Pens score first.

A power play goal.

Scored by Brian Dumoulin.

In the first period.

Pens hang on the remainder of the game and get a 23 save shutout by Brad Thiessen and win 1-0.

Really had to check myself during both intermissions to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, with the losing funk that the Pens have been in of recent.

I said on the blog here this afternoon that this game vs. the Bears was a must win for the Penguins. The Pens certainly played like it tonight. The Bears, who won 7 straight road games, down two players due to in game injuries (Jeff Taffe and Evan Barlow, both first period) valiantly give the Penguins all they can handle in the third period. It seemed at times that you were waiting for things to go wrong for the Pens, but it never happened.

A great win, by all accounts. About time and long overdue.

Brad Thiessen vs. Dany Sabourin – Pens scratched Joe Morrow, Alex Grant, Eric Tangradi and Simon Despres. According to reports Tangradi and Despres are already in Pittsburgh for training camp.

First Period: Quick moving first half of the period. Then Boyd Kane sits for a tripping call. The Pens score a power play goal when Brian Dumoulin scores on a shot from the blue line to put the Pens up 1-0.

Second Period: Bears start to buzz. They get a power play. Penguins penalty kill does its job. Zach Sill’s line of he, MacIntyre and Dominik Uher had some great shifts this period. Pens blocked a lot of shots this period because there was a point where the Bears had a ton of offensive zone time but only 12 shots on goal to show. Ryan Stoa hit the top of Thiessen’s crossbar for a scare late in the period.

Third Period: Bobby Farnham takes what will probably go down as the dumbest penalty of the year. Joey Mormina is lugging a puck up the ice in the neutral zone. Tomas Kundratek comes over and puts a check on him and puts Mormina on his wallet. Farnham comes in and cross checks Kundratek. Easiest penalty call referee Dave Lewis will make all season. Thankfully, the Penguins killed it behind Brad Thiessen’s two saves on Ryan Potulny, one with his mask and the other with his glove. Penalty kill was spot on, because the Penguins would have to kill a Riley Holzapfel interference. Credit the Bears, down two men in the game due to injury, for playing the Penguins all the way to the end.

Three Stars: 3) Beau Bennett (assist, even) 2) Brian Dumoulin (goal, even) and 1) Brad Thiessen (23 save shutout)

Around the Division: Points for everyone else in the division tonight. The Binghamton Senators lost 3-2 in a shootout to tomorrow’s opponent the Adirondack Phantoms and the Norfolk Admirals lost in overtime at home vs. the Syracuse Crunch 3-2.

Standings: Syracuse 53 — Binghamton 48 — Hershey 36 — Penguins 35 — Norfolk 31

Conference: 1) SYR (53) 2) SPR (44) 3) POR 4) BNG (48) 5) WOR (41) 6) PRO (38) 7) MCH (38) 8) BRI (38) 10) WBS (35)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers won in a shootout down in Reading by a score of 5-4. Keven Veilleux was assigned there this morning, played and was pointless.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here. Will probably be added to as time goes on.

I’ll be in the pressbox tomorrow night freelancing for Michael Cignoli who does a tremendous job covering the Adirondack Phantoms for The Saratogian. So my tweets will be reporting on the game vs. cheering on the game.

Gameday for that affair will be here on the blog Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

No, you can’t win a Calder Cup in January.

But you can sure lose one.

The Penguins drop another game to an East Division rival, this time 3-1 to the Binghamton Senators. This despite dressing a full lineup with Robert Bortuzzo, Eric Tangradi and Beau Bennett in the lineup after being held out on Sunday in Hartford.

If the Pens continue to keep this up, an early Spring beckons. Plain and simple. It has to be figured out and fast. No more excuses.

Jeff Zatkoff vs. Robin Lehner

First, a stat from Pens beat writer Jonathan Bombulie:

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First Period: A Binghamton two on one becomes a Binghamton three on one and Stephane DaCosta scores to put the B-Sens up 1-0. Zatkoff virtually had no shot at the save. Later, Pens get a power play. I tweet this:

Followed up by Jonathan tweeting this:

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Pens would fail to convert.

Second Period: Many power plays to both teams which would overlap at times. Both teams would come out of them unscathed. I think Jayson Megna was the best player on the ice for the Pens this period and you may say all game. He had chances but wasn’t able to convert.

Third Period: Friend of the blog Bob Howard from the Power Play Post Show caught up with me after the game to make fun of me give his condolences on the loss and offer some thoughts. He said something to the extent of when the Penguins threw away the playbook and simply ad-libbed the offense, they scored. (Paul Thompson, on a rebound) – but that wasn’t the tying goal, Eric Gryba shot a puck from the point which made it past Zatkoff, off the post, off Zatkoff’s back again and into the net. The Pens buzzed this period when, as Howard observed, they simply threw away the playbook and simply tried to get in close on Lehner and get dirty goals. It worked to some extent, but the final execution was not there. With Zatkoff pulled, Simon Despres tries to go D to D and Mike Hoffman hit the empty net to put the game on ice.

Three Stars: 3) Paul Thompson (goal, +1) 2) Robin Lehner (31 saves on 32 shots) 1) Eric Gryba (game winning goal, even)

Notes: This was trainer Patrick Steidle’s last game behind the Wilkes-Barre bench. He was promoted to head trainer of the Pittsburgh Penguins and acknowledged in the third period……. Zach Sill and Corey Cowick fought in the second period with Sill getting the better of Cowick……. Ray Shero was in the building tonight and told Tom Grace during first intermission that four to six players from Wilkes-Barre will be given invites to Pittsburgh Penguins training camp which opens Sunday. Common knowledge would then say that Wilkes-Barre will at least be able to dress a full lineup for this Friday vs. Hershey and this Saturday vs. Adirondack.

I talked puck with Jesse Marshall from the Faceoff Factor yesterday. The link to that Q&A session can be found right here.

Around the Division: Syracuse beats Rochester in Rochester 5-3.

Standings: Syracuse 51 — Binghamton 47 — Hershey 36 — Penguins 33 — Norfolk 30

Conference: 1) SYR (51) 2) POR (44) 3) SPR (43) 4) BNG (47) 5) WOR (39) 6) BRI (38) 7) PRO (36) 8) HER (36) 12) WBS (33)

Wheeling Update: There is none. The Nailers were off tonight.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here. Includes the Zach Sill fight.

Pens are off tomorrow in preparation for Hershey Friday.If hell should break with call-ups, Twitter will have it first, then Facebook then here.

I’ll leave you with one last Bombulie parting shot:

The effort is there and the goals are not.

How many times can I say this? Seems the story of the season far, no?

Penguins were blanked in Hartford this afternoon 2-0, via a 35 save shutout by Jason Missiaen. An ECHL call-up. But that wasn’t the story of the day….

Interesting moves made by the Penguins today in the wake of NHL salvaging a season and reaching the structure of a new CBA. Eric Tangradi, Beau Bennett and Robert Bortuzzo were all healthy scratches today. Alex Grant was a healthy scratch as well, but he wasn’t part of the “wink, wink. nudge, nudge” trio of Bennett, Bortuzzo and Tangradi. Benn Ferriero was an injury scratch with what Tom Grace called a “tweak” and is listed as day-to-day. Drawing in for those out were Philippe Dupuis, Simon Despres, Dom Uher and Brian Strait. All saw action for the first time today.

Brad Thiessen vs. Jason Missiaen. Missiaen is 6’8 and the tallest goaltender in any level of hockey anywhere.

First Period: Nice back and forth between the two teams with the Whale getting the better of the shots early on. Thiessen looked sharp making saves and not giving up any rebounds. Finally, on the only power play awarded by referee Jarrod Ragusin, Kyle Jean was able to get one in past Thiessen while Micheal Haley was providing a screen on Thiessen, who never saw the puck until it was in his net. Whale didn’t let off making Thiessen make some more saves.

Second Period: Can best be described as one of the most frustrating periods of hockey for the Penguins of recent. Jason Missiaen is a ECHL call-up and an unconventionally tall goaltenter. He has a +4 GAA and a .850 save percentage. He didn’t play that way in the period. He makes a save in the crease when he flubs a kick save then the puck goes under his pad while flopping on the ice like a beached whale (pun intended) — then, a Simon Despres point shot he leaves a big rebound to. Bobby Farnham collects the puck and fires it. Missiaen, and his entire 6’8 frame, gets over and makes the save. Later, Brad Thiessen and Joe Morrow get their signals crossed behind the WBS net. A turnover happens and it leaves Thiessen woefully out of position for Kyle Jean to swoop in and score his second goal of the game on a wide open net. It was Connecticut’s first shot on goal in the period. Penguins would get a late power play that they didn’t manage a shot on goal on.

Third Period: Run support just was not there for the Penguins, who took 11 shots in the period. The Whale only took three. Missiaen was on his head all period too, making saves that were or could best be described as highlight reel. Pens had a crack at the power play late, but with how poorly that’s been running were never able to get one past the Whale netminder.

Three Stars: 3) Kris Newbury 2) Kyle Jean (2 goals, +1) and 1) Jason Missiaen (35 save shutout)

Around the Division: Norfolk lost to Charlotte 3-1. Hershey lost at home to the Worcester Sharks 2-1. The Binghamton Senators lost in Albany 5-2. Syracuse was off. Collectively, a terrible day for the East Division.

Standings: Same as they were yesterday, Syracuse 49 — Binghamton 45 — Hershey 34 — Penguins 33 — Norfolk 30.

Conference: 1) SYR (49) 2) SPR (43) 3) POR (42) 4) BNG (45) 5) WOR (39) 6) BRI (37) 7) PRO (36) 8) MCH (36) 11) WBS (33)

Wheeling Update: The Wheeling Nailers lost 3-1 in Reading, PA to the Reading Royals. Royals goaltender Philipp Grubauer stopped 27 of 28 shots and was named first star of the game. Why mention a Royal here in a Wheeling Update? Grubauer is Braden Holtby’s heir apparent, a really good goaltender and a name which will be soon all too familiar to Penguins fans when he is in Hershey.

SendToNews Highlights: Are here. Nothing really to see, unless you are a Whale fan.

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Stay tuned to the Twitter and Facebook feeds on any news which may break regarding call-ups to Pittsburgh for training camp. Pittsburgh plans on having 24-26 players in camp. Who, isn’t known yet but you can pretty much rest assured we have seen the last of Eric Tangradi and Robert Bortuzzo. As for the rest, remains to be seen. Jonathan Bombulie blogged his thoughts on who may be on the way up for good as well. He’s more of an authority on these matters than I will ever be.

If anyone does get the call, I’ll have thoughts on the blog as news breaks this week.

Let’s Go Pens!