Jordy Bellerive has made a habit out of stepping up in clutch moments in his first two AHL seasons.
Entering Wednesday night's game against the Binghamton Devils, 10 of Bellerive's 18 career AHL goals have come in either the third period or overtime.
Bellerive increased that to 11 of 19 when he scored the overtime game-winner in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Devils to snap a seven-game losing streak, carrying the puck end-to-end and blowing past a Devils defenseman to score:
I asked coach J.D. Forrest after the game what he thinks has allowed Bellerive to come through the way he has so often in those clutch moments.
"Wow, I didn't realize that stat," he said. "But that's a pretty good one. It goes with his personality, he just never really stops. He's one of those guys that has endless amount of effort, and he really, really cares big time about his game and our team. So that maybe goes along with why he's able to deep into games find something extra for those important goals."
Wilkes-Barre started Wednesday's game much like they had started the previous one. After falling behind 18 seconds in to Sunday's game, the Penguins again fell behind almost immediately in this game after Binghamton's Graeme Clarke scored 28 seconds in:
"It's a pattern that we've got to try to find a away to break here," Forrest said of allowing the early goal. "That'll definitely be a subject that we stress on in the next couple of day."
For the second game in a row, Wilkes-Barre responded well to the early first-period goal and pushed back hard for the rest of the period. The Penguins controlled much of the play for the rest of the first period on Wednesday and that was reflected in the shot totals, outshooting the Devils 15-7 in the first. The effort paid off when Jan Drozg tied the game late in the first period:
The goal was part of an overall strong game for Drozg, who started on the fourth line for the second game in a row. After the previous game, Forrest said that decision was made to allow Drozg to "focus on a few certain aspects of the game" with a simplified and reduced role. Forrest thought that Drozg responded well in these last two games and made strides in the right direction.
"He's clearly taken it to heart," Forrest said of Drozg getting the message. "Some of the assets that we want to make sure he's utilizing in the fullest, he's been able to do the last two games. We love his response. We think it shows a lot of growth from him as a person, as a professional. The last two games were really good looks at what he can bring to the table, and the style we'd like to see him play. I couldn't be happier with the way he's responded to that challenge from the coaching staff. I think more so he put it on himself to try to improve in those areas. The last two games, he's definitely taken some steps there. Now it's just a matter of finding consistency on a night-to-night basis."
Nick Schilkey gave the Penguins the lead midway through the second period with a 5-on-3 power play goal, his fifth goal of the season and team-leading 14th point:
Wilkes-Barre held the lead until late in the third, when the Devils pulled their goaltender in favor of the extra attacker and tied the game:
When Bellerive scored the winner with 17 seconds left in the overtime period, it clinched the first career AHL win for Alex D'Orio in his second start and third appearance in net this season. D'Orio made 22 saves on 24 shots including two in the overtime period, one coming just before Bellerive took the puck back up ice to win it.
"He was solid," Forrest said of D'Orio. "He's definitely come a long way since I've first seen him. He's got a level of confidence about him now. He's been well-prepared from our goalie development staff, Andy Chiodo, and (Mike Buckley) worked with him up in Pittsburgh. He looked good today. I'm glad we could play well in front him."
During the losing streak, Forrest said after several games that he was still happy with he way his team played, and said after the seventh loss that "the message has to be how we go about doing things and not always about the end results." Even if the seven-game skid wasn't necessarily a reflection of how the team was really playing, it's still nice to finally come back out with a win.
"It is nice to bust through that roadblock," Forrest said Wednesday. "Our team has been playing really hard. I said the last couple of games, it's been a situation where we haven't come out at the end of the game with the result we wanted but we did a lot of things in that 60 minutes that we liked. It was the same story tonight, except this time we were able to find a way to get a win."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Joseph has had heavy, sometimes open-ice hits in a couple of games in a row now in Wilkes-Barre:
I asked Forrest and he said that the staff hasn't told Joseph that they'd like to see an increased physical game from him, but he has a theory as to why it's becoming much more noticeable now.
"Hey, he's had some tremendous hits where he's been able to line guys up and do it in a clean way, be a presence there if guys are coming through with their head down," Forrest said. "It's something we've seen a little bit of, it's not something that we're asking him to go out of his way to do. Maybe just a little more confidence allows you to step up in those situations. He's a stronger player than he was a year ago, so maybe some of those spots we're just noticing it more now because he's able to finish a little stronger than previously. We definitely like his battle level and intensity level in these games."
• Josh Maniscalco played his third game of the season and first since Feb. 11, spending the last month-plus as a healthy scratch while working on certain elements of his game in practices. He turned the puck over early in this game and had to be bailed out by D'Orio, but after that he played a solid game and was noticeable with his physical play and blocking shots like this one:
"I thought he did a great job," Forrest said. "Man, it's been a really long time since he's been in the lineup. That's not easy to do, to come in after that big of a layoff. He's been diligent in practice with trying to improve on things that we talked about, and having that first-year pro learning curve. He's taking some steps, it was a really good showing for him today."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Video highlights
• AHL scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at RWJ Barnabas Health Hockey House:
1. Jordy Bellerive, Penguins
2. P.O Joseph, Penguins
3. Nolan Foote, Devils
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-Drew O'Connor-Felix Robert
Zach Nastasiuk-Chase Berger-Jan Drozg
P.O Joseph-Jon Lizotte
Cam Lee-Zach Trotman
Kevin Czuczman-Josh Maniscalco
And for Mark Dennehy's Devils:
Nolan Foote-Brett Seney-Graeme Clarke
Danick Martel-Travis St. Denis-Fabian Zetterlund
Marian Studenic-Nate Schnarr-Tyler Irvine
Ben Thomson-Aarne Talvitie-Miles Koules
Colton White-Reilly Walsh
Kevin Bahl-Connor Carrick
Jeremy Groleau-Josh Jacobs
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will play the Phantoms in Lehigh Valley on Saturday evening.
THE CONTENT
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