Defense wins Championships.

It’s the old adage that gets tossed around all the time. Well, it was the Pens Defense that held Hershey to 16 shots on goal and only 1 goal in a 4-1 win at GIANT Center this evening.

Brad Thiessen vs. Nolan Schaefer – Bears PxP John Walton tweeted that the Penguins are without three of the top five scorers and the Bears are without three of their top 6. Neither team was at 100%.

First Period: Off the hop, Ryan Craig slipped the puck under Schaefer to give the Pens a 1-0 very early. Pens really clamped the Bears down to only 4 SOG this period and none in the first 10 minutes or so. Both teams would trade a Joe Vitale hook and a Sheldon Souray cross check but neither team would score on the man advantage. SOG were 9-4 Penguins.

Second Period: Zach Sill would sit for tripping, what I thought was a ticky tack call from referee Marcus Vinnerborg and Brian Fahey would fire a puck from the point that Boyd Kane would deflect in past Thiessen to tie the game at 1. Do the Pens come unraveled? No. Kyle Greentree would get nabbed for hooking, then :13 later on the power play Maxime Lacroix would board Carl Sneep and the Pens would get 1:47 of a 5 on 3. But, they would not score. That certainly had the looks of a momentum changer there. Geoff Walker must not believe in momentum because later he scored to make it 2-1. Huge goal. Huge, huge, HUGE goal there by Walker. After two periods, 2-1 Penguins and 17-10 shots on goal.

Third Period: Bears would buzz and buzz and buzz. Shots would creep to 18-15 WBS, but with about 6 minutes to go in the game, I don’t think the Penguins allowed the Bears a single shot on goal. Joey Mormina would fire a puck in from the blueline to make it 3-1, then Ryan Craig with Schaefer pulled would score the empty net goal from center ice. Final SOG would be 26-16.

Three Stars: Boyd Kane (goal, -2), Brad Thiessen (15 saves on 16 shots), Geoff Walker (game winning goal, assist, +2)

The Pens by my math are 14-6 at GIANT Center this season. A complete 180 from what they were last year.

Around the Division: Charlotte beat Manchester 3-2. Bingo beat Norfolk 4-1. Adirondack beat Albany 4-3.

Standings: Division lead back to 8, 2 games in hand on Hershey. 90-82. Charlotte has 78 points in third. Norfolk-Binghamton are 75-73 for fourth and fifth. Albany-Adirondack-Syracuse are 52-51-49. Manchester has 83 points. We will also start tracking Portland, who have 81 points in second in the Atlantic. Hamilton leads the North with 74 points and Milwaukee leads the West with 81. The Admirals are my Calder Cup pick as opponent in the Finals vs. the Pens.

This week: Hershey travels to Portland, Wilkes-Barre hosts Connecticut and Binghamton and Charlotte square off in North Carolina all on Tuesday.

Tomorrow I will probably have a late evening post on the Clear Day rosters. Gonna be fun breaking down the East. Until then, Let’s Go Penguins!

Pens take a 1-0 lead then take a silly Joe Vitale trip away from the play and then turn over a puck in the defensive zone to send the Marlies home tonight with the 2-1 victory North of the Border tonight in Canada. Internet issues in Ricoh Coliseum prevented this game from being available on AHL Live this evening.

John Curry vs. Ben Scrivens

First Period: Keven Veilleux seriously need to dial it back a bit. He was everywhere in the first half of the period but then took some really crazy penalties which ended up costing the Penguins. The first period was a defensive showcase for the Penguins. The Marlies hit two posts this period and the shots on goal were 11-6 in favor of the Penguins.

Second Period: Brett Sterling argues that he scores a goal shorthanded but no dice. Later, Veilleux turns the puck over twice in one shift and is bailed out by Curry. Then Chris Collins scores about halfway through. To this point, the shots on goal were 16-9 Wilkes-Barre and Toronto only had 3 in the second period. After some rough stuff a few minutes later, Joe Vitale would trip a Marlies player after the teams were at even strength then Mike Zigomanis, who in my opinion has no business at this level, would fire a puck on net which would get deflected by Jeff Cowan to tie the score at 1. Shots on goal would eng up being 23-12 WBS.

Third Period: Defensive zone turnover by Wilkes-Barre exactly three minutes into the third would cost the Penguins as Mike Zigomanis would score to make it 2-1. Shots were at some point in the game 20-9 Penguins and about 10 minutes into the third were 23-18 Penguins. Later Brett Sterling would have a good chane which Scrivens would deny. Pens would pull Curry late and call a timeout but fail to find the equalizing goal and lose 2-1.

Again, no AHL Live and I was not at the game, so I have no idea other than what radio tells me what to make of this one.

Three Stars: Nazem Kadri (assist, +1), Brett Sterling (scoreless but 7 shots on goal), Mike Zigomanis (game winning goal, assist, +1)

Around the Division: Hershey did not play. The Pens missed on a chance to widen the gap with this game in hand. Charlotte lost to Providence 4-2. Norfolk beat Albany 1-0. Binghamton does not play till Sunday. Syracuse and Houston are battling it out in Texas at this hour. I am also going to start keeping an eye on the Manchester Monarchs from here on out here and on the Twitter side. ManchVegas overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat Worcester 3-2 in overtime in The City of Seven Hills this evening. With the win the Monarchs draw within five  points of the overall league lead (which is Wilkes-Barre’s) and the home ice throughout the playoffs that goes with being the #1 overall seed.

Standings: We dodged a bullet somewhat I think but still should have beat the Marlies. We are still the division leader by 8 points up on Hershey. Charlotte has 76 points in third. Norfolk draws within a point of the Checkers and four points up on Binghamton with 75 points to the B-Sens 71. Albany, Adirondack and Syracuse are 50, 49, 47.

Tomorrow: Pens are off. Hershey hosts Norfolk. The Bears picked up Nolan Schaefer today on loan from the Providence Bruins in net. Charlotte is in Worcester. Bingo as we said is off till Sunday and so too are the Monarchs.

Radio said that Hynes was not happy with the performance tonight. No one really can be because a game like this could very well be something you see in the playoffs.

I’ll have a recap of tomorrow’s action here on the blog tomorrow. Go Pens.