WBS Penguins Gameday: Penguins vs. Admirals

Penguins Last Game Recap:
Halfway through the game, the Penguins had a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Wade Brookbank, Joe Vitale, and Nick Johnson. However, Mathieu Perreault began to change that with two goals three minutes apart in the second period. 26 seconds after Perreault’s second goal, Andrew Joudrey scored for a 3-3 tie at the end of the second. Perreault completed his hat trick at 10:46 of the third with his second power play goal of the night and gave the Bears a 4-3 lead. Chris Conner tied the game 26 seconds later, but Bryan Helmer secured a 5-4 victory with 1:04 left in the game.

Three Stars of the Game:
3. Chris Conner (WBS): two points, +2
2. Bryan Helmer (Hershey): game winning goal, one assist
1. Mathieu Perreault (Hershey): hat trick, one assist

WBS Scratches:
Nate Guenin
Robert Bortuzzo
Casey Pierro-Zabotel
Ryan Bayda
Keven Veilleux

WBS record as of 2/10/2010: 23-25-1-1 (48 points; 6th place in East Division)

Next Matchup:
Who: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. Norfolk Admirals
When: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 7:15 p.m.
Where: Norfolk Scope (Norfolk, VA)

WBS News and Notes:
Robert Bortuzzo is expected to sit out one more game after being cut in the arm with a skate during last Wednesday’s game with Adirondack.

Ryan Bayda is rumored to be out indefinitely with a knee injury.

The player movement carousel continues to spin in WBS. Player movement since last weekend is as follows:

Tim Wallace: re-assigned from to WBS from Pittsburgh
Lane Caffaro: assigned to Wheeling
Mark Letestu, who had been sent down on Monday, was once again recalled this morning.

Last Penguins/Admirals Meeting:
Up in Wilkes-Barre on January 6th, Norfolk put up a 3-1 lead in the first period and never looked back; defeating the Penguins by a score of 5-4. John Curry was pulled for Adam Berkhoel after allowing three goals on six shots in the first. The line of Dustin Jeffrey, Nick Johnson, and Mark Letestu combined for six points; and Tim Wallace and Eric Tangradi also chipped in on the scoreboard. Former Pittsburgh Penguin Adam Hall sank his former organization with a four point night (2+2).

About the Admirals:

After finding themselves in seventh place on January 16th, the Admirals fired head coach Darren Rumble and replaced him with Jim Johnson. Since then, the Admirals have gone 7-1-1-1 and soared to third place in the East Division with a record of 24-24-3-1 and 52 points. Their only regulation loss since the coaching change was a 5-1 defeat against the Hartford Wolfpack this past Saturday. If the Admirals continue their current consistent play, they could lock up their first playoff spot since 2007. Their penalty kill is currently ranked fourth in the league with an 86.8% rate, but their power play only works at a 13% success rate for 26th in the AHL.

Admirals to Watch:
Justin Keller has four points (2+2) in Norfolk’s last three games and is also a +4 in that period.
Rookie goalie Dustin Tokarski is fourth in the AHL with three shutouts and currently has a 2.57 GAA and a .915 save percentage.

Ali’s Analysis:
The Penguins have had some trouble with Norfolk as of late; having lost six of their last seven games against the Admirals and three of the last four games at the Norfolk Scope. The last time the two teams met, Norfolk was a basement dweller but in just a little over a month that has all changed. In order to earn two points, the Penguins will have to take the revamped Admirals seriously and not get away from their game plan for the entire 60 minutes.