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When I woke up to the news that the Pittsburgh Penguins had recalled Taylor Chorney and Derrick Pouliot from the Wilkes-Barre blue line, I thought that the Penguins were in trouble.

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The Binghamton Senators lead the AHL in goal scored with 3.41 goals scored a game. The Penguins were left with defensemen Reid McNeill, Alex Boak, Nick D’Agostino, Clark Seymour, Barry Goers and a guy they just signed to a PTO from Wheeling by the name of Paul Cianfrini who all have a combined number of NHL games as you or I have. Zero.

Suffice to say, Shimes didn’t have much to say tonight.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins scored three goals in the first period and got 35 saves from Jeff Zatkoff and cruised to victory tonight by a score of 3-0. It was Zatkoff’s third shutout and ties him for second overall in the AHL in that department.

They also killed off all five Binghamton power plays that referee Geno Binda awarded them tonight, including a 5-on-3 penalty late in the game with less than two minutes to play.

I’m convinced that Head Coach John Hynes can win with a pile of sand and a bunch of frayed rope.

Everything happened tonight in the first period. The Penguins had just gone 0-for-2 on consecutive power plays when Alex Boak put the puck on net. It deflected off of a Binghamton defenseman’s stick in front and rainbowed over the body of goaltender Scott Greenham and in for a 1-0 Penguin lead.

About four minutes later, the Penguins scored twice in the span of less than a minute. Nick Drazenovic and Conor Sheary scored. Drazenovic snaked through Binghamton defenders and Sheary scored his on a three on two rush. Goals came from nearly the same spot.

In the second, the B-Sens made a push to get on the board a few times but Zatkoff held them out with some dazzling pad stops.

In the third, the Pens held the B-Sens at bay and didn’t really take too many chances with the puck. That’s a nice way to say that they played a boring period. The final two minutes were anything but boring with fights everywhere, including a line brawl that washed out leaving the Penguins having to kill a 5-on-3.

Three stars were, all Penguins, Conor Sheary (goal, +1) 2) Alex Boak (goal, assist, +2) and Jeff Zatkoff (35 save shutout)

Worth noting here that the only lineup changes the Penguins made were Clark Seymour and Paul Cianfrini for Taylor Chorney (who was scratched tonight for Pittsburgh) and Derrick Pouliot (who scored his first NHL goal on his first NHL shot) Sahir Gill was the only healthy scratch the Penguins made.

Around the Division: Hershey lost 2-1 in overtime to the Springfield Falcons….Lehigh Valley did the same in Hartford by the same score and Norfolk beat the Bridgeport Sound Tigers by the, you guessed it, same score only not in overtime but in regulation.

Standings: Penguins 37 — Hershey 32 — Lehigh Valley 31 — Binghamton 27 — Norfolk 24

Conference: 1) MCH (42) 2) SYR (41) 3) WBS (37) 4) SPR (41) 5) HFD (35) 6) PRO (32) 7) HER (32) 8) ALB (31)

Wheeling Update: You know, your heart goes out to Nailers fans and the team itself. A shorthanded Wheeling side lost 5-3 to the Greenville Road Warriors. Zack Torquato had two assists in the setback.

SendToNews Highlights: Are packaged here.

Penguins are off until December 26 when they face-off against Binghamton again in Binghamton. My Week 11 AHL Power Rankings will hit the blog at 4 p.m. on Monday. Check those out then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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All you need to know about this game, a 4-2 Penguins loss, is the following:

The Penguins allowed the Albany Devils to score three times on the power play tonight and it cost them. That was where the game was won and lost this evening. It was pretty equal at even strength in a tight checking, defensive battle. The Devils were just the better team on special teams tonight.

Let’s take a quick look around the AHL East at the other action before we get to the rest of the recap, shall we?

— The Hershey Bears couldn’t beat Phantoms goaltender Anthony Stolarz, even with 32 shots at him, including half in the first period (for a 16-1 shot advantage) and it cost them as they lost 2-0.
— The Binghamton Senators can’t play defense, up 4-1 at one point to the Springfield Falcons and lost 6-5. The fact that the B-Sens can’t play any defense at all cost them tonight.

So the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins were extremely lucky to lay an egg tonight but still not have it cost them that badly in the division, as no matter what happens tomorrow, the Pens will still lead the East Division by Christmas.

It was 2-0 Albany after forty minutes of insomnia busting hockey before Conor Sheary connected in the third period on a power play goal that beat starting Devils goaltender Scott Clemmensen low to draw Wilkes-Barre within one with a lot of time to play.

But an Adam Payerl slash at 14:42 would put the Devils on the power play yet again and Brandon Burlon wasted no time in scoring the third Albany power play of the night that made it 3-1.

Fifteen seconds later, a soft floater off of the stick of Derrick Pouliot from the blue line beat Clemmensen to draw the Penguins to one again.

But time was the enemy of the Penguins and with starting goaltender Matt Murray pulled, ex-Penguin Paul Thompson buried the empty netter from center ice to squelch any comeback hopes.

John Hynes is in a tough spot. The Penguins sleepwalked through most of this game, but with half of his usual staff in Pittsburgh, how do you send a message? Clark Seymour and Sahir Gill were the healthy scratches tonight. Nick Drazenovic returned from injury and centered a line with Tom Kuhnhackl and Jayson Megna.

Jeff Zatkoff was reassigned from Pittsburgh this morning by the way. Eric Hartzell hasn’t been officially sent back to the ECHL yet, as he wasn’t with the Nailers tonight as they hosted Greenville, in a game that Wheeling lost 1-0.

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There was a bunch of stuff that went on Friday afternoon that I never got around to blogging about. In no set order,

On Thursday, it was announced that Bill Guerin will serve as one of the honorary captains of the 2015 AHL All-Star Classic in Utica. Guerin served as a player development coach here in Wilkes-Barre and now is an Assistant GM in Pittsburgh.

On Friday, it was announced that Tom Kostopoulos will serve as the honorary captain for the Eastern Conference All-Stars in Utica in late January. A dubious distinction for the veteran Kostopoulos, as the playing captains are selected by the AHL President, Dave Andrews.

Nice story here on Defenseman Derrick Pouliot.

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In other East Division action, the Norfolk Admirals were defeated 5-2 by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The two teams rematch tomorrow.

Penguin still lead the East with 35 points. Hershey trails by four, Lehigh Valley by five, Binghamton by eight and Norfolk by thirteen.

Conference is Manchester leading with 40, Syracuse with 39, Wilkes-Barre with 35 then Springfield with 39, Hartford with 33, Providence with 32 and Albany and Hershey with 31 each.

SendToNews highlights are packaged here. Unless your name is Tracey or Amy, nothing to see from a Wilkes-Barre perspective.

Pens are in Binghamton tomorrow night. I’ll be there. With two teams coming off stinkers the night prior, should be interesting.

Let’s Go Pens!