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Penguins go 1-2 on the weekend, bookended by a shutout on home ice Friday that the hands of the Norfolk Admirals 1-0 and today on home ice at the hands of the Syracuse Crunch 3-0.

You can see that the Penguins wanted to get ahead early on, as the shots after one were 12-3 in favor of the Penguins. Penguins got their only power play of the game when the Crunch were whistled for too many men, had chances but were unable to score.

Crunch goaltender Riku Helenius left rebounds all over the place all game really. If the Penguins would have been in better position to get to those rebounds, it would be a much different outcome, I feel.

Second period was more of the same, for the Penguins. A bend but not break mentality for the Crunch, who after two periods were being outshot 17-5. Pens had to kill the only Crunch penalty in that period, but the leagues best unit handled it easily.

In the third, you could see that the Pens were gassed. As a matter of fact, the headline for this recap would have been “Out of Gas” but I figure the play on Helenius’ name would add more humor to a pretty meek weekend.

Anyway, it takes three Penguins to decide which one of them would get the puck out of the defensive zone. Pierre-Cedric Labrie took a puck off of a d-man, fed Kyle Wilson who was all alone with Zatkoff and backhanded it in for a 1-0 Crunch lead.

The next shift, Brett Connolly pounces on a rebound of a Tyler Johnson shot to make it 2-0. John Hynes used his timeout. One of the questions I would have for Hynes if I talked to him postgame would have been if you had to go back and do it over, would you go back and use the timeout after the Wilson goal?

Not that it mattered, because a little bit later Ondrej Palat found Kyle Wilson in the slot and Wilson fired it home to make it 3-0 and that was your ballgame.

If the Penguins were up 3-0 after the first or second, a different outcome?

If the Crunch played last night, a different outcome?

I can’t say for sure. Especially when you can’t score goals. This team really misses Paul Thompson. I think that the players really feed off of his presence. As far as defense and goaltending go, the Penguins don’t seem to really have any problems in that department although if you watched today you would probably argue this point with me.

Divisionally, Binghamton won in a shootout up in Albany 3-2. Hershey beats Rochester in Western New York 4-1 and Norfolk wins in overtime at Bridgeport 3-2.

Standings go Binghamton 65, Syracuse 64, Penguins and Bears 55 and Norfolk 48.

So instead of five points back of the Crunch, it’s nine. And you have the Bears side-by-side now looking to advance and the Admirals getting their sea-legs, pun intended.

Penguins are seventh in the conference, with 55 points. They are seven points back of fifth place Portland.

Wheeling was off and I don’t know many that want to see SendToNews highlights.

Penguins are likely off Monday and will practice Tuesday. I have some things kicking around in my head for some topics this week. Check back here or with me on Twitter and Facebook for the latest.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Chad Kolarik breaks out a four point performance and makes a big difference on the power play tonight, and the Penguins roll the Binghamton Senators 5-2.

This was a needed game for the Penguins, catching the Senators who have been decimated by call-ups, and was the first regulation win by Wilkes-Barre / Scranton against the B-Sens this season.

Brad Thiessen vs. Robin Lehner

Personnel wise, Joey Mormina and Cody Wild were in for Alex Grant and Mark Eaton. Grant took a shot to the head or upper body last night and Eaton is slowly working his way into game shape.

First Period: Adam Payerl paid off his taking out Nathan Lawson from the last time these two teams met on Tuesday with Jack Downing. The build-up last longer than the fight itself. Chad Kolarik scored on a power play right at the end of a 5-on-3 for the Penguins. There were a lot of penalties. 19 total between the two teams. Referees Ryan Murphy and Dave Lewis were active tonight.

Second Period: B-Sens started their push back with about 7:00 to go in the first period. It carried over to the second. Penguins had a power play. As they were lugging the puck through neutral ice, Cole Schneider picked it off, skated it in and Tyler Eckford skated in and cleaned up the rebound. Tie game. Penguins could have let this set them back, but they reset and pressed on. Trevor Smith corralled a loose puck in Lehner’s crease while on the power play to put the Pens up 2-1.

Third Period: Penguins stepped on the gas and pulled away. Trevor Smith scored again, fed by Kolarik. 3-1. Then, Gibbons picks off a puck, skates in and gets Lehner down and tucks a puck in behind him past his pads. 4-1. Dylan Reese would then deflect a pass in to make it 5-1 later for the Penguins third power play goal later. Binghamton would get one late to make it 5-2 but could get no closer.

There really was no flow in the game with all the power plays handed out but unlike last night where the Penguins were handed seven straight, they capitalized on three of them.

The top line of the Penguins made up of Smith, Kolarik and Riley Holzapfel had 10 points combined. Strength in goal has been there all season. Scoring has been hot and cold. No doubt the Penguins need the top line guys to go all the offensive heavy lifting, so to speak.

Three Stars: 3) Brad Thiessen (22 saves on 24 shots) 2) Trevor Smith (two goals, assist, even) and 1) Chad Kolarik (goal, three assists, even)

Around the Division: The Bears lost 2-1 in Toronto and had their seven game point streak snapped. Norfolk lost 2-1 in overtime to the Connecticut Whale in Hartford. The Crunch were off.

Standings: Binghamton 63 — Syracuse 62 — Penguins 55 — Hershey 53 — Norfolk 46

Conference: 1) SPR (65) 2) BNG (63) 3) PRO (61) 4) SYR (62) 5) POR (60) 6) WBS (55) 7) CT (54) 8) HER (53)

SendToNews Highlights: Are here. Lots to look at. Good times.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off tonight.

Penguins cap off the weekend with a 4 p.m. home game vs. the Syracuse Crunch. Gameday will be here at noon tomorrow.

I hope you enjoyed the tweet embed feature I discovered today. This will be returning again tomorrow vs. Syracuse and every other game thereafter.

Let’s Go Pens!

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In lieu of the traditional recap, let’s look at the good, the bad and the ugly from tonight’s game, shall we?

The Good: Penguins only allow the Admirals 12 shots on goal the entire game and drew seven straight penalties over the span of the game. Chances were there, pretty much all game.

The Bad: 0-for-8 on the power play. 32 shots, no goals.

The Ugly: Russian goaltender Igor Bobkov played a stellar game, and the Penguins lose 1-0. The Pens now have scored just one goal in their last two games.

The above summarizes this otherwise boring game. It’s really hard to come up with words when the team gets shutout but looks good in the process while getting shutout, if that makes any sense.

The Admirals fourth line did it again. Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond throws a puck on net that Penguins goaltender Jeff Zatkoff doesn’t corral and Brayden Irwin stuffs it home in the scrum to put the Admirals out ahead 1-0 early in the third. It would prove to be all the run support Bobkov and the Admirals would need.

Personnel wise for the Penguins Chris Collins made his debut. Cody Wild took warmups but was scratched. Joey Mormina did not but he was healthy. The rest were injury scratches.

Alex Grant was clipped late in the third by Mat Clark and did not return. For his effort, Clark fought Adam Payerl.

That’s all I can make sense of tonight. Penguins take to the road in Binghamton tomorrow.

Three Stars: 3) Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (assist, +1) 2) Brayden Irwin (goal, +1) 1) Igor Bobkov (32 save shutout)

Around the Division: Syracuse dropkicks Binghamton 7-1 on the Southern Tier tonight. Robin Lehner took the loss. The B-Sens lost David Dziurzynski, Derek Grant and Eric Gryba to Ottawa earlier today. The Crunch are now off until Sunday, when they play the Penguins at 4 p.m. here in Wilkes-Barre. The Bears let a 2-1 lead slip on them and lost 3-2 in the Canadian version of the Steel City, Hamilton Ontario tonight in a shootout. The Bears have points in their last seven games and are, well, read on….

Standings: Binghamton 63 — Syracuse 62 — Penguins 53 — Hershey 53 — Norfolk 45

Conference: 1) SPR (65) 2) BNG (63) 3) PRO (59) 4) SYR (62) 5) POR (58) 6) WBS (53) 7) HER (53) 8) CT (52)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers lose 6-5 in Gwinnett, SC tonight. The Gladiators score three unanswered goals in the third period to stun the Nailers. Keven Veilleux was without a point and registered a -1.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here. Not much to look at from both a Wilkes-Barre and Norfolk perspective.

Gameday for tomorrows venture in Binghamton will be up here on the blog at 3 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!`