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I hope that whatever fire that Coach John Hynes lit under the team tonight stays lit for a while.

Pens played like the better team and the better team won tonight, 5-3. 

Not before Worcester made it interesting late with power plays but the Pens, who tumbled from first overall on the penalty kill after letting in four power play goals by the Sharks on Wednesday, don’t let the Sharks score on the power play tonight.

Brad Thiessen vs. Harri Sateri — Chris Collins and Christiaan Minella were in for Dom Uher and Steve MacIntyre.

First Period: A determined Penguins team cycled the puck, kept their feet moving all night and the Sharks chased. The Pens get a power play. Bracken Kearns gets a shorthanded break but is denied by Thiessen. Later, the Pens get a five on three power play and Dylan Reese finishes putting the Pens on the board first. Thiessen had another big save on a 2-on-1 Sharks rush late.

Second Period: Floodgates opened for the Pens. When Chad Kolarik is on, he’s unstoppable. He scores on a power play to make it 2-0. Riley Holzapfel drove the slot, found Kolarik on the wing, pinching, and scored. Then, Joey Mormina drove one that Paul Thompson got a stick on with Warren Peters screening. 3-0 Pens. Right off the faceoff, Yanni Gourde gets one back for the Sharks streaking to the net when four Penguins were below the goal line. Thrill a minute action. Late, Chad Kolarik finds a wide open Riley Holzapfel on the left side who scores to break a 15 game goal-less streak for him to make it 4-1.

I said on the twitter call that the Pens could “coast” from here. They did, and it nearly cost them.

Third Period: James Livingston throws a puck on net just under the blue line that either surprises or handcuffs Thiessen. It’s 4-2. Another shorthanded break by Kearns, who must have had five quality chances tonight, but Thiessen stopped him. Worcester wins races. Pens coast, look flatfooted. Jon Matsumoto slides pne through bodies and its 4-3 now. Then referees Ryan Fraser and Trent Knorr, who by all accounts were quiet all game, decide to start calling penalties. Warren Peters rough with 2:15 to play. Sharks miss an open net. Sateri pulled, 6×4 for the Sharks. Thiessen dives over and stops another. Trevor Smith gets called for a slash. It’s a 6-on-4 for the Sharks now. Pens withstand the pressure. Thiessen a save through a crowd. Sharks take a penalty. Offensive zone faceoff for the Pens, Sateri was not in the net. Warren Peters wins the faceoff and shoots it into the empty net and that is your ballgame.

There are the six points that Penguins beat writer Jonathan Bombulie said the Penguins needed in this New England road trip. Still two more huge points on the line against old pal Nick Johnson and the rest of the Portland Pirates tomorrow.

Three Stars: 3) Travis Oleksuk (two assists, +2) 2) Riley Holzapfel (goal, assist, even) 1) Trevor Smith (two assists, even)

Around the Division: Norfolk beats Syracuse in a shootout, 4-3. The Admirals are coming and they are coming quick. Adirondack bests Binghamton in regulation, 3-2. The Hershey Bears were off tonight, and now have two games in hand on the Penguins.

Standings: Syracuse 80 — Binghamton 78 — Penguins 69 — Hershey 64 — Norfolk 63

Conference: 1) SYR (80) 2) SPR (77) 3) PRO (77) 4) BNG (78) 5) POR (73) 6) WBS (69) 7) ALB (65) 8) MCH (65)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers lost to the Toledo Walleye at home 5-3. Keven Veilleux had a goal.

SendToNews Highlights: Eventually they will go up. I will have them here when they do.

Pens now bus to Portland for a 7 p.m. game against the Pirates. Gameday for that will be here for you at 3 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Well, that was unexpected.

No, I am not talking about the Penguins losing this game 5-1 tonight. Wilkes-Barre has a Jekyll and Hyde side to it where you don’t know what team you are getting. The Pens look like world beaters this past weekend, battling the Portland Pirates and toppling them in overtime on Saturday then clawing back from an 0-3 hole Sunday vs. Manchester to win in a shootout. Battle. Pressure. Fight? That motto must have been left in New Hampshire.

The Worcester Sharks, one of the more one dimensional teams in the AHL, score FOUR CONSECUTIVE power play goals tonight against the top unit in the AHL and make the Pens look like pancakes, because that’s how flat the visiting team was tonight.

Jeff Zatkoff vs. Harri Sateri – Chris Collins was out for the returning Steve MacIntyre.

First Period: A very herky jerky start to the period, as there were many whistles. Period will best be remembered for 1:47 5-on-3 power play time for the Penguins about halfway through the period. They say the definition of insanity is repeating something over and over and expecting the same result. Alex Grant attempts to gain entry into the offensive zone, dumps it, Sharks retreat, get it and fire it down the ice. Grant tries again, is dispossessed five feet in. Yet again. Same thing. By the time the Pens had a chance in the zone, the Sharks got a man back then another man.

Second Period: Sharks get two power play goals. Pens looked and played flat in the period. Very uncharacteristic period for the Penguins, who by all accounts, did nothing to generate chances at all towards Sateri.

Third Period: Pens get a power play but can’t establish anything. Couldn’t even gain entry into the offensive zone properly. Then the Sharks get a power play. Adam Comrie gets a power play goal. 3-0 Sharks. Then Warren Peters gets a tip in off of a Joe Morrow point shot. Cardiac Penguins right? Bracken Kearns plays the role of 10,000 cigarettes and scores a nifty backhanded goal not a minute later to make it 4-1 Sharks. Just when you though things couldn’t get any worse than they presently stood, Kearns scored a power play goal to put things out of reach at 5-1.

The two teams rematch Friday in Worcester.

I don’t know what it will mean if the Pens do exact revenge and win Friday against the Sharks. They can very well travel to Portland the following night and lose 6-1 for all I know. That’s one thing that is the huge uncertainty. One weekend you can look like world beaters and sweep the weekend. The next you can look as inept as a team playing for the first time ever and look like tonight.

Three Stars: 3) Marek Viedensky (goal, even) 2) Adam Comrie (goal, three assists, +1) and 1) Bracken Kearns (two goals, one assist, +1)

Around the Division: Binghamton was in Rochester and lost 3-1. Norfolk traveled to Charlotte and won 3-2.

Standings: Syracuse 79 — Binghamton 78 — Penguins 67 — Hershey 64 — Norfolk 61

Admirals are getting closer. I think they make playoffs giving the East Division all five teams in. Although they could get in and Hershey or Wilkes-Barre could miss. But right now, the Admirals are playing like a playoff team.

Conference: 1) SYR (79) 2) SPR (76) 3) PRO (75) 4) BNG (78) 5) POR (73) 6) WBS (67) 7) HER (64) 8) CT (64)

SendToNews Highlights: Are here. Not much to look at as a Penguins fan.

Wheeling Update: Nailers fared no better tonight, getting housed by the Reading Royals 7-1. Keven Veilleux scored the only goal for the Nailers tonight.

Pens look to regroup Friday at 7:30 in Worcester. Gameday for that affair will be up on the blog at 3 p.m. Friday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Pesky Ads.

Pesky Sens.

Pesky this.

Pesky that.

You see it all over the AHL, a resilient team that comes back from or battles through adversity labels itself “pesky.”

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are beyond that. Ask any season ticket holder that’s been with this team since the beginning and they will tell you about the “Cardiac Penguins.”

I’d rather be cardiac than pesky.

The Penguins found themselves down 3-0 before they knew it against a Manchester team that has seven guys on PTOs and their best player scratched on a recall to Los Angeles, have won four straight games and six of their last seven. Monarchs scored a five on three goal and two goals shorthanded before the Pens even knew what hit them. The Monarchs didn’t play last night. The Penguins were in Portland last night and Providence the night before. Things were not going the Penguins way at all. Manchester was running all over on them. It did not look like the Penguins team that we have all come to admire.

The Penguins battled. They fought for loose pucks. They battled some more. They won races. They pressured the Monarchs. They rode the wave of pressure that the Monarchs brought.

Finally, a Riley Holzapfel shot from just off the wall was deflected in by Chad Kolarik. 3-1. :28 later, it was 3-2 after Zach Sill crashed the net and the puck squeaked by.

More batting. More pressuring. More fighting.

Andy Andreoff scores a goal when he danced through Pens trying to defend but instead, running into each other. 4-2.

Things looked bleak. Teams around us in the conference were winning or on their ways to winning. The pressure both on and off the ice mounted.

Zach Sill steals an outlet pass, cuts in shoots it, whacks at a rebound and it goes in. 4-3.

Battle. Pressure. Fight. Battle. Pressure. Fight.

Chad Kolarik finds a streaking Dylan Reese in the slot. Reese has space, and roofs it. Tie game.

Overtime. Manchester came out gunning. Penguins sustained the pressure, then built some of their own. Nothing would be decided.

Goaltender Jeff Zatkoff stops Jordan Weal, Andry Andreoff, Brandon Kozun and Colton Yellow Horn. Martin Jones stops Chad Kolarik, Jayson Megna but does not stop Riley Holzapfel and Trevor Smith and the Pens skate away the victors, 5-4 in the shootout.

They battled. They pressured. They fought. Cardiac Penguins forever.

Three Stars: 3) Zach Sill (goal, assist, +2) 2) Linden Vey (three assists, even) and 1) Riley Holzapfel (shootout goal, assist, -2)

Around the Division: Binghamton stuns Hershey with two late goals including the go ahead with 2.3 seconds left in regulation and beat the Bears 3-2. The Bears went 0-3 on the weekend. The Admirals and Crunch were off tonight.

Standings: Syracuse 79 — Binghamton 78 — Penguins 67 — Hershey 64 — Norfolk 59

Conference: 1) SYR (79) 2) SPR (75) 3) PRO (75) 4) BNG (78) 5) POR (71) 6) WBS (67) 7) HER (64) 8) CT (64)

Wheeling was off tonight.

SendToNews Highlights: A fantastic package put together by the Monarchs here. Ken Cail is the voice of the Monarchs. I’d love to see him on Twitter one day.

Pens remain in Manchester until Tuesday when they bus to Worcester. I have no idea what blog content I will have between now and Wednesday, but I usually get a crazy idea that hops into my head sometimes.

Let’s Go Pens!