Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has had its share of problems over this seven-game losing streak.
Defensive breakdowns, a struggling power play, and mistakes on the penalty kill have been among them.
Luck hasn't been on their side either, though, and it wasn't on Sunday's game-winner in a 3-1 loss to the Bears in Hershey.
The Penguins were on the penalty kill late in the third period after a call for too many men. The Bears' defenseman at the point took a shot that was stopped by Max Lagace, and Lagace made the save on the rebound attempt from the Bears' net-front forward.
Lagace had the puck under his glove, but Bears captain Matt Moulson (yes, that Matt Moulson) took a couple more whacks at it and put it over the goal line.
Lagace and the Penguins were incensed that the play wasn't blown dead when he had the puck covered:
Head coach J.D. Forrest said that he got an explanation for the call from an official, but it wasn't even from the official who actually made the call.
"He said the other guy saw the puck the whole time," Forrest said. "But they don't have the benefit of video review, and we do. Max had every right to be upset. In our view, he had the puck covered for plenty of time and they got a couple of extra whacks at it. Apparently the refs saw it a different way. That's the explanation we got."
The AHL doesn't have video review or coach's challenges at all this season due to COVID restrictions. Even in a normal season though, what happened on the Moulson goal isn't one of the eight possible reasons for which the AHL allows a challenge, per rule 79.3 in the league's rulebook.
The Bears scored an empty-net goal with seven seconds remaining to seal the win.
Lagace was playing in his first game in over three weeks after being re-assigned from Pittsburgh's taxi squad. He made 27 saves on 29 shots to keep the game close.
"Max has been great for us every time he's been between the pipes," Forrest said. "Our guys definitely have a high level of confidence with him in the net. He shows that calmness to him, he's got confidence. It permeates throughout the lineup. He's been nice to have."
The first goal Lagace allowed came just 18 seconds into the game on Hershey's second shot of the contest. The shot came through traffic and hit a Penguin on the way in, making it difficult to track:
After essentially starting the game already down by a goal, Forrest liked how his team responded for the rest of the game.
"You never want to do that on the first shift," Forrest said. "For us, we had almost a full hockey game left. I thought the team did a great job responding. It was really only the big hiccup in our game, other than that I thought we played a real strong game from that point on, up and down the lineup. As far as a response goes, we handled that well."
Tim Schaller scored the tying goal, his sixth goal of the year, midway through the second period off of a feed from Nick Schilkey:
The game remained tied until Moulson's goal late in the third.
There's a quick turnaround this week, with the next game coming on Wednesday in New Jersey. Despite the seven-game skid, Forrest thinks the Penguins are on the right path.
"The message has to be how we go about doing things and not always about the end results," Forrest said. "I know frustration starts to seep in, for sure. It's not fun when you're losing. We're just trying to keep a level head. We started here trying to find that winning formula, and we found it for a little while. Now it's crept away from us. But I have confidence that we'll get it back. We'll continue on the path we are, and I think we'll start to win."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• The Penguins lost Friday's game to the Bears off a Moulson power play goal as well, and after that game Forrest pointed to failed attempts to clear the puck on the penalty kill as a struggle. The Penguins went 2-for-3 on the penalty kill in this game, with the only goal being the game-winner that looked like it shouldn't have counted. Regardless of that goal, Forrest thought the penalty kill had a stronger game.
"Overall, our PK has been a strong part of our game this year and an important part of our team," Forrest said. "I thought tonight, they moved the puck pretty good there, the other side, and we handled it well. That last one could have gone the other way, but that's how it is. But there were still some opportunities to clear the puck that we missed on."
P.O Joseph had a strong game on the penalty kill. One moment that stands out was this blocked shot in the third period, after which he was clearly in pain. He quickly got back up to clear the puck before going to the bench. He was back on the ice for his next shift, so he didn't seem to be injured. It was just a stinger of a shot:
• Forward Kyle Olson saw an elevated role in Friday's game, being bumped up from the third line to the first line during the game. Olson, 22, was a fourth-round pick by the Ducks in 2017 and was signed as a free agent to an AHL deal with Wilkes-Barre this offseason after going unsigned by the Ducks. He has a goal and an assist in 12 games this season. When I asked about the move last game, Forrest spoke about Olson being deserving of the opportunity.
"He was getting in hard on the forecheck, he was protecting pucks, he was agitating a little bit and really playing his game," Forrest said Friday. "I just thought that he deserved a chance up there. I think tonight I probably could have put him with anybody and he would have helped out. It was good to see from Olly, a young guy like that trying to find his way in the league. Tonight's a good example of what he can do when he's on his game."
Olson stuck in a top-six role in this game, playing the game on the second line.
"He's got a lot of purpose (to his game)," Forrest said. "There's been some things that we've talked about in the locker room of the style we want to play, and he's been embracing it. He plays hard, he plays with a little bit of bite, he drives the puck down the middle, he works good on the other side of the puck as well. We just like his effort and work ethic, and the steps he's shown as a young player, he deserves a little more opportunity."
• Jan Drozg was the player Olson bumped from the top line, and Drozg spent much of this game on the fourth line again. I asked Forrest what he's seen from Drozg lately and what Drozg needs to do to go back to finding success.
"Previously, Janny, we've had certain conversations with him about some of his decision-making processes," Forrest said. "What we'd like to see is higher-percentage hockey. We just want him to focus some of those things and not doing extra power play, different situational play. Just focus on a few certain aspects of the game. I thought tonight he did a nice job, he certainly showed some steps in the right direction. We're just looking for a little consistency with that."
• Josh Currie is fine after taking a clearing attempt to the head at the end of last game. He had a massive collision with Brian Pinho for which he had to answer. He was only penalized for the fight, not the hit. The player who fought him, Martin Fehervary, got a two-minute minor and game misconduct for instigating after the way he went after Currie:
THE ESSENTIALS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Giant Center:
1. Matt Moulson, Bears
2. Pheonix Copley, Bears
3. Brian Pinho, Bears
THE INJURIES
• Defenseman Jesper Lindgren left the first preseason game after sliding into the boards and underwent successful shoulder surgery. He's out for the rest of the season.
THE LINEUPS
Forrest’s lines and pairings:
Tim Schaller-Josh Currie-Nick Schilkey
Sam Miletic-Jordy Bellerive-Kyle Olson
Jonathan Gruden-Chase Berger-Felix Robert
Luke Stevens-Zach Nastasiuk-Jan Drozg
P.O Joseph-Jon Lizotte
Kevin Czuczman-Will Reilly
Cam Lee-Zach Trotman
And for Spencer Carbery's Bears:
Matt Moulson-Philippe Maillet-Brian Pinho
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby-Connor McMichael-Brett Leason
Kale Kessy-Riley Sutter-Damien Riat
Joe Snively-Shane Gersich-Kody Clark
Martin Fehervary-Paul LaDue
Cameron Schilling-Reece Willcox
Andrew Nielsen-Rob O'Gara
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will play the Devils on the road on Wednesday.
THE CONTENT
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