Chirps from Center Ice

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Seems like they are on the right track as a team. They would be OK I think for playoffs, but I don’t think there will be any this season, pandemic and all.

Phantoms win this one 4-3 in overtime on Ryan Fitzgerald’s overtime game winning goal. These two teams are nearly identical and every game is close. This game was no different.

Prior to the game, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that forward Josh Currie, defenseman Josh Maniscalco, and goaltender Emil Larmi were being re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre and forwards Anthony Angello (NHL) and Frederick Gaudreau (WBS) and goaltender Maxime Lagace (AHL) have been re-assigned to the taxi squad.

So here is how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: Josh Currie for Freddy Gaudreau and the graphic is wrong, Kyle Olson was in for Felix Robert. Martin Brochu backed up Starrett.

First Period: Kind of a benign first, I’ll let Taylor show you what exactly happened in the period which put the Phantoms ahead 1-0.

Pens killed a Josh Currie kneeing penalty.

Second Period: Phantoms, blatantly offside, score to go ahead 2-0. Sam Morin walks through a pair of defenders and dishes to Garrett Wilson for a goal.

Rare that something that egregious goes uncalled. Eh, mistakes happen.

Penguins get the two goals right back when Tim Scahller pounds home a loose puck in the crease to bring them within one.

Penguins tie the game on a great workmanlike effort from Drew O’Connor to keep the Phantoms from gaining possession of the puck when there was a delayed call against Lehigh Valley. Josh Currie scores to tie the game at two.

Third Period: A lot like the first with some mundane, back and forth hockey, until Pascal Laberge scores after Shane Starrett made a pair of saves but the puck squirts into the slot and put in by Laberge to give the Phantoms a 3-2 lead.

Penguins would get a power play late and would cash on it against the Phantoms #1 penalty kill.

Josh Currie’s wicked shot stings McIntyre who makes the initial save but Tim Schaller is tracking the puck the entire time and whacks in the rebound.

Only the second power play goal against for the Phantoms this season.

Overtime: After a bit of back and forth, Ryan Fitzgerald scores his second overtime game winning goal.

Three Stars: 3) Drew O’Connor (two assists) 2) Tim Scaller (two goals, assist) 1) Ryan Fitzgerald (overtime game winning goal)

The Good: Point streak is still alive. It’s six games now.

The Bad: Should have won this one. They did seemingly everything right. Good on PK, scored against the top rated Phantoms PK and got a good game out of their third string goalie.

Turning Point: What else but Fitzgerald’s overtime game winner.

Pens will get a week of practice and travel Saturday to Syracuse.

Let’s Go Pens!

Stay safe.

Late with this one because the family came in and we all went out for dinner Saturday night to celebrate my mother’s birthday. So I missed all of Saturday nights 6-3 win in Newark against the Binghamton Devils.

Here’s what I scraped together after going through the timeline of events:

• P. O. Joseph was back down from Pittsburgh and made his 2021 WBS debut paired with Jon Lizotte.
• Binghamton struck for three goals in the first ten minutes of the first. Two of them on the power play.
• Penguins roar back for two late in the first, both on a double minor power play.
• Wilkes-Barre clamps down from there and allowed Binghamton just three shots in the second and four in the third.
• Jon Gruden connects for his first Penguins goal on a power play about halfway through the second. Jon Lizotte adds an even strength goal with under four to play and Wilkes-Barre was in front.
• Jan Drozg connects 67 seconds into the third to quell any chances at a Binghamton comeback and Drew O’Connor gets his first pro goal with under five to play.
• Billy Sweezy and Ben Thomson fought in the third. It was the first fight of the season for the Penguins.
• Wilkes-Barre badly outshot Binghamton 43-21. Every Penguin player had at least one shot on goal.

Housekeeping: The Penguins parted ways with Jordan Nolan. Recall that he took a leave to be with family. In this pandemic world we are living in, who can fault him. I think the Penguins are doing just fine without him.

Video highlights here:

Back at it on TV a Monday at five against Lehigh Valley. Game day setup Monday at 1.

Let’s go Pens! Stay safe.

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Let’s get one little bit of housekeeping out of the way here first. With the announcement that fans will be allowed back into the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in limited capacity beginning March 19, Coal Street announced on Tuesday that they are changing their start times for the following games:

Friday, Mar. 19 vs. Lehigh Valley
Wednesday, Mar. 24 vs. Syracuse
Friday, Mar. 26 vs. Hershey
Friday, Apr. 16 vs. Lehigh Valley

These games were scheduled to start at 5 and were the only remaining weekday games. The home contests on Saturday and Sunday all will begin at 5 as previously scheduled.

Anyway, they let the Crunch get away with a win tonight.

They largely dominated the game in all three zones and in all facets yet see the Crunch score a goal in the third to force overtime and lose 2-1 in a shootout.

It’s a point lost. In a regular season,  especially now in March in the thick of a playoff hunt, it would have been a bad, bad point lost.

But it’s a forced season being played amidst a pandemic, so it probably doesn’t matter in the long run.

But still, a bad point lost.

Here is how they lined up:

https://twitter.com/nafsnep/status/1367251388611239942

Taylor had the injury update:

First Period: Syracuse has six guys injured and a bunch on recall. Call them Wilkes-Barre North cause we are used to that around these parts. The Pens ran them around the rink. Shots were 7-2 Pens. No one scored. I was commuting home but they were saying on the broadcast that it was a sloppy period.

Second Period: Jon Lizotte broke the deadlock with this shot which deflected.

It stayed that way for much of the period. Syracuse, despite all of the injuries and call ups, were hanging around.

Third Period: Syracuse got the goal they were looking for from Cole Schwindt.

So not a snipe or a five on three against, an odd man rush and a tap in. You’ve got to be kidding me.

So of course, in a game where not much happened, Syracuse ground down the game to get it to overtime.

Overtime: They traded power plays and didn’t get a goal.

Shootout: Radim Zohorna scored for the Pens, Cam Lee and Freddy Gaudreau didn’t. Taylor Raddysh and Otto Somppi scored on theirs. Ball game.

Three Stars: 3) Jon Lizotte (goal) 2) Cole Schwindt (goal) 1) Spencer Martin (30 saves)

The Good: Yikes, I don’t know. I was worried about a let down game after that stellar week that they had last week, getting a full six points. We got it here. Good that they got a point?

The Bad: They should have ran the damn Crunch out of the rink tonight. They outshot them 31-19. They let the Crunch rob them of a point.

Turning Point: Cole Schwindt’s goal that brought it level was all the Crunch needed here. The Pens weren’t creating enough chances that Spencer Martin couldn’t handle easily. Everything else was a bonus.

They are back at it Saturday in Newark against the Binghamton Devils.

Let’s Go Pens!

Stay safe.