Chirps from Center Ice

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The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins outshot the Bridgeport Islander 42-20 Friday night and lost 5-4.

Bridgeport is in a got to have it mode where they are in last place in the Atlantic Division and need to start pushing in order to get out of the basement.

Cory Schneider still has it. The Islanders goaltender stopped 38 tonight, some difficult as the Pens were bombarding him with shots.

Not for a lack of trying, either. Every penguins skater registered a shot on goal.

Sometimes you just run into a desperate opponent that will refuse to lose. That was Bridgeport on Friday.

Schneider opposed Tommy Nappier.

Lineup Notes: Taylor Fedun was injured in the first period of the game on Sunday, scores the OT GWG and is now day to day. This is why Chris Ortiz was recalled. He skated at the morning skate Friday.

First Period: Chris Terry from a bad angle, scores to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead. Andy Andreoff shot misses everything, deflects off the back wall to Samuel Bolduc who finds Terry for the goal.

Didn’t take long for the Penguins to respond as the fourth line and Felix Robert scored to tie the game at one.

Then the aforementioned Ortiz scores his first AHL goal on a nice pinch play that gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead.

Look at the hands on him!

Second Period: Penguins outshoot the Islanders 20-7 in the period.

Quality, not quantity.

The Islanders score two goals to go up 3-2 in in the period.

Simon Holmstrom finishes off a two on one pass from Any Andreoff to tie the game at 2.

In a period marred by penalties, six total in the period alone awarded by referees Jordan Deckard and Tim Mayer, the Islanders were able to score all of their goals even strength.

Chris Terry, again, scores his second goal of the game to put the Islanders up 3-2 as they headed into intermission.

Bad goal to give up in the situation.

Third Period: Arnaud Durandeau camped in front, unmarked, and he scores to make it 4-2.

Worse goal to give up in the situation.

Felix Robert gets the Pens back within one with his second of the game.

Penguins kept coming in waves, but Cory Schneider kept bailing the Islanders out. Filip Hallander had a chance after Samuel Bolduc broke his stick, but Schneider came up again and made the save.

Kyle MacLean with the dagger.

I’d rather not, thanks.

Radim Zohorna scored with Nappier pulled while the Pens were on a power play to make it 5-4.

But that’s all the Penguins would get, unfortunately.

Three Stars: 3) Felix Robert (two goals) 2) Andy Andreoff (three assists) 1) Chris Terry (two goals)

Michael Chaput had three assists.

The Good: I mean the fact that the Pens had every skater register a shot on goal was nice. Was Wilkes-Barre the better team? I can’t say confidently yes.

The Bad: You can’t have a last place team want it more than you. The Islanders did. The Pens have to quickly learn from this as they rematch Saturday.

Turning Point: The Durandeau goal early in the third wasn’t the start the Pens wanted and the exact start the Islanders needed.

Around the Division: Charlotte beats Lehigh Valley 5-2….Springfield beats Hershey 4-3 in overtime. The Bears scored two goals late. James Neal with a hat trick capped off by the overtime game winner.

Standings: The Pens will do well with the Lehigh Valley loss, but Hershey getting a point and Charlotte winning clean widens the gap to fourth and fifth. Pens are on .510 percentage points, Hershey is at .557, now the Phantoms are in last place at .469 and Bridgeport sees the results pay off and are in seventh at .471.

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: If I see em I will post em.

Rematch Saturday at 7 in Bridgeport. More then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins captain Taylor Fedun, playing in his 400th game, sealed the win for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins Sunday afternoon. The Penguins started the third period up 2-0, only to see that lead evaporate and they all of a sudden were trailing. After a Valtteri Puustinen power play goal which tied it late for the Penguins, it was the captain, Fedun, who scored to give the Penguins 7 out of a possible 8 points this week to widen the gap to 7th place Lehigh Valley. Pens win 4-3 in overtime.

The Penguins are, by my estimation, not a team that many want to play right now. That’s a good thing, just have to maintain that playoff seeding.

Alex D’Orio opposed Hugo Alnefelt.

Here’s how they lined up:

No lineup changes from last night.

First Period: Radim Zohorna rebound goal and the Pens were off to the races early.

Pens killed the only penalty of the period, an early trip called against the aforementioned Zohorna.

Second Period: Drew O’Connor tap in for a goal and the Penguins doubled their lead.

Pretty quiet period, which I don’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Third Period: The Crunch blitzkrieged. Gage Goncalves just :49 in, and the Crunch were on the board:

Then, about five minutes later….

Put in by Gabriel Fortier.

Then, a seemingly harmless shot by Remi Elie beats D’Orio and the Crunch, down 2-0 to start the period, led with under eight minutes to play.

So the Pens were down one. They headed to a power play late. They pulled D’Orio for the extra attacker and a two man advantage.

Valtteri Puustinen, on the spot.

(no GIF here, it’s in the highlights below)

Overtime: Drew O’Connor with a costly turnover which led to a Grade A Crunch chance, but D’Orio stopped it. Rush the other way, and…

Ballgame.

Three Stars: 3) Drew O’Connor (goal, two assists) 2) Radim Zohorna (goal, assist) 1) Taylor Fedun (game winning overtime goal)

The Good: Nice way to pick themselves off the mat after getting stunned with three goals in the third period.

The Bad: Great teams, the ones that win Calder Cups, find ways to go up three in the third like Syracuse did and stay there. Pens have a lot of holes yet, but 7 of 8 points are nothing to sneeze at.

Turning Point: The Puustinen goal that got us there, but the Fedun goal that won it.

Around the Division: Utica beats Hershey 3-1. Bridgeport beats Charlotte 5-3. Providence triples up Hartford 6-3.

Standings: Pens solidly in sixth with .520. Charlotte in with at .550. Idle Lehigh Valley with .479.

Wheeling Update: Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: 

Power Rankings likely Tuesday. Weekend Setup Friday.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Bolstered by a hat trick from Filip Hallander, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins survived a scare from a pesky Bridgeport Islanders team on Saturday night and win 5-3.

Without Hallander’s offense output tonight, I’m not so sure that the Penguins win the game tonight.

Drew O’Connor and Anthony Angello added goals for the Penguins. Tommy Nappier stopped 28 of 31 saves.

So far, 5 of 6 points for the Penguins, one off what I said I would be comfortable with back on Monday when I set up the week with the Weekend Preview. Syracuse in Sunday afternoon, but let’s recap Saturday’s game below:

Tommy Nappier opposed Jakub Skarek. Here’s how the Penguins lined up:

Bridgeport didn’t post lines.

Lineup Notes: P.O. Joseph and Mark Freidman were recalled Thursday. Friedman’s conditioning stint lasted two games. Joseph went up because Mike Matheson is week to week. Joseph didn’t play Saturday afternoon against the New York Rangers but may get a look Sunday afternoon. Alex Nylander missed the game with a non-COVID illness. Felix Robert took his place. Will Reilly and Cam Lee were back in on defense for Wilkes-Barre.

First Period: Pens came out blazing, jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Drew O’Connor took a feed from a pinching Mitch Reinke for a 1-0 lead, then Filip Hallander took a rebound off of Skarek and flipped one past him on the backhand for a 2-0 lead then the Penguins scored on the power play when Anthony Angello scored on a hell of shot high slot to make it 3-0. Here’s all three goals as they were scored.

But then Bridgeport started to muck it up, slow the game down, and it started to work for them.

Parker Wotherspoon pulled one back for the Islanders.

I didn’t particularly like the way the period ended for the Penguins. I realize that if you are being aggressed upon by an opponent you need to defend yourself, but everyone knows what the Islanders are trying to do here, just skate away because you are the one with a 3-0 lead.

Second Period: Things settled down and the Penguins extended their lead to three again with Hallander’s second goal of the night, giving the Penguins a 4-1 lead.

But six seconds into an Islander power play, a shot by Andy Andreoff goes in to cut Bridgeport’s deficit to two again.

The Islanders tenacity is something to behold.

Third Period: That tenacity was on full display in the opening sequences of the period as Bridgeport draws one back when Arnaud Durandeau scored to cut the Penguins lead to one.

Hardly ideal.

Late, the Islanders hit the post with two shots from two different shooters all within about five seconds of one another. Paul LaDue from one angle, then Robin Salo immediately after.

But Filip Hallander had seen enough and scored his hat trick to salt the game away.

Three Stars: Andy Andreoff (goal) 2) Juuso Riikola (two assists) 1) Filip Hallander (three goals)

The Good: Thank goodness for Hallander, right? Puustinen, O’Connor, Riikola and Joseph sometimes carry the mail for the Pens, but Hallander stepped up in a big way here and you want to see that momentum keep going.

The Bad: I don’t want to say that there was a lack of discipline, but I didn’t like the way that played overall in front of Nappier. Hallander’s three takes a lot of the stink out of the room, but the fast and loose type of play doesn’t work for a team that lacks a pure goal scorer. You almost have to play regimented and they lacked that tonight but were lucky enough to get out with two clean points.

Turning Point: Hallander’s third goal gets it here. Game was full of them too.

Around the Division: Cleveland beats Lehigh Valley 2-1…Hartford thumps Providence 5-2…Springfield doubles up Charlotte 4-2. Hershey was off.

Standings: Pens with a gap now to seventh Lehigh Valley. They have .510 percentage points in sixth and the Phantoms have .479. Charlotte, in fifth, is still a ways a way with a .561 percentage. Springfield has a healthy lead at the top of the division over Hartford, .630 to .609.

Wheeling Update: Nailers blast the Kalamazoo Wings 8-2. Patrick Watling two goals, three assists. Sam Houde had a goal and two helpers. Only three Nailers skaters didn’t register a point.

Video Highlights: Pens will have them. You are probably on your own for those. I’m not likely to get an edit in.

More Sunday after the matinee with the Crunch.

Let’s Go Pens!

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Penguins raced out to a 2-0 lead and then, well that was it.

Lehigh Valley ran right back into the contest and it took them almost all 40 minutes to get there, after going down 2-0 to the Penguins after the first.

They call a two goal lead the worst lead in hockey and you say it on full display tonight. The Penguins were a great first period team, then a not so great second and third period team. Lehigh Valley wins 3-2 in a shootout.

Alex D’Orio deserved a better fate, especially with some of the saves he was making for his team.

He opposed Kirill Ustimenko.

Here’s how they lined up. No lineup changes but for a shuffle here and there for the Penguins.

First Period: P. O. Joseph with a shot that may or may not have been tipped by Jonathan Gruden for a 1-0 Penguins lead.

Pens would go up 2-0 on a nice feed from the aforementioned Joseph setting up Filip Hallander for a power play goal.

Second Period: The period opens with Alex D’Orio with the save of the season, stopping a shot by Garrett Wilson. Here it is in all its wonderful glory:

So the Penguins were up 2-0, their goalie was dialed in, and the team was rolling in the second period and beyond.

[Jazz music stops]

I don’t want to say that the goaltender making the save for your team is the turning point of a game, but in this instance I think it may have. Reason being is I couldn’t remember a single positive thing the Penguins did after the D’Orio save.

Lehigh Valley would connect when Adam Clendening found Max Sushko for a wide open shot for a goal that would put the Phantoms on the board.

(Lehigh Valley didn’t GIF the goal nor tweet the game at all)

Third Period: Remember in the Weekend Preview setup I mentioned that the Penguins don’t want to get jobbed out of a point for a silly puck over glass delay of game call? Well, it wasn’t that in the third period but three consecutive soft, and I mean soft, calls which would give the Phantoms a power play. Lehigh Valley finally connects :06 into their third consecutive power plays when Hayden Hodgson scores to make it a 2-2 tie.

Anthony Angello board, Taylor Fedun slash and an Anthony Angello trip were the penalties assessed in that sequence by referees Alex Ross and Jack Young.

Overtime: Nothing of substance, I thought the Pens overthought the sequence.

Shootout: Adam Clendening scores in the bottom of the first and Kirill Ustimenko turns away Alex Nylander, Valtteri Puustinen and Drew O’Connor in that order for the win.

The Good: I liked the start. Didn’t like the finish.

The Bad: Two third period penalties taken by a veteran on the team in Angello isn’t good by any means, no matter how ticky-tack the calls may have  been from Ross and Young.

Turning Point: Hate to say it, but the subtle but flashy at the time save D’Orio made on Garrett Wilson just made the Phantoms mad, and they pressed and pressed form there until they got what they wanted.

Around the Division: Bridgeport loses in Springfield 5-3.

Standings: Pens remain at .500 in sixth. Hershey above at the five with .571, so a decent cushion. Lehigh Valley in seventh with .489 and Bridgeport in last at .459.

Wheeling Update: Nailers get pumped by the Reading Royals 4-1. Patrick Watling the lone Nailers goal scorer.

Video Highlights: If they go up and I can work the edit in, I will.

Off day Friday, Bridgeport Saturday. More then.

Let’s Go Pens!

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First Penguins win in Hershey since December 28, 2019.

It’s been a while, yes, but I wasn’t going to use the obvious “Miracle” headline on the anniversary of the US beating the USSR in Lake Placid 42 years ago.

I mean I should have, but Kyle Olson’s pair of goals stated otherwise.

I don’t want to call it a statement win because of what the Penguins didn’t do in Charlotte last week and what Hershey did last weekend (they lost two in Providence) but it’s good to finally win in Hershey after two plus years.

Penguins win 3-1. Tommy Nappier stole the show and deserved his first career shutout, but a busted stick on a shot by Alex Alexeyev thwarted that wish.

Nappier opposed Hunter Shepard, who by his own right played a good game and has thwarted Wilkes-Barre before in the past.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Forwards Radim Zohorna and Drew O’Connor and defenseman Mark Friedman were all in. Forwards Felix Robert (listed as injured, he’s banged up), Kasper Bjorkqvist and defenseman Will Reilly all came out.

First Period: Bears blocked a ton of shots. Pens had a 4:00 power play they did bupkis with early on. Bears had a power play too and didn’t score on theirs either. Seemed like a feeling out period between two teams that are very familiar with one another.

Second Period: Kyle Olson bangs home his first of the night when he swept in an initial shot from Jordy Bellerive from the point past Shepard to put the Penguins on the board first.

Third Period: Penguins held on to the lead. Tommy Nappier was dialed into 10 with some really nice saves. The Penguins finally caught up to the Bears in the shot board. Both teams traded power plays with crucial chances to extend the lead if you are the Penguins or tie the game if you were the Bears. No dice.

Finally, with time dwindling, Bears head coach Scott Allen calls his time out and pulls Shepard. Well, Kyle Olson takes a puck to center and flips a back hand shot into the empty net for a 2-0 Pens lead.

But then Alex Alexeyev snaps his stick on a world be shot which turned into a pass to Brian Pinho who put one past Nappier breaking up the shutout bid with about a minute left to make it 2-1.

Allen pulled Shepard again and this time it was Jonathan Gruden who scored into an empty net at center ice that iced the game away for the Penguins.

Three Stars: Hunter Shepard (22 saves) 2) Tommy Nappier (26 saves) 1) Kyle Olson (two goals)

The Good: Great to see the Penguins finally get a win in Hershey for the first time in over two years.

The Bad: Would love to see Nappier get the shutout but it was not to be.

Turning Point: Seemed innocent at the time, but the Olson goal in the second really put the pressure on a Hershey side which has hit a cold snap. The Penguins rode as dialed in Nappier and the rest of the clock to victory.

Around the Division: They all watched us.

Standings: Pens are back to .500, still in sixth place. Charlotte is in fifth with .585 percentage points, Hershey .571, the Pens then Lehigh Valley at .478.

Wheeling Update: Nailers win in overtime on a Patrick Watling goal. Wheeling wins 4-3.

Video Highlights: 

Phantoms Wednesday. More then.

Let’s Go Pens!