Weekly Wrap-Up - Atlantic Division (Week 14)

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Hershey Bears swept the week, but there was a lot of stumbling around the rest of the Atlantic Division last week.

Providence Bruins

Record Last Week: 1-2-0

It wasn’t the start to 2018 that the Providence Bruins had hoped for as the Hartford Wolf Pack roared into town and emerged with a 3-2 victory. Hartford jumped out to a stunning 3-0 lead through two periods before Jordan Szwarz and Peter Cehlarik each recorded goals, but it wasn’t enough as the Bruins were unable to score the equalizer. Zane McIntyre’s rocky start, three goals allowed on just ten shots, led head coach Jay Leach to make a goaltender change. Jordan Binnington stopped all 15 shots he faced in relief.

On Saturday, the Bruins took their frustrations out on the Thunderbirds with a 6-2 victory in Springfield. Szwarz scored a pair of goals, the first would become the eventual game-winner. Kenny Agostino opened the scoring while Anders Bjork notched his first goal of the season as Providence jumped out to a 3-0 lead after Szarz’s first goal. Tommy Cross, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, and Szwarz all recorded third period tallies. Binnington faces 29 shots, recording 27 saves.

The Syracuse Crunch scored a goal just 17 seconds into Sunday night’s game in Providence and turned it into a 4-3 victory over the Bruins. Matt Beleskey tied the game midway through the first period, but Syracuse added another tally to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. In the second period, Peter Cehlarik and Anders Bjork each scored to give Providence the lead, but a pair of Syracuse goals in the third handed the Bruins their second loss of the week. McIntyre made 30 saves on 34 shots.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Record Last Week: 3-0-0

The first Atlantic Division game of 2018 went to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins who had to go to overtime to dispatch of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (tip of the hat to the North Division where Binghamton and Belleville went to the shootout). Bridgeport scored a pair of goals in the first period. After a scoreless second, the Penguins got a goal from Ryan Haggerty just over eight minutes into the third. Greg McKegg then tied the game with just 24 seconds remaining in regulation. In OT, Teddy Blueger won the game with a shot 26 seconds into bonus hockey. After allowing two goals in the first, Anthony Peters went on to earn the 28-save victory.

On Friday night, the Penguins continued their upward climb with a 4-2 victory over the visiting Springfield Thunderbirds. Casey DeSmith earned the victory with a 20-save performance. Meanwhile, McKegg tallied the game’s first goal early in the second period. After Springfield tied the game early in the third, Christian Thomas and Haggerty combined to give the Penguins a two-goal lead until Springfield scored just 21 seconds later. Adam Johnson added an empty net goal with two seconds left.

On Saturday, the Penguins made it an emphatic sweep with a 6-0 drubbing of the Belleville Senators in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Thomas and Jean-Sebastien Dea each recorded two goals while Zach Trotman scored his second of the season and Ethan Prow recorded his first. Casey DeSmith earned the cleansheet with a 24-save performance, which earned him the game’s second star.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Record Last Week: 0-1-1

The Phantoms started off 2018 by heading north of the border to face the red-hot Toronto Marlies and battled hard, before falling 3-2 in a two-round shootout. Toronto got on the board quickly with a goal just 49 seconds into the game, but the Phantoms responded in the second with a pair of goals from Alex Krushelnyski and Oskar Lindblom.

Late in the third, Toronto got the equalizer. The goaltenders combined to turn away five shots in overtime. In the shootout, Alex Lyon was unable to stop either Toronto shot while the Phantoms were unable to either puck by Garret Sparks. Lyon turned in a 35-save effort and was named the game’s third star.

On Saturday, the Phantoms were dealt their second straight loss, 3-1, in Rochester. T.J. Brennan recorded the lone Lehigh Valley goal to tie the game in the first period, but Rochester added second and third period tallies and the Phantoms were unable to respond. Dustin Tokarski made 32 saves on 34 shots for Lehigh Valley in the loss.

Charlotte Checkers

Record Last Week: 0-2-0

Charlotte started off 2018 with a visit to Chocolatetown for a Saturday-Sunday series. Jake Chelios put the Checkers up midway through the second period, but Charlotte did not score again as the Bears put together five-straight goals to hand the Checkers a 5-1 loss. Alex Nedeljkovic made 18 saves on just 22 Hershey shots.

Charlotte suffered a second straight loss on Sunday, falling to the Bears 3-0. The Checkers had their chances, but went 0-for-6 on the powerplay, including a 5-on-3 opportunity. The Bears held the Checkers to just 29 shots on the evening. Jeremy Smith made 21 saves on 24 shots.

Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Record Last Week: 0-1-2

2018 was looking pretty good for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers through two periods Wednesday night, but the Penguins got an equalizer late in the game and then the OT winner to hand Bridgeport the Atlantic Division’s first loss of 2018. Travis St. Denis and Michael Dal Colle each scored early in the first for a 2-0 lead, but Wilkes-Barre/Scranton stormed back in the third and forced OT with a goal just 24 seconds before the final horn. In OT, the Penguins scored quickly for the 3-2 victory over Bridgeport. Christopher Gibson made 22 saves on 25 shots for the Sound Tigers in the loss.

On Friday night, Rochester handed Bridgeport a second straight OT loss, 3-2. Once again, Bridgeport jumped out to an early lead with Anthony Beauvillier scoring his first goal of the season just 9 seconds into the game, but Rochester took the lead after goals in the second and third periods. Beauvillier then scored with just 36 seconds left in the game to force overtime where it took Rochester 61 seconds to record the game-winner. Kristers Gudlevskis stopped 25 of 28 shots in the loss for the Sound Tigers.

Things didn’t get any better Saturday as the Sound Tigers traveled north of the border and got white-washed by the Toronto Marlies, 6-1. In keeping with the trend, Kyle Burroughs put the Sound Tigers on top with the game’s first goal, but the Marlies stormed back with two goals in each of the periods en route to the victory. Gibson went the distance between the pipes and made 24 saves on 30 shots.

Hershey Bears

Record Last Week: 2-0-0

After a long holiday break in which coach Troy Mann sent his team to their homes to regroup, the Bears delighted the Giant Center crowd with a 5-1 victory over the visiting Charlotte Checkers in game one of the back-to-back series. Charlotte scored the game’s first goal midway through the second period, but the Bears responded with five, unanswered goals through the final minute of the second and the third period. John Albert tied the game before Riley Barber’s PP marker gave Hershey the lead. Then in the third, Colby Williams and Zach Sill added even-strength goals before Wayne Simpson tallied an empty net goal. Pheonix Copley looked a bit more like himself with 32 saves on 33 shots. Hershey’s tandem of Chris Bourque and Travis Boyd were kept off the scoresheet.

On Star Wars Night Sunday, the force was definitely with the Bears as they shutout the Checkers 3-0 to win the weekend series. Barber scored an unassisted goal just over a minute into the game and then got the secondary assist on Tyler Graovac’s goal later in the period. Travis Boyd then connected on the powerplay midway through the third. Vitek Vanecek made 29 saves to earn the shutout and the game’s #1 star.

Hartford Wolf Pack

Record Last Week: 1-2-0

How do you start off the year on the right foot? By defeating the current Atlantic Division leader 3-2 on their home ice of course. On Friday night, Hartford jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period after Steven Fogarty and Chris Langkow each notched a goal. It was Langkow’s first of the season. Then in the second, John Gilmour added a goal for a 3-0 lead before the Bruins responded with a pair in the third; however, Marek Mazanec turned away just enough shots in his 37-save performance between the pipes to lead the Pack to the victory.

On Saturday, Hartford was unable to make it two-in-a-row in 2018 as the Syracuse Crunch emerged with a 3-2 victory in Hartford. The Crunch scored the lone goal of the first period, but Joe Whitney and Ryan Gropp each tallied markers early in the second to put the Pack in front, but by the end of the period, Syracuse recorded a pair of goals to regain the lead and emerge victorious after neither team scored in the third. Mazanec’s 28 saves on 31 shots earned him the game’s third star.

The Utica Comets dealt the Pack another loss Sunday night in Hartford, 5-1. Very little went right for Hartford with Peter Holland scoring the Pack’s lone goal in the third after Utica had already jumped out to a three-goal lead. Comet forward Reid Boucher recorded a hattrick. Alexandar Georgiev made 24 saves on 28 shots.

Springfield Thunderbirds

Record Last Week: 0-2-0

The Springfield Thunderbirds opened 2018 in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton against the streaking Penguins and emerged on the wrong end of a 4-2 final. Mark Fayne recorded his first goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1 early in the third period, but the Penguins notched a pair of goals before Dryden Hunt made it a one-goal game late in the third. Samuel Montembeault made 19 saves on 22 shots in the loss.

On Saturday, things got even worse for the Thunderbirds as they played host to the Providence Bruins who hung a 6-2 loss on Springfield. Costly mistakes (nine penalties) and 0-for-4 on the man-advantage proved to be part of the problem for the Thunderbirds who got goals from Anthony Greco and Jayce Hawryluk. Montembeault made four saves on seven shots before head coach Geordie Kinnear replaced him with Evan Cowley, who allowed three goals on 31 shots. To add to the misery, Hawryluk was assessed a misconduct for abuse of officials in the third period after taking offense to a hooking call.

Atlantic Division Standings as of January 8th, 2018

Providence: 35 GP, 22-10-3-0, 47 points, .671 pct W-B/Scranton: 34 GP, 21-10-2-1, 45 points, .662 pct Lehigh Valley: 37 GP, 21-11-2-3, 47 points, .635 pct Charlotte: 36 GP, 21-14-0-1, 43 points, .597 pct Bridgeport: 34 GP, 16-13-4-1, 37 points, .544 pct Hershey: 37 GP, 17-16-1-3, 38 points, .514 pct Hartford: 37 GP, 14-17-3-3, 34 points, .459 pct Springfield: 37 GP, 14-21-1-1, 30 points, .405 pct

This Week’s Atlantic Division Schedule:

Wednesday, January 10

Hartford at Bridgeport - 7:00 PM Springfield at Hershey - 7:00 PM

Friday, January 12

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Belleville - 7:00 PM Bridgeport at Providence - 7:05 PM Springfield at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 PM Toronto at Charlotte - 7:15 PM Hartford at Laval - 7:30 PM

Saturday, January 13

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Laval - 4:00 PM Toronto at Charlotte - 6:00 PM Providence at Bridgeport - 7:00 PM Hartford at Belleville - 7:00 PM Hershey at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 PM

Sunday, January 14

Springfield at Providence - 3:05 PM Lehigh Valley at Hershey - 5:00 PM