Chirps from Center Ice

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!

Catch tonight's broadcast! 👇

💻 https://t.co/HaxQBmLCRZ
📻 @FroggyValley, @foxsports1460am, @WOYK1350 pic.twitter.com/caRuIOPXG0

— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 27, 2022

Lines! pic.twitter.com/qEoI6gm58K

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 27, 2022

Lineup Notes: Pens called up Taylor Gauthier as Filip Lindberg is injured. Tyler had an update:

Kyle Olson and Filip Lindberg both week to week with lower body. Not great

— Tyler Piccotti (@TylerPiccotti24) December 27, 2022

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 💼

🍎Ness
🍏Sgarbossa pic.twitter.com/2Wv2DzR9cs

— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 28, 2022

Penguins respond with a power play of their own when noted Bears killer Alexander Nylander scores to even the score at one a piece:

"Ope, can I squeeze past ya real quick? Sorry." – the puck to Fucale, probably

Nyls notches his sixth power play goal of the season pic.twitter.com/BTCt7x2g5d

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 28, 2022

Somehow it was a tie game after two periods.

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.

— Jason Iacona (@nafsnep) December 28, 2022

Connor McMichael scored the only goal in the shootout and helped @TheHersheyBears to a 2-1 victory. pic.twitter.com/OckzuUkxTL

— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) December 28, 2022

Three Stars: 3) Zach Fucale (24 saves) 2) Dustin Tokarski (37 saves) 1) Connor McMichael (game winning shootout goal)

The Good: They stayed in lockstep with the best team in the league and got a point.

The Bad: They could have won, despite The fact they should have lost this in regulation.

Turning Point: The Nylander goal gave them the jam to get them to overtime and a point.

Around the Division: Hartford blows out Bridgeport 7-3

Standings: Will be a later edit.

Wheeling was off and I’ll look for video highlights.

Back at it Friday against Providence.

Let’s Go Pens!

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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…

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.

Then the Penguins get a crack on the power play and give up a penalty shot when Ridly Grieg scores to make it a 3-1 lead.

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.

Three Stars: 3) Brennan Saulnier (goal) 2) Mads Sogaard (24 saves) 1) Ridly Grieg (goal)

The Good: I don’t have anything.

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.

Onto Laval Friday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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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:

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.

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.

Let’s Go Pens!

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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:

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?

Alex Nylander.

A boffo turnover by Stevenson, one of his rare misses on the night, and the Penguins are tied with the Bears.

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.

Bummer.

Three Stars: 3) Clay Stevenson (23 saves) 2) Filip Lindberg (30 saves) 1) Mike Sgarbossa (two goals)

The Good: Three out of four points from Hershey is good, all things considered.

The Bad: Seems like the effort they put forth wasn’t the best? But that’s underselling a very good Hershey team that isn’t going away any time soon.

Turning Point: The Sgarbossa overtime winner gets it. An overtime game winning goal always gets it.

Around the Division: Providence comes back to beat Lehigh Valley 2-1 in overtime…Rochester blanks Charlotte 4-0…Syracuse beats Bridgeport 4-3…Utica thumps Springfield 7-3. Hartford loses 3-2 out in Rockford, Illinois.

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: 

More Tuesday North of the Border.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Another, rejected, headline would have been Houde Like a Frasca?

Anyway, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins took down the top team in the AHL Friday night with a 3-1 win at home and yet another masterclass in goal by Dustin Tokarski.

The Pens jump out to a 2-0 lead before the game is nine minutes old and ride their veteran goalie through a choppy third period and makes up some much needed ground on the first place Bears and the teams ahead of them in the Atlantic Division standings.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Jamie Devane is still injured. He was the only one listed out as such. Jordan Frasca makes his AHL debut. Ty Glover returned from injury.

First Period: Deflections were the name of the game. Jonathan Gruden with a deflection of a Xavier Ouellet shot for a 1-0 lead then about four minutes after that Tyller Sikura with a deflection of a Mitch Reinke offering and it’s 2-0.

Here are the goals.

Hershey made a push with about seven minutes left to play in the period and this was foreshadowing for the…

Second Period: No scoring, but the Bears outshot the Penguins 11-3 and had three power plays but the Penguins penalty killing was perfect. Dustin Tokarski was really dialed in.

Third Period: Seconds in, Drake Caggiula hit a post off a breakaway off of the opening face-off.

But then Sam Houde scored this pretty goal that make it 3-0 Penguins.

Second assist to Taylor Fedun, that’s his first point of the season.

Later…

Gabriel Carlsson breaks up the Tokarski shutout bid with a shot which may have deflected off of Mitch Reinke to make it 3-1 with :49 to play but that was as close as the Bears would get in this one.

Three Stars: 3) Jordan Frasca (10 PIM) 2) Sam Houde (goal) 1) Dustin Tokarski (29 saves)

The Good: The penalty kill and the goaltender. The Penguins make have had no business winning the game the way they did without that unit and that goaltender.

The Bad: Three straight penalties when you are getting steamrolled in the second period by a hungry, very good visiting team.

Turning Point: Going to go with all three penalty kills Wilkes-Barre managed to get out of free and clear in the second. One power play goal for and it’s a one goal lead and a totally new ballgame. Thankfully they never got there.

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley goes 3-0 against Providence with a 5-4 overtime win…Utica thumps Bridgeport 5-2…Syracuse beats Springfield 4-2…Hartford beats Grand Rapids 6-4 and Rochester beats Charlotte 4-2. Good out of town scoreboard night.

Standings: Hershey 37 – Providence 36 – Bridgeport 33 – Penguins 29 – Charlotte 27 – Lehigh Valley 26 – Springfield 25 – Hartford 23

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were defeated 6-3 by the Indy Fuel. All three Nailers goals come on the power play.

Video Highlights: 

These teams rematch Saturday at 6:05. More after.

Let’s Go Pens!