Wilkes-Barre, on a patchwork conglomeration of bodies, wins it’s fourth straight game to put themselves back on top of the Eastern Conference standings by winning 3-2 this evening in Syracuse.

Eric Tangradi and Alexandre Picard’s recalls to Pittsburgh prefaced this from this morning.

Scott Munroe vs. Iiro Tarkki. Chris Barton made his WBS debut.

First Period: Penguins play sixteen minutes of bad hockey and nearly allow Syracuse to score multiple times but Munroe did not give many rebound chances and really made some big time saves in the game. Late, Brandon DeFazio cleaned up a rebound to put the Pens up 1-0 then Ryan Craig received a nice pass from Colin McDonald to put the Pens up 2-0 heading into the break.

Second Period: Munroe continued to see virtually everything. He did not give up many rebounds in the process which really was a plus. Ryan Schnell took an attempted head-butting call to put Syracuse on a double minor power play. I don’t think that afterward, Tom Grace called his name the entire rest of the evening. Wilkes-Barre would kill it with Munroe continuing to make ten bell saves.

Third Period: Ryan Craig blocked a shot with his hand. He would be fine. Patrick Maroon score at 5:37 to spoil the Munroe shutout bid. Brandon DeFazio was really everywhere this game. A late Bryan Lerg trip would put the second ranked Syracuse power play back on the ice but the Pens were perfect on the penalty kill all night. Munroe with more solid saves. Then, Brandon DeFazio fired a dart at Tarkki which surprised him and ended up in the net to make it 3-1 Pens. J-F Jacques would score late with Tarkki pulled but the Pens would hold on and win their fourth straight game.

Three Stars: 3) Patrick Maroon (goal, assist, even) 2) Ryan Craig (goal, assist, even) and 1) Matt Rust (assist, +1)

Pretty sure Brandon DeFazio should be the first star of the game, but whatever.

Around the Division: Hershey won a barn burner in Norfolk 4-3 and Binghamton beat Adirondack 3-1.

Standings: Wilkes-Barre leads Hershey 37 points to 35. Norfolk has 33 points in third. Syracuse has 27 points and Binghamton 22.

Conference: 1-WBS (37) 2-StJ (36) 3-CT (35) 4-MCH (36) 5-HER (35) 6-NOR (33) 7-WOR (30) 8-ADK (30)

Norfolk busses overnight here for a 7:05 start. Hershey busses home to host Bridgeport.

Doing more with less is what Wilkes-Barre is doing. Stupendous goaltending right now.

Gameday will be up tomorrow at 3 p.m. Let’s Go Pens!

It is truly amazing sometimes what a team which has the majority of what makes it run not a part of it. Tonight, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins recorded their 500th win in franchise history by beating the Binghamton Senators 4-2.

With this, the Pens move into sole possession of first place in the East Division and the Eastern Conference. All while having half of its defensive corps in Pittsburgh and its power play quarterback in Jason Williams there as well.

Brad Thiessen vs. Robin Lehner. Chris Barton was called up from Wheeling but did not dress. The B-Sens dressed tough guy Francis Lessard tonight so Ryan Schnell was a late add for Paul Thompson.

First Period: Geoff Walker and Corey Cowick scrapped early, likely as payback top Cowick for injuring Joey Mormina at the end of last Wednesday’s game in Binghamton. Then the Pens found themselves down two men on a 5-on-3 for Binghamton when Matt Rust was caught holding and Zach Sill in the penalty kill batted a puck over the glass for a delay of game. Stephane Da Costa scored his first AHL goal to put the B-Sens up 1-0.

Second Period: Eric Tangradi passed a puck to Colin McDonald in the slot which McDonald wired over the shoulder of Lehner to even things at one. Then, the Pens found themselves down two men again on questionable tripping calls from referee David Banfield. Mike Hoffamn would score on a slapper which Thiessen didn’t catch all of to put the Senators up 2-1. This was all predicated from the B-Sens buzzing around in the offensive zone prior to going on the 5-on-3. Then, with Mark Parrish in the box for slashing late in the period, Ben Street would even things on a quick rush the other way. Huge goal by Street. The Pens are a dismal 0-5-0-1 when trailing after two periods.

Third Period: A Carl Sneep shot from the point was deflected down by Zach Sill and eluded Lehner to put the Pens ahead 3-2. Pens sat on the lead and really didn’t allow many good chances for Binghamton. An unselfish play by Eric Tangradi passing the puck to Colin McDonald sealed it late as McDonald would pot the easy empty net goal.

How Sweet it is!

Three Stars: 3) Ben Street (power play goal, even) 2) Zach Sill (game winning goal, +1) and 1) Colin McDonald (two goals, +2)

Around the Division: No one else skated.

Standings: WBS sits first with 35 points. The Bears and Admirals have 33 points in second and third respectively. Syracuse is fourth with 25 points and Binghamton has 20 points in last.

Conference: 1-WBS (35) 2-StJ (34) 3-CT (33) 4-MCH (34) 5-HER (33) 6-NOR (33) 7-ADK (30) 8-WOR (28)

No one does more with less I would say. Astute Twitter follower Brandon chirped in with insight:

And also…

Good stuff and I agree.

If anything happens on the wires with guys shuffling to and from Wilkes-Barre, check me on Twitter first then on here if I can throw together enough to make a blog out of it.

Let’s Go Pens!