WBS Penguins Gameday: Penguins vs. River Rats

Last Game Recap:
The Penguins couldn't generate any offense against a high powered Hershey team and fell 4-0 to the Bears on Saturday night.

After a scoreless first period in which the Penguins held the Bears to four shots on goal, AHL points leader Keith Aucoin put a puck behind Brad Thiessen at 1:10 of the second period. At 10:09, Penguins defenseman Alex Grant received 17 minutes worth of controversial penalties after sticking up for teammate Konstantin Pushkarev, who had been elbowed by Hershey defenseman Greg Amadio. On the ensuing power play, Aucoin picked up his second point of the night with an assist on Andrew Gordon’s goal.

In the third, Hershey once again got on the board early, this time with an Alexandre Giroux goal at 1:51 where Aucoin picked up his third point of the game with the primary assist. Francois Bouchard rounded out the scoring at 14:11 with assists from Kyle Wilson and Boyd Kane. Braden Holtby earned the shutout with 25 saves while Thiessen took the loss with 24 saves on 28 shots. It marked the third time the Pens have been shutout by the Bears this season, and it was also Hershey’s 22nd consecutive home win.

Three Stars of the Game:
3. Greg Amadio (Hershey): hit, fight
2. Keith Aucoin (Hershey): goal, two assists
1. Braden Hotlby (Hershey): shutout

WBS Scratches:
Steve Wagner
Joey Haddad
Ryan Bayda
Keven Veilleux

WBS Current Record: 31-29-1-2 (65 points; fourth in East Division)

News and Notes:
Eric Tangradi suffered a cut on his face in Saturday’s game after crashing into the net. He will not play in tonight’s game as he is being monitored for concussion symptoms.

Casey Pierro-Zabotel was recalled from the Wheeling Nailers on Tuesday. He has 39 points (12+27) and a -10 rating in 45 games with the Nailers.

Next Matchup:
Who: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. Albany River Rats
When: Wednesday, March 10 at 7:05 p.m.
Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

Last Meeting Recap:
The Baby Pens set a new record for goals in a game when they defeated the River Rats 9-2 on February 17. Chris Conner netted a hat trick for the Penguins; which would be his first of two in consecutive home games. Conner also had three assists for a six point night. Wyatt Smith and Luca Caputi each had four point games for the Penguins, who got their fourth straight win in the victory.

About the River Rats:

NHL Affiliate: Carolina Hurricanes
ECHL Affiliate: Florida Everblades

Key Statistics/Rank in AHL:
Record: 34-24-3-4 (75 points; second in East)
Power Play Away: 12.9% (26th)
Power Play Overall: 15.9% (21st)
Penalty Kill Away: 79.7% (23rd)
Penalty Kill Overall: 81.6% (19th)
Goals For/Against: 192/188

Last Game: After losing in a shootout against the Norfolk Admirals last Friday, the River Rats got revenge on Saturday by defeating the Admirals 4-2. Jerome Samson led the way with two goals and an assist for Albany while new addition Oskar Osala got his first two points on the River Rats with two assists.

The Penguin Connection:
Four members of the Penguins have played for the River Rats during their careers.

Ryan Bayda played the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons with the River Rats. In 76 combined games, he had 36 goals and 35 assists for 71 points.

Wade Brookbank was also on the 2007-2008 Albany squad and had two assists and a -3 rating in 25 games.

Chris Lee played with Bayda on the 2006-2007 Albany roster and had one assist and a -3 rating in three games.

Jesse Boulerice had seven points (4+3) in 16 games during the 2006-2007 season.

River Rats to Watch:
Jerome Samson was named the AHL Player of the Week for his play during the week of March 1-7. He had seven points (3+4) in three games last week. He is Albany’s leading scorer with 59 points (30+29) in 63 games.

Oskar Osala is a player the Penguins are familiar with since he spent the majority of the season with the Hershey Bears. He comes to Albany with 31 points (15+16) in 55 games.

Ali’s Analysis:
The Pens appeared to take the weekend off last weekend; only scoring two goals in two games and coming out flat on Friday night. With the time off, they are hopefully nice and refreshed to take on an Albany team that will be looking for revenge after losing by seven goals in their last visit to Wilkes-Barre. If the Penguins win tonight, they will once again be two points behind Bridgeport for the final division playoff spot.

Through the looking glass...

    Let me preface this whole article with this: I wish Marc Savard a speedy and full recovery and for him to get back into the Bruins lineup as soon as possible.

    I will freely admit, against popular opinion, that I do not think Matt Cooke’s hit upon Marc Savard is dirty. I have watched the video far too many times now. I will say that walks that line closely, but the impact was shoulder to head. I will also freely admit that it was extremely dangerous and avoidable. In Cooke’s defense, he is paid to make that hit. He wasn’t brought in for an amazing scoring ability. He is a grinder. In his defensive zone, he is required to remove that player from the puck. Marc Savard was in the follow through of his shot and was in a prime position to get hurt on the back check. I am NOT insinuating that Savard was at fault. Just that his head was in a prime location for a hit. Now, I didn’t think it was dirty then at the time of the incident and I still don’t think it is now. When I watched the video the first time, I looked at the elbow, and I looked at the skates. I would point out that skates were on the ice, the elbow was low, and the elbow did not move until after impact. The NHL supposedly looks at those 2 details specifically when these hits occur. This is only what I saw, and everyone sees it differently, and I am certainly open to hearing your opinions (rationally, please). I would say it’s a rare moment in time when Don Cherry, Barry Melrose and I see that same thing, even more rare that we agree on the legality of something. It is easy to get caught up in the result of the hit. There is no reason to not be upset with the resulting injury but in the eyes of the Discipline Commandoes at the NHL offices there really is nothing that they can do. This group really botched the Richards/Booth incident, which was a far more brutal hit. Colin Campbell removed himself from that incident however, due to the fact that his son plays for Florida (and the smartest thing he did for that situation).

    So here we are, an ugly incident with a serious injury. Some suggest a lengthy suspension using the “repeat offender” status. How exactly is that a repeat offender issue when no penalty was called on the play?  I completely understand how the Bruins and their fans feel about this and it’s horrible. Penguins fans know this feeling too. During the last playoff run, Sergei Gonchar took a knee on knee hit from Alexander Ovechkin, and yes, we too cried foul at the time. Ovie’s hit was also borderline legal. At the time, I could see the argument that the Caps were trying to make, but it didn’t change how I felt about losing our most important PP quarterback. The hardest part is separating the hit from the result. That is the hardest part that the league is having with this. By definition, the hit is clean and the injury is unfortunate. If Matt Cooke scores 50 goals a year, we are aren’t even having this discussion other than fans jobbing the Penguins for being “above the law”.  Colin Campbell did, in fact, suspend Ovechkin this season for his knee on knee antics and thus setting up a “repeat offender” status for him moving forward. Ovie’s hit on Gleason was penalized. Cooke’s was not.

While a possible suspension is still looming for Cooke, I will leave you with this video collection to view, watch it and then ask yourself this: This guy is laying out the same hits all the time and has done it routinely enough, yet gets marketed to no end, he is referred to as a “passionate player”. Matt Cooke makes hits, he is a “cheap shot” artist.

"Hitting people in the head w/ ur shoulder is part of NHL hockey. We're big boys. Discuss.." @JLUPUL via Twitter yesterday. 

I would be willing to bet he isn't the only one thinking that.

Matt Cooke's hit on Savard was clean...

At least Barry Melrose thinks so. And while I'm going to leave a lengthy response to the whole issue to fellow PensU contributor Todd Wyant (OneSmugPug), have a listen to Barry Melrose and watch the hit over again. Over time the more I thought about the issue and watched the hit the more I'm convinced it was not only legal by today's standards, but also clean. Now, that doesn't mean I think it "should" happen like this, that these types of hits to the head are okay, but by today's rule book and the clear intention of Cooke to finish his shoulder hit, he is innocent. No suspension should be granted in this case.

Get well Savard. See you in Raleigh on Thursday, Cookie.