Chirps from Center Ice

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Penguins come into the third period of Saturday’s game and I know what you are thinking because I thought it too. Here we go again, time for them to blow the lead and lose.

Sam Houde takes a shot and scores a goal and Wilkes-Barre goes up 3-1.

But then, that was kinda it for the shots for the Penguins, who muster only two more for an aggregate of three in the period, Syracuse scores two to tie and then in overtime to win 4-3 in overtime.

It’s a tired trope, a seen scene. It’s getting old and frankly, it’s irrelavant because two weeks from now they will be done and headed for an early summer.

Here’s how they lined up…

Yeah, they were the Old Forge Pizzas Saturday. Part of a five year plan to rebrand for one night as a local cuisine. Plymouth Pierogis anyone?

No lineup changes, save for goal.

First Period: Drake Caggiula was their best player for them Saturday and had a lot of chances shorthanded because referees Jordan Deckard and Jake Kamrass made an absolute mess of the game, but Caggiula gets a shorthanded goal to open the scoring for the home team.

Second Period: Ex-Penguin Felix Robert scores with a second left on a power play for the Crunch and Syracase ties the game at one.

But the Penguins would respond in kind on a power play of their own, just :06 in, when Ty Smith goes bar down and in for a 2-1 Penguins lead.

Third Period: Said it again…

Then Sam Houde scores on a dart to make it a two goal lead for the Penguins.

But then Syracuse clamped down hard and allowed the Penguins just two more paltry shots, I think after they tied the game at three. Here’s how they did that…

Overtime: Ty Smith gets worked for a puck and Phil Myers scores to give the Crunch the win.

Three Stars: 3) Drake Caggiula (goal) 2) Alex Barre-Boulet (two goals, two assists) 1) Phil Myers (OT goal)

The Good: Season will be over in two weeks.

The Bad: The twelve power plays doled out by the referees was unnecessary. Failing to mark and allowing Barre-Boulet to factor into every goal is terrible.

Turning Point: The Myers goal that ended it. Let’s not overthink things.

Around the Division: Hartford continues to win, beating Lehigh Valley 5-1….Springfield beats Charlotte 6-5 in overtime….Hershey gets 40 wins in a season (remember those days?) with a 4-1 win in Cleveland….Bridgeport beats a suddenly slumping Providence team 5-2.

Standings: Are meaningless. Pens are in last and cooked. That’s all you need to know.

Wheeling Update: So the team the Nailers are playing, the Cincinnati Cyclones, lost 11-0 to the South Carolina Stingrays. Well, wouldn’t you know it, the Nailers are currently losing (the game is still going on when the blog post went up, box here) to the Cyclones.

More Wednesday. I’m traveling to Virginia Thursday morning and may sit the game out and just watch on AHLTV, if I don’t see you at the game Happy Easter.

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Another lead going into the third period and another victory for the opponent. It’s like clockwork for this team and the result again on Friday night as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins lose 4-2 to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Oh, and the Penguins didn’t have a shot on goal till about 4 minutes left to play when they were trailing 3-2.

Let’s just get into the recap.

Here’s how they lined up…

Lineup Notes: Buncha AHL debuts for Jagger Joshua and Justin Lee who the Pens signed to contracts so you will see them next year and Owen Pickering, who you won’t’ because he’s still too young for full time AHL work, so it’s either NHL or back to juniors for the guy next season but because his junior season is over, Pens brass wants to get the kid pro reps so here he is. Why they paired him with Taylor Fedun is beyond my comprehension, but it is what it is.

Filip Hållander, Colin Swoyer and Josh Maniscalco came out for the guys listed above.

The above is meaningless, because they will be done in two weeks anyway.

First Period: About half way through Valtteri Puustinen finds Drake Caggiula for a wide open net that gives the Penguins an early 1-0 lead.

Nice play.

But then Tyson Foerster scores a power play goal for the Phantoms with about three minutes left to play to tie the game at one.

Foerster is the Phantoms power play ace and it shows why here. Point shot through two guys.

Second Period: Wilkes-Barre scores on a two man advantage against the dead last penalty kill in the AHL when Ty Smith finds pay dirt with a blast from the point that puts the Penguins up 2-1.

Dustin Tokarski was dialed in during the period and had some of his finest work on display with the save right here.

Terrible foreshadowing…

Third Period: Clockwork.

Ex-Penguin Jordy Bellerive with a shot, Tokarski the initial save but Tokarski follows up and finds the puck and scores to tie the game at two.

Later, Bobby Brink scores when Ronnie Attard’s shot is blocked. This pulls Tokarski out of his crease and he either rover commits or something and that leaves the puck loses for it to be swept over to Attard who has a wide open net to shoot into.

First shot of the period comes with around four minutes to play already down one. They didn’t get a power play to work on to try and tie the game and with ti me dwindling and desperation setting in, they aren’t able to find the equalizer and instead Bobby Brink scores his second on an empty net.

Three Stars: 3) Jordy Bellerive (goal) 2) Valtteri Puustinen (two assists) 1) Bobby Brink (two goals)

The Good: Decent 40 minutes.

The Bad: Terrible last 20. No shot on goal for about 16 minutes? Come on guys.

Turning Point: The Bellerive goal was inevitable. The first Brink goal was inevitable.

Around the Division: Does it matter anymore? Springfield beats Charlotte 3-2 in overtime…Hartford shuts out Providence 5-0.

Standings: Providence 90 – Hershey 87 – Springfield and Charlotte 77 – Lehigh Valley 74 – Hartford 71 || Bridgeport 68 – Penguins 62

Wheeling Update: Nailers are out in Indiana and lost 3-1 to the Indy Fuel.

Back at it on Pizza Night against the Crunch. More then.

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Not because the score line was close, but because it’s about as close as this team will get to a playoff like atmosphere on the ice as the Atlantic’s top team, the Providence Bruins, skate away with a 4-3 shootout win Wednesday over the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

Putting myself in Providence’s shoes for a second here as I have been there with the Penguins, the Bruins can’t like how they won this game and how difficult it was for them at times to breakthrough against a last place team in their division. If you can’t beat a last place team, what makes you think you’ll have any success on the road in Game 6 of a Conference or Calder Cup Final?

But again, as I mentioned earlier in the day, maybe they sleepwalked through the game and won when they needed to. Sure looked like it.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Jordan Frasca for Lukas Svejkovsky up front and the returning Ty Smith and Taylor Fedun for Andrew Nielsen and Peter DiLiberatore on defense.

First Period: Was going to tweet, “yawn” at some point but just as I was, a flurry of three goals in the span of 1:14.

Valtteri Puustinen off the bar and in for a 1-0 Penguins lead followed :49 later by a Tyler Sikura tip of a Taylor Fedun shot and it’s 2-0. Immediately after, Sam Asselin answers (that on again, off again thing I mentioned in the open) and Providence was on the board :25 later. Here they are…

Second Period: They held it at 2-1, but were badly outshot 13-4 in the period but the Bruins had a number of power plays. Jamie Devane fed J.D. Greenway his lunch with a few uppercuts and was give an instigator and a misconduct. A call I don’t agree with but an argument I will make another non-worknight day.

Third Period: Always had the sense that the bottom was going to fall out as it has in recent memory.

4:51 in and Luke Toporowski scores chasing his first shot and scoring via backhander on his second.

But the Penguins showed life and Valtteri Puustinen scores his second of the night giving the Penguins a lead again and made the score 3-2.

But Fabian Lysell dances through Ty Smith and flips a backbend shot at Tokarski to tie the game at three.

Just walking the dog there.

It was an offensive onslaught by the Providence Bruins, but Tokarski and the Penguins held the Bruins at bay and forced…

Overtime: Chances a plenty for both sides, but it was off then to a…

Shootout: Summarized here:

Three Stars: 3) Ty Smith (two assists) 2) Valtteri Puustinen (two goals) 1) Fabian Lysell (regulation and shootout goal)

The Good: I’d say it’s something to build on, holding the best team in the division close like that and something to build off of, but it’s the end of March and they aren’t making playoffs instead of it being early January.

The Bad: Potential is in there, somewhere, but it’s too little, too late.

Turning Point: I’ll give it to Puustinen and his second goal of the game which re-established the Penguins lead and showed they weren’t going to go down without a fight.

Around the Division: Hershey beats Toronto 3-1…Springfield crushes Charlotte 7-4…Hartford beats and overtakes Bridgeport for the 6th seed with a 4-1 win.

Standings: Providence 90 – Hershey 87 – Charlotte 76 – Springfield 75 – Lehigh Valley 72 – Hartford 69 || Bridgeport 68 – Penguins 62

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

If I see video highlights and can get back around to an edit I’ll work them in.

Phantoms Friday in Allentown. More then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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On this massively important afternoon for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, the answer was learned quick.

Just :16 in, to be exact.

A 5-1 Hartford win Sunday should, at this point, close the books for the Penguins playoff chances. They are seven points off of Bridgeport for the sixth and final playoff spot and their schedule doesn’t get any easier. They host the first place Providence Bruins on Wednesday.

Hartford, the team that is ahead of the Penguins in seventh and chasing down the Islanders, are now just a point behind Bridgeport for that final playoff spot and six points clear of the last place Penguins.

Say goodnight, Gracie. It won’t be long now.

Here’s how they lined up…

Hartford didn’t post lines.

Lineup Notes: Justin Addamo is apparently injured, having been listed on the injury report before the game. Lukas Svejkovsky slotted in for him. No other changes. As expected, Tommy Nappier was reassigned to Wheeling. Coal Street also signed Louie Roehl to a PTO from Wheeling and received Jordan Frasca as well.

First Period: Hope you weren’t late, cause :16 in, the Penguins were down 1-0 on the first shot of the game from the Wolf Pack.

A terrible D to D pass by Peter DiLiberatore is intercepted by Ryan Carpenter who finds Will Lockwood in transition who makes a move on Dustin Tokarski and scores to make it 2-0.

Wilkes-Barre takes three penalties on the period including two back to back. They killed the first one but on the second it was captain Jonny Brodzinski scoring on a far dot one timer that made it 3-0.

I followed that analysis up with that simply, one team wants to push for a playoff spot and the other does not. Pure and simple.

Second Period: Bit of a brighter start, they outshoot Hartford 12-8 in the period, opened up like an 8-0 run on the shot board to begin but it was Anton Blidh winning a puck battle or rather the Penguins losing two puck battles where Blidh does a backhand roofer to make it 4-0.

Third Period: Jonathan Gruden, far and away the Penguins best player on the ice Sunday, nabs himself a power play goal to break up Louis Domingue’s shutout attempt and get the Penguins on the board 4-1.

But the Wolf pack would add an empty netter via Turner Elson to make it 5-1.

Three Stars: 3) Jonathan Gruden (goal) 2) Will Lockwood (goal, assist) 1) Zac Jones (goal, assist)

The Good: Baseball starts Thursday, Mets should contend. That ownership there seemingly knows how to build a winner.

The Bad: Massively important day and they lay this egg in what could be the worst loss of the season in a year full of some bad ones. Get your final looks at some of these guys, including the coaches because you shouldn’t be seeing them when they come back around this Fall.

Turning Point: Heh. :16 in, and you knew who the better team was going to be.

None of what happened around the division matters. Standings don’t matter either.

I’m not going to post video highlights. Wha was important was shown above.

Providence Wednesday. Weekend Preview of what is likely going to be a brief overview of the week ahead for the Penguins (home vs. Providence Wednesday, at Lehigh Valley Friday, home vs. Syracuse Saturday) will be up Wednesday morning.

Go Pens.

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I guess it’s better than nothing.

A 3-2 Lehigh Valley overtime loss Saturday in Wilkes-Barre, where the Penguins had the lead coming into the third period, lost it and Lehigh Valley forces overtime. It didn’t take long as Adam Brooks ended it just :37 into the overtime frame.

7 points off of 6th and the final spot in the Atlantic for playoffs and 4 points off of 7th, held by Sunday’s opponent Hartford, who were shutout 4-0 in Springfield in the only game that matters for the Penguins. Bridgeport was off.

Here’s how they lined up…

Lineup Notes: Tommy Nappier and Chris Ortiz were recalled earlier in the day. Nappier will be heading back as Dustin Tokarski was re-assigned by Pittsburgh this evening. Lukas Svejkovsky out, Nathan Legare back in.

First Period: Two big stops on two different shooters by Taylor Gauthier and then seconds later Drake Caggiula was in all alone on a breakaway and scored giving the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

But then Lehigh Valley answers right back with a goal from Garrett Wilson. Wilson was looking for someone in front and instead his pass goes off of a Penguin defender instead and in.

Bad team. Bad luck. Bad break. St. Ivany, I think in case you are wondering.

Second Period: Josh Maniscalco scores a power play goal in a similar way that Garrett Wilson scored in the first, off a defender.

I suppose they all count the same.

Third Period: One second left on a power play for the Phantoms and they score via Artem Anisimov goal to tie the game at two.

That goal breaks a streak of 25 straight penalty kills by Wilkes-Barre.

Ty Glover and Filip Hållander led a two on one and Hållander wasn’t able to finish.

I think at the end of the period Lehigh Valley wanted to preserve at least a point. The Penguins in flashes showed some push but were in the same boat.

Overtime: Face-off win by Artem Anisimov and then…

Three Stars: 3) Artem Anisimov (goal, assist) 2) Drake Caggiula (goal) 1) Adam Brooks (goal, assist)

The Good: There’s no consistency with this team. Explain how they can run into Allentown on the third game of a three in three and eat a rested Phantoms team alive like they did last Sunday then blow a third period lead (typical) then in overtime? I guess you can say there’s consistency in that they always bow the lead and find a way to lose.

The Bad: They let an extremely average and likely one and done in playoffs Phantoms team back in the game in the third period and let them take the extra point they were so desperately chasing.

Turning Point: Going to give it to Anisimov’s goal that tied the game back in the third. It was a feckless effort by the home team after that.

Bridgeport is off the rest of the weekend and have 68 points with 9 games left. Hartford, out of a playoff spot, have 65 points with 9 games left. The Penguins have 10 games left, a head to head with Hartford Sunday and 61 points.

Video Highlights: 

More Sunday night after Hartford.

Let’s Go Pens!