Going to just let it flow tonight and see what happens tonight with this recap.

Pens lose 1-0 tonight and were shutout by a very outstanding Michael Leighton. They were in search of a few things:

• A goal. Nothing was happening tonight. Shooting it into skates and when the puck did get to the net, Leighton stood on his head and absolutely made ten bell save after ten bell save, highlight coming in the third period diving with the glove to absolutely rob Alex Grant out of thin air.
• Stability on defense. Alex Picard cut his leg in the first period then came out late in the second. How many 2-on-1’s did the Pens give up tonight? Too many. That needs to change.
• An actual power play. This mess of a drop pass to an invisible teammate in the neutral zone then dump and chase, watch the Phantoms clear it has got to change.
• Face-off wins. To my last point a bit, losing a face-off in the offensive zone on a power play and watch the Phantoms clear it.
• Lines that fit like puzzle pieces. I don’t like this idea of letting off because we know we can’t get better than a four seed and we can’t dip lower than six. Some guys just looked lost tonight.

For what it is worth Scott Munroe was on par with Leighton, making his own ten-bell saves. He was beaten in the first period when Jason Akeson received a pass off the wall from Tye McGinn and stuck it past him. That was it. Brandon DeFazio and Mike Testwuide had a spirited scrap in the first period also with DeFazio edging Testwuide with a harder right than his opponent as both were tossing heavy blows.

Pens had the best chances in the third period on Leighton, including the Alex Grant robbery. I was half way out of my seat before  I realized Leighton made the save.

If you saw it different tonight, please leave me a comment in the blog.

Three stars were Tye McGinn (primary assist, +1) 2) Jason Akeson (game winning goal, +1) and 1) Michael Leighton (24 save shutout)

Around the Division: Norfolk wins 19 straight beating the Albany Devils 2-1. This stat from the AHL PR Twitter feed is scary:

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Albany led briefly, 1-0.

Syracuse won a track meet vs. St. John’s 5-4. Syracuse is now the 7 seed. Binghamton edged Rochester in overtime 5-4. Hershey was off.

Standings: Admirals 95 / Penguins 83 / Bears 80 / Crunch 70 / Senators 59

Magic Number: The number to get there is 91 in the Eastern Conference. It remains 8 for the Pens, but remember I am horrible at math.

Conference: 1-NOR (95) 2-StJ (84) 3-CT (76) 4-WBS (83) 5-HER (80) 6-BRI (73) 7-SYR (70) 8-MCH (69)

Pens get the St. John’s IceCaps tomorrow. Gameday for these proceedings up here at the blog at 3 p.m., for puck drop from Wilkes-Barre at 7.

Let’s Go Pens!

Goaltender Scott Munroe wins his 100th AHL game as the Penguins sweep the weekend with a 3-2 comeback win this afternoon against the Binghamton Senators.

Scott Munroe vs. Robin Lehner – Cody Wild was in for Carl Sneep. No other lineup changes.

First Period: Pens came out flat and Binghamton pounced in a big way, making it 2-0 before the game was 15 minutes old. Overall just a sloppy, flat period.

Second Period: Penguins came with a jump this period. On the power play, Ben Street crashed the net and scored to cut the deficit in half. Then, Street again, receiving a pass from Geoff Walker and just slipping the puck under Lehner to even things at two. Fireworks at the end of period with Brandon DeFazio and Jack Downing dropping the gloves and having a spirited scrap.

Third Period: More back and forth this period, although Binghamton didn’t get a shot on goal for a long stretch to open the period. Then, late, Geoff Walker in a scrum lifted the puck up and past a down and out Robin Lehner to push the Pens ahead 3-2. Binghamton pulled Lehner with approximately a minute remaining and were unable to find the equalizer and the Pens held on to win.

This will never get old:

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Three Stars: 3) Scott Munroe (24 saves on 26 shots and 100th career AHL win) 2) Geoff Walker, game winning goal, assist, +2) and 1) Ben Street (two goals, assist, +2)

Around the Division: Norfolk Admirals refuse to be beaten. They defeat the Charlotte Checkers 5-0. Not only are they scoring a billion goals, but backup goaltender Jaroslav Janus is on fire. Adding fuel to the fire, it appears that Tampa Bay is going to bring in a name familiar with WBS Penguins fans of old, Sebastian Caron. This would most likely bump Dustin Tokarski back to Norfolk. TBL wants Tokarski to log big minutes and under pressure. So he will definitely see that in Norfolk.

Oh yeah, the rest of the division. Hershey beat Albany 4-1.

Magic Number: Adding this here until we clinch, appears to be 9. I am not a math major and would welcome help here in the form of a comment from a reader or a mention on Twitter or an e-mail.

Standings: Norfolk 93 – Wilkes-Barre / Scranton 83 – Hershey 78 – Syracuse 66 – Binghamton 55

Conference: 1-NOR (93) 2-StJ (83) 3-CT (76) 4-WBS (83) 5-HER (78) 6-BRI (72) 7-MCH (69) 8-WOR (67)

Pens will probably be off tomorrow. Which means blog content from here to Friday’s tilt with Adirondack will be piggybacking what I see from the Bombulie’s or the league itself.

Let’s Go Pens!

Penguins get their first hat trick in 14 months from defenseman Alex Picard as the Penguins roll to a 4-1 win over the Worcester Sharks in front of a sold out crowd at home.

Scott Munroe vs. Tyson Sexsmith

Lineup Notes: Jason Williams was scratched, likely because Joe Vitale was banged up today in New Jersey. Williams will most likely get called up tomorrow morning (officially) as Pittsburgh plays Philadelphia tomorrow in the city of brotherly love. EDIT: In his post game wrap on his blog, Coach John Hynes told Pens beat writer Jonathan Bombulie that Williams was scratched due to personal reasons. Swing and a miss by me!

First Period: Worcester had the early pressure bout Munroe and the Pens defense held them off the scoreboard. It went this way for about seven minutes. Then, out of the TV timeout, the Penguins offense sprung to life. Alex Picard fired a shot on goal that Sexsmith never saw. Then, on the power play, Simon Despres fired a shot on goal that Captain Ryan Craig cleaned up the rebound and potted home to put the Pens up 2-0. Then three consecutive brawls with Brandon DeFazio fighting James Livingston, Carl Sneep fighting Matt Pelech and Geoff Walker fighting Curt Gogol. Penguins would get another power play goal in the period, this time from Alex Picard to make it 3-0. This would spell the end of Tyson Sexsmith who was relieved by backup goaltender Harri Sateri.

Second Period: I said at the time that the Penguins were looking to protect the three goal lead, as I just had the feeling Worcester wasn’t done and they were still in it. Period was really a back and forth battle, with the Pens preserving a three goal lead not really giving Worcester any solid looks on goal.

Third Period: Another power play goal by Alex Picard, and the Penguins had their first hat trick of the season. They also had a hat giveaway this night as part of a ticket deal so there were some extra hats on the ice. Sharks would later score on a power play of their own when John McCarthy busted up the Munroe shutout bid.

Three Stars: 3) Scott Munroe (27 saves on 28 shots) 2) Cal O’Reilly (three assists, +1) and 1) Alex Picard (hat trick, +1)

Around the Division: Hershey beat Albany 3-2 in a shootout. Syracuse beat Adirondack 5-2 and Binghamton lost in overtime to the Rochester Americans 4-3.

Standings: Admirals 91, Pens 81, Bears 76, Crunch 66, Senators 55

Conference: 1-NOR (91) 2-StJ (83) 3-CT (74) 4-WBS (81) 5-HER (76) 6-BRI (72)  7-MCH (67) 8-SYR (66)

The battle for seventh and eighth in the Conference is a tight one all the way to fourteenth, with the Providence Bruins there with 61 points.

The Binghamton Senators are in tomorrow for a 3 p.m. start, Gameday will be up on the blog here at 11 a.m.

Let’s Go Pens!