoff team coming into tonight and have two games in hand on the Penguins. They burned off one of those games tonight in Norfolk but ran into John Gibson and the Admirals and lost 3-0. Gibson had a 36 save shutout.

TOL     1
WHL     4

I always like keeping tabs on Wheeling, and now with ECHL.TV I am able to. Anyway, I had the Nailers on the side monitor tonight as they took on North Division leader Toledo. They won 4-1. Eric Hartzell backed up tonight, J-S Dea and Josh Archibald had are down on assignment. Archibald picked up an assist. Both had three shots. Big win for Wheeling. Toledo only lost seven games in regulation coming into tonight.

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Eastern Conference standings look like this on Friday:

1) SYR (64) 2) MCH (62) 3) HER (58) 4) SPR (58) 5) HFD (57) 6) POR (55) 7) WBS (54) 8) WOR (53)

Gameday for tomorrow night’s tilt vs. Hershey in Hershey hits the blog tomorrow at 3 p.m.

The AHL, Wheeling

Bounceback — Pens WIN 4-0

2 Comments Posted by on February 3, 2015

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Be honest, the pessimistic side of you wasn’t expecting tonight’s result.

After getting shellacked in front of a sellout crowd on Saturday night by the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 6-2, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and Head Coach John Hynes go right back to G Matt Murray Tuesday night and the Penguins shutout the Springfield Falcons for the third time this season and win 4-0.

The Falcons, in three games played against the Penguins this season, have yet to score a single goal against Wilkes-Barre. The Falcons have been shutout four times this season and three of them have come against the Penguins.

Murray, to his credit, was masterful in net for the Penguins. Several stops in close and stops on rebounds and in a pile of bodies. There was a sequence early in the second period where it looked like the Falcons had scored a few times on the power play but Murray and the Penguins penalty killing unit kept them off the scoreboard.

Scott Wilson and Bryan Rust had a three point night, Andrew Ebbett had two power play goals on a late 5-on-3 the Penguins had. Wilkes-Barre went 3 for 5 on the power play and 3 for 3 on the penalty kill. I guess when you have two players that put up three point nights, go 60% on the power play and have a goaltender that has a teams number, you win by the scoreline that the Penguins won by.

Same lineup as Saturday but for Pierre Leblond and Dominik Uher out for Adam Payerl and Matia Marcantuoni. We were expecting word on Leblond’s suspension for the instigator in the final five minutes of Saturday’s game but a suspension never came down from the AHL offices in Springfield. Hynes told Tom after the game that it was rescinded, so no suspension is coming. Also, there was some confusion this morning with the news that Harrison Ruopp was recalled by the Penguins. In the initial press release from Coal Street this morning it stated that Alex Boak and Eric Hartzell were re-assigned there. That was an error and a dated press release. Harrison Ruopp’s recall was the only transaction made by the Penguins today. I apologize for any confusion I may have caused with my tweets (since deleted) this morning.

First Period: Falcons came out flying. They blitzkrieged the Penguins and led in shots 6-1 thirteen minutes in. Springfield was doing everything right until Kerby Rychel hooked Nick Drazenovic putting the Penguins on the power play. Tom Kostopoulos set a nice pick on a Falcons defenseman, allowing Scott Wilson an easy path to the net of ex-Penguin Scott Munroe. Wilson went top shelf on Munroe and put the Penguins up 1-0.

Penguins weathered the early Springfield storm, earn a power play and cash on it. I love it when a plan comes together.

Second Period: Barry Goers is boxed for a puck over glass delay of game and the Falcons do everything but score on the ensuing power play. Murray battled. Then the Penguins swung the momentum in their favor with great offensive pressure.

Turning point of the game was the failed Springfield power play on the Goers infraction. Falcons did everything they could to score but couldn’t.

Third Period: Bryan Rust and Nick D’Agostino come up ice on an odd man rush. Rust centers D’Agostino who shoots, Munroe makes the save but leaves a juicy rebound to Rust who scores to make it 2-0 Penguins. Seemingly that was all the momentum and scoring the Penguins needed. The Falcons got a power play but it was the Penguins taking advantage of shorthanded opportunities. Sean Collins had a breakaway that was denied by Murray. They couldn’t put anything past him.

The Falcons took a series of high sticking penalties late, and Andrew Ebbett made them pay. The game, seemingly already decided was cemented in the Penguins favor with two power play goals by Ebbett on the far circle.

Three Stars: 3) Scott Wilson (goal, two assists, even) 2) Andrew Ebbett (two goals, +1) and Matt Murray (28 save shutout)

Since returning from Pittsburgh, Ebbett has 4-3-7 in four games, Wilson has 7-4-11 in eight games and Rust has 2-6-8 in six games.

Also, with his second power play goal tonight, Andrew Ebbett has 300 AHL points.

Matt Murray is tied with Portland’s Mike McKenna for shutouts with 5. That leads the AHL. He has stopped all 77 shots faced by Springfield in three games.

Around the Division: They all watched us.

Standings: Hershey 56 — Penguins 54 — Lehigh Valley 47 — Norfolk 41 — Binghamton 40

Conference: 1) SYR (61) 2) MCH (60) 3) HER (56) 4) HFD (57) 5) SPR (56) 6) WBS (54) 7) POR (53) 8) ALB (53)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off. They take on the Reading Royals tomorrow night at 7.

SendToNews Highlights: YouTube instead…

[youtube http://youtu.be/6bS_f649xJc]

Penguins are off until Saturday when they play the Hershey Bears in Chocolatetown. The Bears get one of their three games in hand back Friday night in Binghamton. Lehigh Valley hosts Worcester Wednesday and is off Friday as well. The Penguins have played the most amount of games (47) than anyone else in the top 8, so there are games in hand. I will probably have a Friday night blog after all the games of importance go final as a setup to the weekend for the Pens then. Unless I can think of anything or there is newsworthy things worth blogging about, look for the next update then.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

GAMEDAY: vs. Springfield 2/3

1 Comment Posted by on February 3, 2015

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Home Game: 25

AHL Game: 673

Who: Springfield Falcons

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m.

Media Kit

Last Game: Saturday at home vs. Lehigh Valley, the Penguins were up 2-0, only to see the Phantoms score six unanswered and lose 6-2. Bryan Rust and Andrew Ebbett both had two assists in the losing effort. For Springfield, the Falcons were in Hartford Saturday and lost 3-1. Marko Dano had the lone goal for Springfield in the loss.

Last Meeting: Friday in Springfield, the Falcons were shutout by the Penguins 5-0. Matt Murray had his fourth shutout of the season with 28 saves.

Record: For WBS: 24-18-1-3 (52 pts., 2nd place East Division) — For SPR: 26-15-4-0 (56 pts., 3rd place Northeast Division)

Why you should care: Penguins still souring over the blowout loss against the Phantoms on home ice in front of a sellout crowd Saturday and the Falcons are stumbling and still haven’t scored a goal against the Penguins this season in two prior meetings. Two teams not in desperation mode but the winner will feel better heading into the weekend than the loser, obviously.

Referee(s): Jon McIsaac / Evgeny Romasko

Linesmen: John Grandt / Ryan Gibbons

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @WBSGameDay // @TheFalconsAHL

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /falconsahl

Instagram: wbspenguins / falconsahl

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie and @TLTomVenesky

Broadcasters: For WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / For SPR: Andy Zilch @andy_zilch

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep

Radio: For WBS: WILK Newsradio / For Springfield: WHYN News Talk 560

Television: AHL Live

Promotion(s): None

Other Game to Watch: Nothing in the division, but San Antonio and Texas are locked in a battle for second in the West, behind the AHL’s best Oklahoma City. They play the first of two tonight.

Next Five Games: @ HER 2/7, @ BRI 2/8, BNG 2/11, POR 2/13, LV 2/14

Gameday

AHL Power Rankings: Week 17

Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings: Week 17 Posted by on February 2, 2015

So as the calendar flips to February, things are hotly contested in many of the divisions in the AHL.

In the North, you have the Adirondack Flames four points behind the Utica Comets, who have 56 points.

In the Midwest, division leading Rockford leads the way with 58 points and three back the Milwaukee Admirals are lurking.

In the West, the Oklahoma City Barons are running away with things, but the race for second is a hotly contested one. The San Antonio Rampage lead the Texas Stars by six points.

All those teams I mentioned? They play their pursuer or pursuee twice this week. Are you a contender or a pretender? While it may be too soon to say, this weekend may be the first step in finding out.

The Syracuse Crunch still lead the Week 17 Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings by the way. Click through the jump if you didn’t link in direct to see where everyone else ended up this week.

Read more of this post

Power Rankings

Deep Sixed — Pens LOSE 6-2

1 Comment Posted by on January 31, 2015

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I can’t for the life of me remember if I have use that headline once before here. If I have, I apologize.

Anyway, I have been blogging up this team long enough to see a game like this one coming. Let’s look at the elements….

— You have a Penguins team rolling, winning four straight games, coming off of a 5-0 laugher in Springfield last night.
— A goaltender in Matt Murray who has been hot as of late, and leads the AHL in goals against average coming into tonight’s action.
— A Lehigh Valley team that had its heads kicked in the night before at home against Hershey and the night prior against Albany.
— Andrew Ebbett down from Pittsburgh this afternoon after being re-assigned. Ebbett was a key contributor to the Penguins ending the then six game losing streak against St. John’s about ten days ago.
— You find yourself up 2-0 at home on a Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 8,217 people 10:23 into the first period on a game that is being locally televised, also.

You are going to roll, right?

Wrong. Instead, the Phantoms respond with six straight goals, chase Matt Murray in the process and win 6-2. The game devolved late in the third period with fights and misconducts being passed around like a hot potato at a summer camp. Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond is facing at least a one game suspension, picking up and instigator penalty in the final five minutes of the third period.

Penguins went up quickly on the Phantoms with a Scott Wilson power move to the net on Lehigh Valley starting goaltender Robb Zepp at 6:24 of the first. Tom Kuhnhackl tacked on a power play goal off of a Bryan Rust shot that Zepp left a big rebound on.

Wilkes-Barre was cruising. Then they got complacent.

— Andrew Gordon made it a 2-1 game at 12:30 of the first with a dart of a shot while the Penguins were just going through the motions.
— Adam Comrie scored a power play goal at 15:47 to tie the game at two on a snipe of a shot that Murray could have saved.

Second period saw Jesper Pettersson score to make it 3-2. This chased Murray from the net, enter Jeff Zatkoff who was healthy enough to at least back up tonight. The Penguins didn’t allow any more shots the rest of the way, threw everything but the kitchen sink at Zepp the rest of the way, 16 shots total, but couldn’t get anything past.

There was a point in the game when the Penguins were down one where they clearly put the puck past Zepp but ref Keith Kaval ruled incidental contact on Zepp and washed out the goal. I thought that this was the turning point in the game. A 3-3 tie is a lot better than working and working and coming up empty and then getting scored on again and again.

In the third period, the Phantoms wasted no time.

Taylor Leier scored :20 in on the first actual shot that Zatkoff sees and you could feel the game getting out of hand.

Nick Cousins buries a juicy rebound left by Zatkoff for a 5-2 Phantoms lead on a power play goal at 3:53.

Jason Akeson on what must have been a blown assignment because he had all day to make a move and dance into the top of the circles and let go a shot with no traffic in front for a 6-2 Lehigh Valley lead.

Head Coach John Hynes took his timeout after that. Didn’t matter. Game ended up with fights and lots of guys getting tossed on 10 minute misconducts. I thought the pairing of Kaval / Tim Mayer did good as far as assessing 10 minute misconducts to anyone who stepped out of line with the game being well decided between two divisional rivals.

J-S Dea, Matia Marcantuoni, Eric Hartzell, Josh Archibald and Adam Payerl were the healthy scratches tonight. Hartzell will likely get shipped to Wheeling sooner rather than later. Derrick Pouliot was called up to Pittsburgh prior to the game for the injured Christian Ehrhoff.

Three Stars: 3) Andrew Gordon (goal, assist, +2) 2) Nick Cousins (goal, two assists, +2) and 1) Taylor Leier (goal, two assists, +2)

Around the Division: Hershey loses in a shootout to Syracuse 3-2. Followed that one on Twitter and it sounded like an instant classic. Crunch were up 2-0, Bears claw back with a goal late in the second and tie it in the third…..Norfolk beats Binghamton in overtime 2-1.

Standings: Hershey 54 — Penguins 52 — Lehigh Valley 47 — Norfolk 41 — Binghamton 40

Conference: 1) SYR (61) 2) MCH (60) 3) HER (54) 4) HFD (57) 5) SPR (56) 6) POR (53) 7) ALB (53) 8) WBS (52)

Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 4-3 to Kalamazoo. Derek Army had a goal and an assist in the loss.

SendToNews Highlights: Not up yet. Doubt the Pens will offer YouTube. Doubt you’d click through to see them anyway on SendToNews. Let’s move on…

Bears host the Admirals tomorrow and burn off one of three games in hand on the Penguins. Wilkes-Barre is in action Tuesday against Springfield. My Power Rankings will hit the blog Monday at 4 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

GAMEDAY: vs. Lehigh Valley 1/31

Comments Off on GAMEDAY: vs. Lehigh Valley 1/31 Posted by on January 31, 2015

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Home Game: 24

AHL Game: 667

Who: Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m.

Media Kit

Last Game: Last night in Springfield, the Pens won 5-0. Matt Murray had a 28 save shutout and was named the first star of the game. For Lehigh Valley, they lost at home to the Hershey Bears last night by a score of 6-1. Taylor Leier scored the only goal for the Phantoms in the loss.

Last Meeting: December 13 in Allentown, the Pens lost 2-1 in a shootout. J-S Dea scored a goal for the Penguins in the loss.

Record: For WBS: 24-17-1-3 (52 pts., 2nd place East Division) — For LV: 20-18-4-1 (45 pts., 3rd place East Division)

Why you should care: Penguins come home to a sellout crowd tonight against a Phantoms team that has lost two in a row and playing its third game in three nights. Wilkes-Barre has won four in a row and still need to do the right things in order to have success.

Referee(s): Tim Mayer / Keith Kaval

Linesmen: Jud Ritter / Luke Murray

Twitter: @WBSPenguins and @WBSGameDay / @LVPhantoms

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins / /LehighValleyPhantoms

Instagram: wbspenguins / lehighvalleyphantoms

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie and @TLTomVenesky / @gblockus

Broadcasters: WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / For Lehigh Valley: Bob Rotruck @BobRotruck

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep

Radio: For WBS: WILK Newsradio / For Lehigh Valley: Fox 1470

Television: AHL Live and WQMY-TV local in Wilkes-Barre.

Promotion(s): Trading Card Set, courtesy of Times Tribune

Other Game to Watch: Battle of division leaders tonight as the Northeast Division leading Syracuse Crunch face-off against the East Division leading Hershey Bears in Chocolatetown tonight.

Next Five Games: SPR 2/3, @ HER 2/7, @ BRI 2/8, BNG 2/11, POR 2/13

Gameday

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