Comments Off on Sharkbit – Pens LOSE 4-1
Posted by nafsnep on December 20, 2013
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It was bound to happen.
The Penguins finally are starting to feel the ill affects of having half of their offense in Pittsburgh on recall. That, and the third period magic that flat out wins Wilkes-Barre games wasn’t enough to get by a determined Worcester team who skate into town and skate out of it 4-2 winners tonight.
The Penguins outshoot the Sharks 25-20 tonight, with 17 of those shots coming in the third period alone. Now, I’m not going to go all pessimistic on a team that is essentially a rag tag group of ECHL call-ups at this point held together with some rusty wire, but ask yourself the following question, if this was Hershey tonight is the result / shot total any different? I think it might be. You have to play a full 60 minutes and I don’t think any Penguin tonight who played will tell you that they played a full 60 minute game tonight.
Eric Hartzell vs. Harri Sateri.
No healthy scratches for the Pens tonight. It was all hands on deck.
First Period: Sharks come out and just catch the Penguins flatfooted. Outshooting them 10-3 for the period on the shot chart and 1-0 on the scoreboard on a Freddie Hamilton power play goal.
Second Period: You know its a bad night when Jimmy Bonneau, known more for his fists than his wrists, goes bar down and in on you to make it 2-0 Sharks. Penguins got completely bottled up by the Sharks to this point. The prime area seemed to be the slot, where no Penguin player ever was, as Worcester wouldn’t allow them.
Third Period: Penguins come out the sharpest they’d been to date and force the Sharks into multiple icings. But, Worcester would get the backbreaker as Marek Viedensky would deflect a shot from the point past Hartzell and in for a 3-0 Sharks lead.
Penguins continues the onslaught though, Sateri denies Paul Thompson point blank. Finally, Nick Drazenovic did this:
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Yeah, it was a penalty shot goal. After not scoring two in the span of like, 10 years, the Penguins score two in a month. Weird.
Anyway, it wouldn’t be enough, as Sateri would continue to make great saves and Worcester hit an empty net from center ice to seal it.
Three Stars: 3) Nick Drazenovic (penalty shot goal, +1) 2) Harri Sateri (24 saves on 25 shots) and 1) Marek Viedensky (goal, assist, +2)
Wheeling Update: The Nailers fared no better tonight being pillaged with call ups of there own here. Wheeling loses 6-3. Chaz Johnson had a goal in the loss.
Last Game: Saturday at home vs. Utica, the Pens won 1-0. Nick D’Agostino scored his first AHL goal for the Pens and Eric Hartzell made 22 saves to backstop the Pens to victory. For Worcester they were in Portland Saturday and lost to the Pirates 5-1. Rylan Schwartz scored the only goal for the Sharks in the loss.
Last Meeting: October 19 in Worcester, the Pens won 3-2. Tom Kuhnhackl had two goals for Wilkes-Barre and was named first star of the game.
Record: For WBS: 16-7-1-2 (35 pts., 1st place East Division) For WOR: 10-10-1-1 (22 pts., 5th place Atlantic Division)
Why you should care: Don’t underestimate these Sharks with this Wilkes-Barre lineup. I’d be willing to bet that Worcester is saying the same thing about the Penguins too, as this is a winnable game for both sides tonight.
Other Game to Watch: Pay close attention to what goes on in Norfolk tonight as the Admirals open up a doubleheader series with the Adirondack Phantoms.
Next Five Games: SYR 12/21, NOR 12/27, @ HER 12/28, SYR 12/31, @ HFD 1/3
Comments Off on Weekend Setup 12/19
Posted by nafsnep on December 19, 2013
I am off from my real job for these next two days so I got a large majority of my Christmas shopping done Thursday afternoon. I could not believe the amount of people out and about. My brother got me a $25 Panera gift card for my recent birthday and Panera, on a Thursday afternoon after the standard 12-1 lunch hour, was packed with people. Doesn’t anybody work anymore? Or are the standard 9-5 workdays a thing of the past and everyone has a .com, work-from-home business empire that they call their bread and butter? Baffles the mind…
Fontina Grilled Cheese with a baguette and a medium Mountain Dew, if you are scoring from home. Fontina Grilled Cheese from Panera is the bees knees.
Anyway…
Couple of things you know, then a few things you might not if you aren’t tuned into the M*A*S*H East Division like I am. Let’s get with the things that you may know…
— Jonathan’s Thursday update. In it, news that Eric Hartzell is starting tomorrow, Bobby Farnham on the 2nd power play unit and Reid McNeill’s unavailability. Jonathan had a Tuesday update that revealed that Dom Uher should be back this weekend, skating with a full shield.
— Wilkes-Barre will be donning Christmas jerseys this weekend. They had a big Twitter reveal on Tuesday, but it went totally over my head that the Holiday Nutcrackers they handed out Saturday actually had the jerseys painted on them. What slacking by me, I could have had an “exclusive” story on the Christmas jerseys before anyone else.
Outside of Wilkes-Barre, but staying in the East….
— Hershey released Jamie Johnson from his standard playing contract and let him go back overseas to the Kontinental Hockey League. Johnson found himself a veteran scratch more than he saw himself of the ice, so it’s a move that was mutual, if I had to guess.
— Syracuse gets an offensive shot in the arm with the announcement this week that they have signed Jon DiSalvatore to an AHL deal. DiSalvatore had been playing in Munich, and much like Johnson in Hershey, wasn’t seeing as much ice as he wanted to so he was let out of his deal and returned here to play for a Syracuse team desperate for offense with much of their team in Tampa Bay on recall.
For example, the Penguins. They lose to the elite Falcons, then beat the “meh” Bears and score just one goal and beat last place Utica.
For example, the Stars. Yes, Texas is up five spots from tenth this week in the Week 11 Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings, thanks to a five game winning streak. But the teams they beat in this streak are no better than 23rd in this weeks rankings.
The Hershey Bears play the Binghamton Senators five times a week it seems.
See what I mean?
Sorry, Devils fans. I buried the fact that your team is tops in this weeks Rankings in the sixth paragraph. The Devils are an offensive juggernaut.
Biggest gainer? Your Portland Pirates. They’ve taken 7 of 8 points like Pirates in the night.
Biggest loss? A tie between Worcester and Binghamton, both down ten. You’ll see why when you get to the capsules for each.
Alright, enough of me. Click through the jump to see all the pretty AHL logos if you didn’t link in here directly.
Comments Off on To Catch a Comet — Pens WIN 1-0
Posted by nafsnep on December 14, 2013
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In a game delayed about 30 minutes for an ice issue (a zamboni ran over a puck after warmups during the flood and put a rink long gash in the ice) about 6″ of snow in Wilkes-Barre and Nick D’Agostino’s first pro goal and Eric Hartzell’s second AHL shutout, this 1-0 Wilkes-Barre win made for a nice birthday present.
But the eyes of the Wilkes-Barre world will be turning to Pittsburgh again, rather the eyes of the Pittsburgh world will be turning to Wilkes-Barre again, most likely taking two defensemen and possibly a forward.
Wait, huh?!?
Kris Letang was a late injury scratch, Deryk Engelland has an in-person hearing this week for a hit in Pittsburgh’s game against Detroit on Justin Abdelkader and Evgeni Malkin left the game with an apparent leg or lower body injury.
Great. Just great.
But I am taking a stance that I don’t care if injuries or suspensions occur. I don’t. What can you do about them? Nothing. Just let it happen and pray that it doesn’t.
Eventually, bodies heal. All of this time spent in the NHL will be excellent experience for the key elements of this Wilkes-Barre team and we will be better than ever.
Wait. We lead the East Division by four points now.
Bring it on.
As you can see, I’m stalling for space because there really wasn’t a whole heck of a lot to write about tonight. Nick D’Agostino scored on the tail end of a power play for the Penguins just past midway of the third period. The Penguins, in the third, doubled their shot total through the previous 40 minutes of play. The 21-18 shot comparison was a lot farther in favor of the Comets than it looked because the Pens only had 9 shots through two periods. They finally snapped out of what ever it was that it was keeping them from taking control of the game in their best period of hockey.
Hartzell, who is turning out to be a fiery competitor, stopped 21 shots for his second shutout of the season. He may be playing himself into the #1 role here in Wilkes-Barre.
Personnel wise, Reid McNeill injured himself in last nights game and is out again so Barry Goers made his WBS debut. CJ Severyn took warmups but was scratched.
Wheeling Update: Nailers lose in a shootout to the Florida Everblades by a score of 5-4. Zack Torquato had a goal and two assists. Carter Rowney had three assists for the Nailers.
SendToNews Highlights: I like the YouTube embeds better, but you can click here for the SendToNews package, which in essence is the same thing.
Pittsburgh plays again Monday, so if recalls are made, I’ll have a blurb about it here Sunday. Week 11 AHL Power Rankings out Monday at 4 pm also.
Last Game: Last night at home vs. Hershey the Pens won 5-3. Tom Kostopoulous notched his 500th pro point and was named first star of the game also. For Utica, they hosted Binghamton last night and won 5-2. Colin Stuart had a hat trick for Utica in the victory.
Record: For WBS: 15-7-1-2 (33 pts., 1st place East Division) — For UTI: 7-14-1-1 (16 pts., 5th place North Division)
Why you should care: The Comets may be in the bottom third of the AHL hierarchy, but don’t let their record fool you. The Comets are a very good team on the road.
Other Game to Watch: How about Springfield and Norfolk in Virginia tonight? The Admirals are hot on the Penguins tails, so this game bears paying attention to.
Next Five Games: WOR 12/20, SYR 12/21, NOR 12/27, @ HER 12/28, SYR 12/31
Comments Off on D – Pens WIN 5-3
Posted by nafsnep on December 13, 2013
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What’s the D for?
Well, a few things.
1) Tom Kostopoulos scored his 500th professional point tonight.
2) The Pens rode “D”efense to another victory, this time a 5-3 win over the Hershey Bears.
3) The Bears are back to .500.
D is the Roman numeral for the number 500.
Get it?
Anyway, a thriller tonight in Wilkes-Barre. After going up 3-0 in the first period on three power play goals (yes, I wrote “three” then “power plays” and mean in all one period) the Penguins slowed a bit in the second then played a pretty even third, got some puck luck and won the game and sit in sole possession of first place in the East Division.
Eric Hartzell vs. David Leggio. Michal Neuvirth, sent to Hershey for conditioning yesterday, did not make the trip.
Penguins signed Barry Goers from Wheeling to a PTO before the game. He’s a defenseman. With the recall of Brian Dumoulin to Pittsburgh and now apparently Peter Merth injured again, Goers got the call. Other scratches were CJ Severyn, healthy.
First Period: Pens get a quick power play and cash even quicker, a Scott Harrington shot from the point that Toim Kostopoulos deflects for a 1-0 Pens lead. Then the Pens go on a power play, don’t score, then a fight between Harrison Ruopp and Dane Byers after Byers boarded Harry Zolnierczyk. Paul Thompson at the net front receives a nice pass from Anton Zlobin cutting to the net to Thompson for the virtual empty netter. Then, Penguins headed right to the power play again and Brian Gibbons would finish off a nice back door pass to make it 3-0.
I mixed in something shortly thereafter that mentioned the Penguins not letting off because they were in a trap at this stage of the game. Turns out, I was almost right….
Second Period: Penguins get outshot 11-3 in the period and 2-0 on the score sheet. Much back and forth to open the period, then finally the Bears got on a bit of a run: Ryan Stoa from the slot, a laser that goes in. 3-1. :55 later, Nic Deschamps deflects a lazy Peter Leblanc shot from the blue line and in. 3-2. If the Bears would have come all the way back to tie and then win the game, the tweet above would have lead and the headline would have been, “Nafstradamus – Pens LOSE….”
Thankfully, we didn’t have to go there.
Third Period: Pens would kill an early penalty. Then Tom Kostopoulos benefits from a Derek Whitmore turnover to score his 500th professional point.
Then the Pens get a power play. Time to pile on, right? No, you’re wrong!
Nic Deschamps scores on a breakaway. Hartzell stopped the initial shot, lost the rebound, Deschamps found it and he stuffed it past and cut the deficit to one again.
Pens kill a bonehead Bobby Farnham goalie interference call then Nick Drazenovic scores in a pile to extend the lead to 5-3 for the Penguins. It was too much, too late for the Bears.
Three Stars: 3) Scott Harrington (two assists, -1) 2) Brian Gibbons (goal, assist, -3) 1) Tom Kostopoulos (two goals, -1)
I should note that Gibbons is three points back (27) of the active leaders (30) for the AHL scoring lead. Depending on call-ups, production and such, I may start mentioning it on the blog from time to time.
SendToNews Highlights: Better than a link to the SendToNews package, the YouTube highlights!
There’s snow in the forecast tomorrow. 4-6 inches. Hershey is already saying that they will make a determination on their game (home, vs. Binghamton) by mid-afternoon. Utica, in case you were wondering, is about an hour north of Binghamton. Basically, if you get the opposing team in, with the officials (Ryan Fraser scheduled to work the game, he’s a Central PA resident if I remember right, linesmen are local guys) it’s game on. If the roads are treacherous, the team may, for the safety of the fans, cancel the game. Anyway, check the Pens website or stick with me on Twitter if you are planning on going tomorrow but use your judgement. Push come to shove, watch it on TV. It’ll be on MyNetwork TV.
WBS News
