Wilkes-Barre / Scranton has won seven in a row, tonight defeating the Adirondack Phantoms 4-2.

John Curry vs. Michael Leighton. With Dustin Jeffrey called up (and scratched earlier today) to Pittsburgh, Ryan Schnell skated on a fourth line, with Bryan Lerg centering the top line and Keven Veilleux up on the third line. Radio indicated that Dustin “may” be back tomorrow in time for the 3 p.m. game in Connecticut vs. the Whale.

First period: Rob Bordson high stick early led to a Corey Potter power play goal. It would be Corey’s first goal as a Penguin. Potter dug the puck off the boards and fired a shot at Leighton which beat him on the short side. Later, Potter would cough up a puck that Luke Pither would steal and pass to Greg Moore for a goal which tied it. Later, Brett Sterling came in on a 2 on 1 with Tim Wallace and sniped a goal on Leighton which put the Penguins back on to at 2-1.

Second period: Biggest play here came when Eric Tangradi would get penalized for roughing, but after the whistle Steve Wagner would slash and Tim Wallace would fight. This would lead to Wilkes-Barre having to kill off a full 2:00 of a 5 on 3. This was without the league’s best penalty killer Dustin Jeffrey. Late in the period Brett Sterling would get denied on the doorstep of Michael Leighton.

Third period: Jon Kalinski would get whistled for roughing at 8:49, but after that penalty expired Nick Johnson scored an even strength goal when a Ryan Craig shot towards the goal went in off of Nick’s leg. About 12 minutes into the period radio announced that the Phantoms only had 1 shot on goal. Zach Sill would sit for roughing at 15:44 and the Pens would kill it. Radio announced that as 13 straight penalties killed by the Penguins. Late, Ryan Craig would get an empty net goal to make it 4-1. The Pens would have to kill a Keven Veilleux high stick and Danny Syvret would score to make it 4-2.

Overall I thought it was another solid game by the Penguins. Bombulie called it another game where an opponent got outgunned by us in his postgamer. He also mentioned that in the seven game winnings streak that the Penguins are 3/34 in the power play conversion department or 8.8%. Oofda!

Around the Division: Charlotte was idle. Norfolk won late 3-2 over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Hershey lost to Lake Erie in a shootout 3-2 after being up 2-1 and getting scored on late with the Monsters goalie pulled. Manchester beat Binghamton 4-3. Albany beat Springfield 6-3 and Syracuse beat Rochester 2-1.

Standings: WBS has 64 points to Charlotte’s 51. Norfolk with the win is now tied in points with the Checkers with 51 points of their own. Hershey is in fourth with 49 points. Binghamton is fifth with 46 points. Albany sits 6th with 37 points. Syracuse has 35 points for seventh and the Phantoms are still last with 26 points.

Tomorrow: Charlotte and Norfolk battle it out in Charlotte for second place, Hershey plays Binghamton in Binghamton.

Should be fun tomorrow for the Pens as they try to sweep the weekend in Hartford tomorrow afternoon vs. the Whale.

Go Pens.

Brad Thiessen showed why he is the Eastern Conference’s starting goaltender with a 2-0 clean sheet of the Providence Bruins tonight in the Rhose Island capital.

Thiessen was opposed by Nolan Schaefer tonight. Keven Veilleux and Brian Strait returned to the lineup. Ryan Schnell took warmups but was a scratch as was Jason DeSantis who did not take warmups.. Alex Grant I am also told made the trip but is still a ways away from returning.

First period: First ten minutes of the game was all Wilkes-Barre in the Providence zone. Not much in the way of action, just sound defense by Wilkes-Barre. Pens would have two straight power plays handed to them but failed to convert. Ryan Craig would fight Nathan McIver but outside of that not much else went on.

Second period: Joe Colborne would sit for hooking and then finally, the Pens would score a power play goal. Brett Sterling. It appeared as if Schaefer was screened. Regardless it is nice to see The Ticket burying chances when he has them.

The turning point of the game came about five minutes later when Tim Wallace would sit for hooking at 13:27 then Corey Potter for delay of game at 14:30. The Pens would have to kill off :57 of a 5 on 3. Now, Providence’s power play is ranked last in the league. Dustin Jeffrey singlehandedly would snuff out the 5 on 3 by getting two separate breakaways, drawing a Colby Cohen hold and an Andrew Bodnarchuk hold. As long as nothing weird occurred, I felt WBS had this one in the bag because of Dustin’s work.

Shots at the end of two were 24-12 in favor of WBS. With this being essentially a home and home series for the Penguins, radio mentioned that the aggregate shots total was 75-30 at one point in the second period. Just utter domination by the Penguins.

Third period: Geoff Walker got himself a garbage goal, banking it in off of Nolan Schaefer early in the period to extend the lead to 2-0. Later Nolan would rob Dustin Jeffrey on the doorstep. The third period would fly by. Providence would get its chances but Wilkes-Barre held the fort and earned Thiessen a shutout.

Three stars were Schaefer, Thiessen and Brett Sterling in that order.

Around the Division: Charlotte beat Manchester in a shootout 6-5. This is after the Checkers were up 5-3 and let Charlotte back into it. Norfolk defeated Bridgeport 5-2. Hershey shutout tomorrow’s opponent the Adirondack Phantoms 3-0. Binghamton lost to Albany 3-2. Check out who got the game winner and who was named first star in that one. Syracuse lost in a shootout to the Hamilton Bulldogs 1-0.

Standings: WBS up 11 on Charlotte 62-51. Norfolk needed to win to keep pace, they are in third with 49 points. Hershey is fourth with 48 points. Binghamton is fifth with 44 points. Albany has 35 points in sixth, Syracuse has 33 points in seventh and Adirondack has 26 points in last.

Tomorrow: Charlotte is idle, so WBS can extend the points lead with a win in Glens Falls. Norfolk has a rematch tomorrow home v. Bridgeport and Hershey is home vs. Lake Erie.

Tomorrow’s game vs. the Phantoms puts us at the half way mark of the season. You know what this means, right? Second Quarter grades are due Monday afternoon here on the blog!

Go Pens!