Comments Off on Weekend Preview – 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Posted by nafsnep on December 30, 2022
Penguins close out 2022 with a home game against the Providence Bruins and then head to Allentown Saturday for New Years Eve.
Music to set the mood…
From me and the cats, Happy New Year to you and yours. Thanks for making the blog a part of your every day. I appreciate it. May 2023 get you everything you are looking for and more.
A Quote…
The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.
J.P. Morgan
Pens want more than their 31 points and their fifth place showing in the Atlantic at present. It’s time to make a move so it’s time to go.
The Setup
A not so good trip to Canada and a postponed game because of weather last week. Pens lost straight up to Toronto and Belleville and the Laval game was postponed. A close game with Hershey this past Tuesday. Now, finally shifting away from the Bears and focusing on Providence and a resurging Lehigh Valley team.
Bruins are the second best team in the AHL (Hershey is the first) and Lehigh Valley is nipping at the Penguins heels, tied with them with 31 points.
Providence was in Hershey Wednesday and lost 1-0 in a shutout. Lehigh Valley played a run and gun with the Bridgeport Islanders on Wednesday and won 6-5 in a shootout. Islanders scored late to tie it.
Records
Providence is 16-6-5-2, good for 31 points and second in the Atlantic. Lehigh Valley is 14-11-2-1 and have the same 31 points as the Penguins with a 13-8-2-3 record. Pens are 5th, Phantoms are 6th.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
Boy, a lot has changed. Drew O’Connor and Mark Friedman remain up and Drake Caggiula and Ty Smith joined them this week. No one is in Wheeling because the Nailers saw Taylor Gauthier and Josh Maniscalco get called up this week. Filip Lindberg left the game before a faceoff in the Belleville game, and Kyle Olson was announced this week as being out week to week, same as Lindberg.
So it’s walking wounded again. Not going to complain because you should be used to it by now. If you are tired of it, don’t renew. It is what it is.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
Providence always plays the Penguins tougher. I’d rather watch three straight against Hershey then one against Providence because it is always a battle with the P-Bruins. The Bruins are the bellweather for a lot of teams to see how good they really are.
I think the Bruins are better than the Bears, if that means anything.
Lehigh Valley has appeared to figure things out, but remain horribly inconsistent. Bridgeport is in third somehow in the Atlantic, 1-7-1-1 in their last ten, and the Phantoms are playing run and gun with a team they should have no business playing run and gun with.
Then there are the Penguins who, when healthy, are slightly above average at best. Drew O’Connor is in Pittsburgh and isn’t going to be around to score two goals every night and dish three assists. Drake Caggiula is a good role player who will just fill a press box seat in Pittsburgh for however long he’s up for, so the Penguins have to figure out the scoring.
Who’s in goal?
I’d go Tokarski tonight against Providence and Gauthier Saturday in Allentown. You might see Keith Kinkaid for the Bruins, saving Brandon Bussi for tomorrow night in Hershey again. Lehigh Valley is in Utica Friday. You may see Nolan Maier, who played in that offensively potent display Wednesday at home against the Islanders.
Who is running the show?
I think it’s in Terry Koharski’s contract that he sees every teams home ice at least once every season. He dropped the first puck when Coachella Valley opened it’s place up a few weeks ago, has been in Texas, Massachusetts and elsewhere. He will be in town tonight with Michael Zyla with Jud Ritter and Ryan Knapp on the lines. Saturday sees Rob Hennessey and Adam Tobias (ex-linesman) with Patrick Dapuzzo and Trevor Disbennett on the lines.
Looking ahead…
A pair of home games against Charlotte on Wednesday and Friday then Hartford stops in next Saturday.
Give us a bold prediction…
They get a point out of Providence and beat Lehigh Valley clean.
Comments Off on Lucky Shots? – Pens LOSE 2-1 (SO)
Posted by nafsnep on December 27, 2022
Bit of a truncated blog post tonight as I have family in and a nephew I have to beat in NHL 2k23 later.
Game should not have been as close as it was. Hershey outclassed the Penguins in the first period yet it was scoreless. All the scoring was in the second period and then to a shootout where the Bears get the only goal.
Pens can figure out the way to beat the Bears, could have with the result, but didn’t.
Lines were as follows:
Tonight's projected lineup – defender Aaron Ness has four points (2g, 2a) in his last six games!
First Period: A Hershey shooting gallery, shots 15-5 Bears in the period, yet no goals. Dustin Tokarski was dialed in.
Second Period: They did themselves absolutely no favors taking penalty after penalty after penalty in the period. Not only were the Penguins getting killed in time of possession and shots on goal, they were taking too many careless penalties the eager referees easily called.
Ethen Frank, budding into a Penguins killer, responds in kind on a Hershey power play:
The top of the left circle is becoming @efrank_98's office 💼
Third Period: Fast paced and action packed but no scoring. Penalties were down and that was nice to see.
Overtime: Fast paced and action packed, only with less players and no penalties.
Shootout:
One: Nylander. Takes it over the blue line and loses it. LOL. McMichael scores. Two: Hallander. No. Sgarbossa can win it. Off the post. Three: Caggiula must score. Doesn’t. Hershey wins 2-1.
And here I thought penguins thrived in weather like we are experiencing. Guess not.
Pens only trip up to Canada. Only other windows I can think of is when they are in Rochester the week of January 23, maybe make up the date sometime around then (Pens are in Rochester on Wednesday January 25 and have the makeup game against Utica on the 24th. Laval is home that whole time and can make up the game easily then, they can make it up on Sunday or Monday)
More as it comes, but they are done now until after Christmas for a December 27 home game against the Hershey Bears.
Comments Off on Belleville? More Like L-Ville — Pens LOSE 3-1
Posted by nafsnep on December 21, 2022
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I don’t want to say they are slumping, but two losses in what I thought could have been winnable games isn’t exactly good.
A 3-1 setback in Belleville Wednesday night for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins who see their starting goaltender Filip Lindberg leave the game in the first period after making just three saves. More on him and what I saw in a bit. Mads Sogaard provided the opposition.
Here’s how they lined up…
The #Sens projected lineup against the Pens tonight!
Lineup Notes: Sam Houde and Ty Glover for Jordan Frasca and Lukas Svejkovsky up front. Whatever it was that was bothering Houde didn’t last long. Colin Swoyer was in for Jack St. Ivany.
First Period: No scoring in the period but the story coming out of the period was starting goaltender Filip Lindberg leaving the game for some mystery reason. Here’s what I saw:
– Lindberg goes into the butterfly to make a glove save from a shot from the point.
– There’s a face-off. Five seconds later the puck goes out of play.
– Brief pause. Refs then go to Lindberg, they have a cordial discussion with him and he leaves the ice. Enter Dustin Tokarski.
– Lindberg didn’t show any outward signs of a limp coming off the ice.
If I had to venture a guess, it’s a groin or some type of abdominal injury.
Before Tokarski could even break a sweat, he’s pressed into a big save.
Second Period: Jayce Hawryluk deflects a puck off of Tokarski on a Senators power play to give Belleville a 1-0 lead. Prior to this, Kyle Olson leaves the ice with an apparent injury and didn’t return for the period.
(Belleville didn’t post GIF of the goal)
Xavier Ouellet scores his second goal in as many nights to tie the game at one.
Third Period: Marred by penalties, but the Penguins had their fair share. Brennan Saulnier scores mid-slot to give the B-Sens a 2-1 seconds after a Belleville power play.
Not good. Penguins had a pair of chances to get back into the game on a power play but couldn’t, and couldn’t find any type of flow because Belleville had a pair of chances on the power play as well.
The Bad: They may have lost Lindberg to injury, Olson too, and let a sub .500 team run circles on them after withstanding the opening period rush.
Turning Point: The Grieg penalty shot that made it a two goal buffer for the Senators put the game out of reach for the visitors.
Around the Division: Hershey is the first team to 20 wins with a 4-2 win in Allentown. Yet another comeback for the Bears who are the real deal this season. Be afraid, be very afraid.
Standings: Hershey 43 – Providence 38 – Bridgeport 33 – Penguins 30 – Lehigh Valley and Charlotte 27 – Springfield 25 – Hartford 23
Wheeling Update: Nailers were off, probably getting a goalie, likely Tommy Nappier, ready to get sent up to the AHL.
Video Highlights: I’ll check to see if Belleville posts them. If I remember in the morning I may just post the link through the AHL Video Center.
Comments Off on Ran Into a Woll — Pens LOSE 5-2
Posted by nafsnep on December 20, 2022
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Scoreline was closer than the game itself would indicate but the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins pump 39 shots at Joseph Woll and lose 5-3 Tuesday night. It was 4-0 up late for the Marlies before the Penguins scored two late but then Toronto netted an empty netter to ice the game away, not that there was any real doubt of a collapse what with the way their goaltender was playing.
What I don’t get is how the Penguins can play the best team in the league, Hershey, better than any other opponent that the Bears face yet struggled with the Marlies tonight with going down 2-0 in the first then 4-0 in the second. Is it reps? They see Hershey a lot so they are a better matchup over a team they see just twice in a season? Maybe. This was a game in hand the Pens burned off on the rest of the idle division. The good news is they have a lot of them, the bad news is that it’s a lost effort to gain ground for free.
Woll opposed Dustin Tokarski.
Here’s how they lined up:
Lines vs. WBS
*Note: D Tommy Miller (upper body, day-to-day) will not dress for tonight’s game.
Lineup Notes: Filip Hållander and Lukas Svejkovsky were back for Sam Houde and Ty Glover up front and Ty Smith was in for Colin Swoyer on defense. Sam Houde picked up a knock and is listed as day-to-day but partook in the Tuesday morning skate.
First Period: Marlies goaltender Joseph Woll played like a wall, literally, in the first period and the first place Toronto Marlies used what got them to the top spot in the North Division by scoring two goals.
After a two pad stack on an offering by Tyler Sikura, former Penguin Joseph Blandisi scores to put the Marlies up 1-0.
I don’t think there is a goaltender in the AHL that could have stopped that shot. That was a snipe.
Drake Caggiula creates a turnover on Woll similar to what he did Saturday against Hershey but this time, Alex Nylander could not score because Mac Hollowell stood in the way.
Ryan Chyzowski, who sounds like a kid from Nanticoke, scores on rebound of a Max Ellis shot and it’s 2-0 Toronto.
Second Period: Wilkes-Barre plays a great fort half of the period, and then a terrible second half and it costs them two more goals. Marlies power play, which is #1 at home, was an abject disaster here and the Penguins had two short handed chances. But the Penguins continued to take bad penalties and Noel Hoefenmayer scored a power play goal which made it 3-0 Marlies.
Then a puck deflects off of the knee of linesman Shawn Oliver which plays to the Marlies benefit and Marshall Rifai rips one home for a 4-0 Marlies lead.
Third Period: They kept Toronto off the board and got two quick goals, one from Xavier Ouellet, his first of the season and another from Alex Nylander to make things interesting.
Not sure there's much left of this puck after X got his mitts on it for his first goal as a Pen! pic.twitter.com/8K9J9FcFca
But ran out of time when they couldn’t get the third to go (they got close) but it was Nick Abruzzese with the empty netter to seal it away for the Marlies.
Three Stars: 3) Noel Hoefenmayer (goal, assist) 2) Joseph Blandisi (goal, assist) 1) Joseph Woll (37 saves)
The Good: They limited the #1 power play at home Marlies to just one power play goal.
The Bad: Going down 4-0 against a top team in any division is a recipe for disaster.
Turning Point: If the Hoefenmayer power play goal wasn’t it, the Rifai goal, where it deflects off of the linesman and stays in, was.
Around the Division: One of the seemingly endless games in hand that the Penguins are playing on their divisional foes. Busy night for a Tuesday with eight Pacific Division teams in action, but no one else from the Atlantic Division was in action.
Standings: Hershey 41 – Providence 38 – Bridgeport 33 – Penguins 30 – Lehigh Valley and Charlotte 27 – Springfield 25 – Hartford 23
Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off Tuesday.
Video Highlights: Most likely a morning update.
Back at it Wednesday in Belleville. I miss Binghamton.
Comments Off on Weekend Preview: Oh, Canada!
Posted by nafsnep on December 20, 2022
So the Penguins are going to cram three games in a four game span when they kick off North of the Border tonight in Toronto, Ontario then immediately again tomorrow in Belleville, Ontario. A day off to travel to Laval, Quebec for a game Friday then the Christmas holiday.
It’s a nice change of pace to; a) have a busy week and b) play a team other than the Hershey Bears.
More on them in a bit.
Music to set the mood…
I mean, you have to don’t you? Penguins only trip to Canada. I’ve been there. I traveled up when the Pens played two in Manitoba (back when the Moose logo was green and they called it the MTS Centre) then flew back (with the team at the time, they were on the same flight as I was) to Toronto to watch them play the Marlies. I actually have about $300 in Canadian money somewhere. Hope to go back, someday. Toronto was great.
A Quote…
Canada is not a country for the cold of heart or the cold of feet.
— Pierre Trudeau
Apropos that the first day of Winter is Wednesday. Days get longer from here…
The Setup
Toronto Tuesday, Belleville Wednesday and Laval on Wednesday. This will be the first meeting of the season for the Pens against the Marlies and Senators, and final meeting of the season against the Rocket.
Toronto, who has played a very diverse schedule, are coming off of a Central Division road trip where they faced off against the Rockford IceHogs and the Milwaukee Admirals. Both regulation, one goal wins. Marlies lead the North Division by four points over the Rochester Americans.
Belleville and Laval are at the other end of the North Division spectrum, both trailing Toronto and the the other division heavies, but the margin isn’t as wide as it is in the other divisions.
Belleville got smoked in Manitoba Saturday and in the rematch Sunday lost in overtime.
The Rocket beat the Utica Comets in Utica last Wednesday, traveled to Cleveland Saturday and had seven goals hung on them and in the rematch Sunday beat the Monsters 4-1. They will be in Syracuse Wednesday before heading home to meet the Penguins.
Records
The Penguins are fourth in the Atlantic and are making up ground with a lot of games in hand. They are 3-0-1 in their last three with Bridgeport in third who are 0-2-1 in their last three games, just three points ahead of Wilkes-Barre. The Penguins have four games in hand on the Islanders with a 13-6-2-2 record.
Toronto is in the drivers seat in the North with a 16-8-1-1 record and are on a 3-0-0-1 run.
Belleville is in sixth in the North with a 11-13-2-0 record and are winless in their last three games,
Laval is in last place in the North with a 10-14-3-1 and this record won’t be the same when they meet the Penguins because they play the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
No changes from the last time we did this. Jamie Devane is still hurt. Filip Hållander, Ty Smith and Lukas Svejkovsky were ill. Not COVID. Drew O’Connor and Mark Friedman are in Pittsburgh. Jordan Frasca and Colin Swoyer are up from Wheeling. Sean Josling was recalled from Wheeling on Monday, presumably because they will need a healthy body.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
They should (hypothetically) comfortably beat Belleville and Laval, Toronto should give them more of a fight. I don’t see any reason why they can’t sweep this trip. They are battle tested by carving out three of four points against the Hershey Bears this past weekend, have two really good goaltenders that can steal games and some stingy defenders, the question is who will score?
It may be a by committee thing. You hope Hållander is well enough to play this week. Get Drake Caggiula going. Valtteri Puustinen is best when he’s running downhill. Alex Nylander can score whenever he’s on the ice. That’s when this team is at their best.
Who’s in goal?
I’m glad I don’t have to make these decisions for real. But since I do for this space I think you go Dustin Tokarski Tuesday, Filip Lindberg Wednesday and then the better of the two Friday in Laval.
The Marlies went with Erik Källgren and Joseph Woll this past weekend. Källgren has more games under him but has a 3.37 GAA, Woll is undefeated at 4-0. I think Marlies head coach Greg Moore goes to Woll on Tuesday.
Antoine Bibeau and Mads Sogaard have been splitting the starts for Tory Mann’s Belleville Senators. Neither have anything over the top numbers wise. Sogaard started Sunday in Winnipeg against the Moose, so look for Bibeau to start against the Penguins on Wednesday.
Laval will be in Syracuse on Wednesday and played Sunday, so I have no idea who they will roll out this Friday. It’s a guess that Kevin Poulin goes for Jean-François Houle’s Laval Rocket on Friday.
Who’s running the show?
Cody Beach and Riley Brace get the assignment on Tuesday in Toronto with Justin Johnson and Shawn Oliver on the lines. On Wednesday, Beach follows the team to Belleville and meets up with Morgan MacPhee with Shawn Oliver and Dustin McCrank on the lines. Friday sees MacPhee again with Elizabeth Mantha in the other set of orange arm bands with Anthony Lapointe and Nicolas Boivin on the lines.
Looking ahead…
Wouldn’t you know it, more games with Hershey! A Tuesday home game (yay 🙄) against the Bears and then a Friday date with the Providence Bruins and then Wilkes-Barre closes out 2022 with a New Years Eve game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms down in Allentown.
Comments Off on Scrooge-Bossa — Pens LOSE 2-1 (OT)
Posted by nafsnep on December 17, 2022
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So like I called it in my Weekend Preview, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins take 3 out of a possible 4 points away from the Hershey Bears with a 2-1 overtime loss Saturday night. The series is dead even at 4 games a side won by each team.
And the Penguins earned this one tonight because the Bears defense was smothering and Clay Stevenson was awesome when he needed to be. Hershey limited the Penguins to just 24 shots.
Hershey may be the best team in the AHL, but they have a Penguins problem. Wilkes-Barre knows how to play this team.
Here’s how they lined up:
Tonight's projected lineup – Gabriel Carlsson tallied his first of the season for the Bears last night, and is tied for the team lead in plus-minus against the Pens with a +3!
Lineup Notes: Colin Swoyer for Ty Smith, who is down with the sickness (not COVID) He, Lukas Svejkovsky and Filip Hållander are out with the sickness (not COVID) as well.
First Period: Penguins muster just three shots. Hershey had substantially more, and one of them went in via Mike Sgarbossa.
Second Period: No flow in this period what with the 900 icings. It was the Clay Stevenson Show in the period and there was an announcement with about five minutes left to play that if the Penguins don’t score that the Teddy Bear Toss would happen at second intermission. That kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? The Penguins would need a big goal from someone known for scoring big goals against Hershey, wouldn’t they?
They played the remaining 1:12 after they cleaned the bears off the ice (the stuffed ones) and resurfaced it.
End of the Second, Third Period: No further scoring for the second period, goalies switched ends and they went four-on-four then 1:51 of four-on-four i n two different times during the period. No one scored. The Penguins flipped the tables on the Bears and outshot Hershey 10-4 in the period.
Overtime: Looked like they were destined for a shootout when Mike Sgarbossa went end to end and ended it.
Standings: Hershey 39 – Providence 38 – Bridgeport 33 – Penguins 30 – Charlotte 27 – Lehigh Valley 27 – Springfield 25 – Hartford 123
Wheeling Update: Nailers lose 7-4 out in Fort Wayne Indiana. Matt Alfaro and Chris Ortiz with three assists each. Josh Maniscalco with a goal and assist.
Video Highlights:
Alex Nylander scored the goal that sent the Teddy Bears sailing, but it was @TheHersheyBears that pulled out the 2-1 overtime win over the #WBSPens on Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 