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You could see it from the first five minutes.

You could feel it all game.

Finally, at 7:32 in overtime, you could rejoice that it was over.

No, I am not talking about the 3-2 overtime win the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins handed the Binghamton Senators Wednesday evening in Wilkes-Barre Township, I am talking about the play of rookie Conor Sheary.

Head Coach John Hynes is a genius. Sheary, playing in his first AHL playoff game, had a hell of a game and played this playoff game like he was a seasoned veteran of five seasons. He let go of a point shot that Chuck Kobasew got a piece of to send the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins home with the win and a 2-1 series lead.

Wilkes-Barre can close out the East Division Champion Binghamton Senators Friday night at home with a win.

By all rights, the Penguins controlled a good majority of this game tonight and rightfully won.

In the first period, the Pens were flying. A hard board on Anton Zlobin by Mark Borowiecki and a slash by Freddy Claesson and the Pens were on a 5-on-3 advantage. Nick Drazenovic finished off a Chuck Kobasew pass to put the Pens up 1-0.

Before most fans got back in their seats, Simon Despres gets tangled at his own blue line and loses out on a puck. The B-Sens led by Corey Cowick come in shorthanded two on one. The Binghamton Senators led the AHL with 16 shorthanded goals this season. You know how this went. They would score that quickly to even the score at a goal a piece.

Anton Zlobin was not seen after being boarded by Borowiecki.

Teams would trade power plays in the second period to no avail. Jim O’Brien, back for the B-Sens from injury and skating in his first game action since March, had a few opportunities to put his team ahead. A notable one was a falling down backhander that went wide on an open Penguins net.

Carter Rowney and Adam Payerl work some touch passing entering the zone and Payerl zips one past starting goaltender Andrew Hammond for a 2-1 Pens lead.

In the third, O’Brien tied it for the visitors when Alex Grant tried to dump a puck past a Pens defender. The puck caromed off of his skates and right to the cutting O’Brien who essentially had Penguins starting goaltender Peter Mannino sprawling to get over in time. Before that, several great opportunities for the Pens to push ahead of Binghamton but to no success.

Overtime. Again.

Pens and Sens trade two huge stops by their respective goaltenders. The Penguins though, who largely controlled this game, just weren’t going to be denied. Sheary shot it and Chuck Kobasew deflected it. It capped a hell of a game by the rookie Sheary.

Lineup Notes: Nick Drazenovic for Spencer Machacek on the veteran side and Sheary for Mike Carman. After the game Carman had Saturday, I was second guessing. Glad I don’t coach the team.

Three Stars: 3) Nick Drazenovic (goal, +1) 2) Adam Payerl (goal, +1) 1) Chuck Kobasew (goal, assist, even)

Around the Eastern Conference: 1-0 was the popular score. Norfolk won their game over Manchester in overtime by that score and have the Monarchs on the brink. G John Gibson with a stellar 35 save shutout….St. John’s wins 1-0 in regulation and can close out the Albany Devils Friday as well.

SendToNews Highlights: Choosing YouTube over the SendToNews link off because YouTube plays nice with my blog….

[youtube http://youtu.be/lPh3dFe-Y1w]

Oh, if you don’t know where I came up with the headline, Conor Sheary’s nickname is “Thin Mints” — one of these days I will have to ask about the etymology.

Game 4 is Friday. If I have enough newsy type stuff I may run a blog Thursday afternoon / evening. Stay tuned.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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You didn’t think it would be easy, did you?

For the Penguins, it nearly was. They were up 3-1 at one point but lost tonight in overtime 4-3. Stephane Da Costa’s goal at 11:07 of the first overtime completed the comeback for the B-Sens and evened the series at a game a piece as this Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series switches to Wilkes-Barre for Game 3 Wednesday and Game 4 Friday.

The Penguins can’t be happy that they let the B-Sens claw their way back into this series after the B-Sens were down 3-1 in the game. Don’t get it twisted, the Senators nearly lost this game. The Penguins for large stretches dominated the game with puck possession and aggressive forechecking and sticks in lanes.

Peter Mannino vs. Andrew Hammond

Lineup Changes: Mike Carman and Spencer Machacek for Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and Nick Drazenovic for the Penguins and Corey Cowick and Darren Kramer for Matt Puempel and Ryan Dzingel. Puempel got hit hard into the boards by Zach Sill in Game 1, but should be ready for Game 3 Wednesday.

First Period: Brian Dumoulin shoots a puck at the net that Chuck Kobasew gets a piece of for an early 1-0 Penguin lead. Later, Adam Payerl takes a frustration tripping penalty and the B-Sens head to the power play.

Chris Wideman tied the game on the power play just like that. Hey, wait. Payerl takes an early penalty and the B-Sens score on a power play. Where did I see that before? Oh, that’s right. Last night.

Mike Carman from behind the net finds Tom Kostopoulos on the doorstep and the Penguins captain doesn’t miss to put the Penguins ahead 2-1.

Wilkes-Barre largely dominated the period and the scoreboard showed it.

Second Period: Mike Carman, who had himself a hell of a game, scores when the puck gets deflected to him off of a referees skate to put the Pens ahead 3-1. It caught everyone by surprise, as Hammond and company had their heads turned in another direction when the goal was scored.

Here comes Binghamton.

Zach Sill slashing at 15:13. At 16:34, Da Costa gets his first of the night when Mark Stone fires the puck off of the post, which caroms to Da Costa far side who slams it home to make it 3-2.

Third Period: Penguins take a lead heading into the third period. Good things, right? They only lost one game this year leading after two periods. I can’t remember who though….

Bad turnover by the Penguins to Mark Stone who scores to tie the game at three a piece.

Back it up for a second. Mistakes. A Sill penalty. Power play to Binghamton and a goal. A turnover at the start of the third period. Tie game. You cannot make a mistake against the Binghamton Senators. I just have to keep repeating it because it is being played out right before our eyes.

Overtime: Penguins looked strong to start. A gaffe led to a breakaway for Binghamton but it was broken up at the last second. Hammond made a few spectacular saves for the home team then Da Costa ended it to even the series at a game a piece.

Three Stars: 3) Mike Carman (goal, assist, +2) 2) Mark Stone (goal, three assists, +2) 1) Stephane Da Costa (two goals, +2)

Thought about this on the drive back from Binghamton. The Pens made some key mistakes in Games 1 and Games 2 which cost them. Moreso in Game 2 than Game 1. Adjust on those, with home ice now for Games 3 and 4, and put this Binghamton team away once and for all on your home ice.

Call it wishful thinking or what ever you like. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have a lineup with over 1,000 games of NHL experience in the lineup. The Binghamton Senators have less than 300. This is a walk in the park for the Penguins more than it is for an unexperienced group of Senators. Do the B-Sens have what it takes to win the series? Absolutely they do. Do the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins? You betcha. When it boils down to situations like this, I like experience more than I do youth.

Alright, I am talking like I am down 0-2 in the series now. I would have given you $1,000 if you would have guaranteed me a split this weekend against Binghamton. A split is what we have and I will take it gladly and run to the Mohegan Sun Arena Wednesday for Game 3.

Elsewhere in the East: A lot of other teams got even tonight. The Albany Devils evened their series with a 4-2 win over the St. John’s IceCaps….the Norfolk Admirals scored three unanswered and stunned the Manchester Monarchs 3-2….the Springfield Falcons put the Providence Bruins on the brink of elimination with a 3-2 win.

The Nailers await their next opponent in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

SendToNews Highlights: Scrapping that for the B-Sens Rewind….

[youtube http://youtu.be/yL2ejO8Q6Y4]

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No idea what content will run between now and Wednesday. I’ll try to come up with something.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

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A Penguins fan will tell you that they had the Binghamton Senators all the way tonight.

A Binghamton Senators fan will say the same thing too, probably with a few expletives in there, after the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defeated the B-Sens tonight by a score of 3-2 in overtime, on Anton Zlobin’s goal 8:40 into the first overtime.

So the Penguins beat the Sens 3-2 in a playoff game. Where have I read this before? Oh, right, last year when the Pens did it three straight times last year and swept the B-Sens out of the playoffs.

Tonight though, was a much more even game than what the Penguins are accustomed to in prior meetings to the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena this season. The home rink for the East Division Champion B-Sens has been nothing short of a house of horrors for the Penguins.

Peter Mannino vs. Andrew Hammond. Spencer Machacek was the veteran scratch. Mike Carman was scratched too. Conor Sheary took warmups. Matt Murray backed up Mannino.

First Period: Matt Puempel was sprung on a mini breakaway on a long stretch pass. Mannino made the save but in the ensuing chaos of reacting to what just happened and who had who, Adam Payerl was whistled for tripping and the B-Sens were off to the power play. Cody Ceci pumped one home for a 1-0 B-Sens lead early.

Here is what defined the Binghamton Senators to this point. You make a mistake of letting Puempel get in behind your D, you take a penalty and on the power play it ends up in your net. Actually, two mistakes. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you. Or something like that.

The Ceci power play goal jumpstarted the Penguins after that. Wilkes-Barre controlled about two thirds of this period. Brendan Mikkelson and Stephane Da Costa traded shots which rang loudly off the pipe but stayed out. The first ended with a 1-0 Binghamton lead but felt like the Penguins should be leading if not tied.

Second Period: Alex Grant wanted him some pipe too. He rang one off the post at the beginning of the period. Then Zach Sill popped Puempel into the boards on what may end up being some bad collateral damage for Binghamton. Puempel scored 30 goals for the B-Sens this season. He tried to give to a go in the third period but was not seen in overtime.

Harry Zolnierczyk scored to even the game at one for the Pens on the doorstep of Hammond.

But, just like that, Jean-Gabriel Pageau put the home team back ahead less than 90 seconds later.

Remember mistakes? Anton Zlobin boarded Mark Borowiecki and the B-Sens were headed to the power play. Time to step on the throats of the Pens and put this away, right? No! You’re wrong!

Andrew Ebbett scored shorthanded on a firecracker slapshot that beat Hammond glove side to even things again at two a piece.

Third Period: Pens had 1:51 of 5-on-3 time late in the second and some leftover in the third but were unable to capitalize on it.

Here’s where the “replay” part of my headline comes in.

Carter Rowney appears to have scored to put the Pens up 3-2. But it was ruled no goal on interference on the goaltender. After a conference between the four man officiating crew, the call stood. No goal.

Shot off of a face-off for Binghamton surprises Mannino. Nearly goes in, or does it? Goal light comes on. Officials look at it on replay and the tape doesn’t lie, no goal.

No one scored in this period. So it was off to…

Overtime: Shane Prince, a certified Penguin killer, appears to have scored to give the B-Sens the overtime winner. But referee T.J. Luxmore washes it out and rules it was kicked in. To replay!

Luxmore was joined in the booth by the second man in the arm bands, Keith Kaval. After a conference, it was confirmed as no goal.

The guys that cover the B-Sens for the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin tweeted this post game about the disallowed goal:

[tweet https://twitter.com/PSBSens/status/459882621544435712]

[tweet https://twitter.com/PSBSens/status/459882782651871233]

[tweet https://twitter.com/PSBSens/status/459883475085312000]

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Replay is new to the AHL. Well, actually it is in its second year. It’s an inexact science. I can say that from what I saw, it looked inconclusive really. I didn’t see a kick but then again the puck was deflected off of the man skating forward.

Zlobin ended it. Jonathan describes it best in his blog post game recap:

The play started after a neutral zone faceoff. Binghamton won it, but Zlobin and linemate Chuck Kobasew pursued defenseman Mark Borowiecki as he backpedaled with the puck, forcing a turnover. Zlobin raced toward the left half-wall to recover the loose puck. Kobasew screened off the other Binghamton defender, allowing Zlobin to walk pretty much unmolested to the slot.

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Three Stars: 3) Cody Ceci (goal, -1) 2) Patrick Mullen (two assists, even) 1) Anton Zlobin (overtime game winning goal, +1)

Elsewhere in the East: Providence evened its series with Springfield at a game a piece with a 2-1 overtime win tonight….St. John’s got a late goal to stun Albany 2-1 to go up 1-0 in that series and Manchester shut out Norfolk 2-0 to go up 1-0 in that series.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers are on to the next round after sweeping the South Carolina Stingrays by a score of 4-2 tonight. Denver Manderson had a goal in the win.

SendToNews Highlights: How about YouTube, courtesy of the Binghamton Senators?

[youtube http://youtu.be/Uzd1-AYmTKU]

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Reactions after seeing the video: Awful call on the Rowney no goal. Contact was made with Hammond to his left. He goes down to make a save but the puck never gets through then Rowney slams it in two seconds AFTER contact on his right……the Prince goal in overtime should have counted, having looked at it in front of my computer screen. No kick. At all.

The washout on Rowney was made without replay. I don’t think those plays are reviewable. So both teams dodge bullets. You just shake hands and move on.

Game 2 is tomorrow night at 7:05 in Binghamton. I’ll make the trip and have it all covered. Gameday hits the blog Saturday at three.

Let’s Go Pens!