Last Game: Saturday in Syracuse, the Pens beat the Crunch 3-2. It was head coach John Hynes’ 116th career victory, good for tops among WBS head coaches. For Hershey, they lost 1-0 at home last Saturday vs. the Springfield Falcons.
Last Meeting: December 7 in Wilkes-Barre, the Pens lost in overtime 5-4. Benn Ferriero and Eric Tangrai both had a goal and an assist each, while Kevin marshall netted the game winner for the Bears.
Record: For WBS: 14-11-1-1 (30 pts., 3rd place East Division) For HER: 14-13-1-1 (30 pts., 4th place East Division)
Why you should care: Penguins come off the Christmas break with two games against their biggest division rival who are also tied with them in points. The Pens will need to play a sound sixty minutes in order to come away with the win tonight.
Win 116 is in the books after beating not only the best team in the East Division but the best team in all the AHL as the Penguins beat the Crunch 3-2 in a thrilling game.
John Hynes is the winningest head coach in Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins history.
Jeff Zatkoff vs. Dustin Tokarski. Brian Dumoulin, Jayson Megna, Beau bennett, Tom Kuhnhackl, Steve MacIntyre, Keven Veilleux and Simon Despres were your scratches. Alex Grant moonlighted at forward tonight.
First Period: One of the things that were handcuffing the Pens in the losing streak was 0-27 on the power play. Well, Paul Thompson finally broke through to give the Pens a 1-0 lead. Alex Killorn then tied the game but :14 later off a faceoff Joey Mormina shot a puck which must have surprised Tokarski and it beat him, giving the Penguins a 2-1 lead. Jeff Zatkoff was really sharp and on form this period and really all game, making save after saves.
Second Period: Penguins power play was really scrambly after the Thompson goal. Syracuse easily killed every chance afterward and nearly scored shorthanded on a few. Even strength, Eric Tangradi shot a puck that Trevor Smith scored on a rebound giving the Pens a 3-1 lead. Later, Tyler Johnson copies the rebound goal and makes it 3-2.
Third Period: No scoring, but the period and game overall really felt like a heavyweight fight. Crunch don’t register a shot on goal until about 7:44 left in the third period. Pens really clamped down and didn’t allow the Crunch to get to Zatkoff, and when they did, Zatkoff was up to the task. Crunch pulled Tokarski late, got a power play, but the Pens held on and won.
Three Stars: 3) Alex Killorn (goal, even) 2) Radko Gudas (two assists, +2) and 1) Trevor Smith (game winning goal, +2)
Merry Christmas, everyone. Next blog update may not be until the Gameday setup against Hershey on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) – You can always follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or now on Instagram and have a see at the terrible pictures I take and put up there. I am late to all this popular stuff.
Last Game: Wednesday in Bingahmton, the Pens coughed up a 3-0 lead in the third period and lost 4-3. Bobby Farnham scored a goal. For Syracuse, the Crunch hosted the Adirondack Phantoms last night and lost in a shootout 4-3. Tyler Johnson had a goal and an assist.
Last Meeting: Last Saturday in Syracuse, the Pens were shut out by the Crunch 4-0.
Record: For WBS: (13-11-1-1, 28 pts., 3rd place East Division) — For SYR: 17-6-1-3 (38 pts., 1st place East Division)
Why you should care: The losing streak continues for the Pens. Now six games. They are looking to break the streak against one of the top teams in the AHL.
As a child, I always was intrigued by the sight of a building being imploded. I don’t know, I was a weird child. I guess thats why I am still single. Anyway, tell me that this isn’t cool:
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The sight I saw tonight, however, was far less cool from a Penguins fan perspective.
The Pens, up 3-0 to start the third period, lose 4-3 and now have lost six straight games.
I can’t explain it. In fact, I shook my head all the way home from Binghamton on I-81. Unbelievable. The atmosphere at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena was inert at best. The fans weren’t into it. It didn’t look like the B-Sens were either. They had 14 shots on goal through 40 minutes.
Then, as I sat down for the third period, I had an uneasy feeling. Sure enough, Jakob Silfverburg scores to put the B-Sens on the board. I didn’t like the goal. Jeff Zatkoff, who returned from injury and looked stellar all game, got 80% of the puck and lost out to the other 20%. :59 later, in between the B-Sens buzzing and on a power play from a Brian Strait cross-check, Shane Prince scored a goal to make it 3-2. Pens finally put their foot down and allow the Senators just one shot on goal for about seven minutes. Then, Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored his first of the season off a tip from a Patrick Wiercioch shot from the point on a shot which could best be described as a flub shot. Then, Cole Schneider feeds Shane Prince in the slot for a 4-3 Binghamton lead.
Unbelievable.
Pens got goals from unlikely players tonight. Warren Peters slipped a rebound under Robin Lehner for the first goal, Bobby Farnham scored on a sick wrist shot for the second goal and Philip Samuelsson scored the third goal in the second period.
Beau Bennett and Philippe Dupuis did not play. The Penguins went with 10 forwards and eight defensemen.
Three Stars: 3) Warren Peters (goal, +1) 2) Jean-Gabriel Pageau (goal, +1) and 1) Shane Prince (two goals, +1)
Around the Division: Hershey shuts out Norfolk at home in front of a large crowd 4-0. Syracuse was off.
Conference: 1) SYR (37) 2) SPR (35) 3) POR (34) 4) BNG (32) 5) PRO (30) 6) HER (30) 7) WOR (29) 8) BRI (29) 9) WBS (28)
Wheeling Update: Nailers played a morning game vs. the Greenville Road Warriors and won 4-1. Carl Sneep had a goal for the Nailers, who have won four games in a row and look to be righting the ship.
SendToNews Highlights: Are slowly being curated by Kate Krenzer and the B-Sens staff, but are here if you want to put video to the description above.
Where do we go from here? Good question. I have no idea. Having Zatkoff back helped, but it looked like he fought the puck in the third period. The 10 forwards / 8 defensemen project looked great, until the third period. I don’t know. I really don’t. Really a bad time to be losing, when every game right now is against a divisional opponent. This is not a time to fumble valuable points in the standings.
Last Game: Saturday in Syracuse, the Pens were shutout 4-0. For Binghamton, they last played against the Penguins on Friday which was the….
Last Meeting: December 14 in Wilkes-Barre the Pens lost 3-1. Andre Wiercioch had a goal and a goal and an assist for the B-Sens and was named first star. Trevor Smith had the lone goal for the Penguins.
Record: For WBS: 13-10-1-1 (28 pts., 3rd place East Division) For BNG: 14-6-1-1 (30 pts., 2nd place East Division)
Why you should care: The Pens have lost five straight. They travel to Bingahmton tonight against a team they have only scored two goals against all season. A tough task lies ahead.
Comments Off on Zatk-On Again
Posted by nafsnep on December 18, 2012
Reading the tea leaves today, it looks like Jeff Zatkoff is healthy again. Ryan Zapolski was released from his PTO, free to return to his ECHL club South Carolina.
I’d fully anticipate the Zatkoff starts tomorrow in Binghamton. From there, as to how the Penguins perform, is anyone’s guess.
If I had to offer a diagnosis as to what the Penguins problem is right now, I think that other teams have gotten better, while the Penguins have simply stayed the same. I don’t think it’s goaltending. I don’t think it’s the lack of a certain player or coaching or anything like that.
Here’s some links to chew on if you haven’t seen them already:
–> Penguins Insider’s Monday update on Zatkoff, Despres, Megna and numbers.
–> Jonathan’s story in the paper Tuesday about the losing streak with quotes from Hynes and more math.
Am traveling to Binghamton tomorrow. Hopefully someone other than Trevor Smith scores a goal for the Pens and the losing streak ends on the Southern Tier. Gameday for the event up here on the blog at 3 pm.
Brad Thiessen vs. Dustin Tokarski – Joey Mormina and Alex Grant rotated out for Dylan Reese and Brian Strait on the defensive side.
First Period: Zach Sill was back in the lineup too. He fought twice in the period, KO’ing Mike Angelidis six second in and then later vs. JP Cote. Elsewhere in the period the Pens looked great five on five and then on the power plays they looked herky jerky. Penguins had to kill a huge five on three penalty. Later, Brett Connolly scored a goal which looked like Thiessen was interfered on. Referees reviewed it but let the goal stand.
Second Period: Penguins could not get a single thing going this period. Thiessen was keeping the Penguins in the game, only down 1-0, but Alex Killorn would score a goal on a tip-in to make it 2-0 Crunch. Then, another goal review on a Crunch alleged goal, this time the refs would rule no goal. Pens would have to kill three consecutive penalties. They generated nothing in the period. Six shots on goal all period.
Third Period: Tyler Johnson picks off a WBS exit zone pass and feeds Pierre-Cedric Labrie for a 3-0 Crunch lead. More inert Penguin offensive chances. Tyler Johnson rebound goal to put it away, 4-0. That was all she wrote.
Three Stars: 3) Tyler Johnson (goal, assist , +1) 2) Alex Killorn (goal, assist, +1) and 1) Dustin Tokarski (29 save shutout)
SendToNews Highlights: Not all the teams put these up. I have no idea if Syracuse does, honestly.
Heard that the Penguins have a Christmas party tomorrow. Hope they ask Santa to get some wins this month, that would be nice.
Pens play Wednesday in Binghamton. I will be there. I love making the trip to the Southern Tier. Hopefully I am a bit of good luck and someone other than Trevor Smith scores a goal. Blogwise, I don’t know what I will have, but keep up to date with me on Twitter and occasionally on Facebook for all the latest.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 