Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News and Notes

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com -With a depleted lineup, the Penguins paid a visit to Hartford having been outscored 9-2 in the teams’ two meetings last season.  The first period was a learning experience of sorts, with the team falling behind 4-1 on two Hartford power-play goals.  Tim Wallace tallied the lone goal in the frame.  The team pulled it together, scoring the next two on goals by Robert Bortuzzo (his first AHL tally) and Wade Brookbank to bring the game within reach about halfway through the third.  But another power play goal by Hartford’s Corey Locke gave him a four-point night and a lead which the Wolf Pack never relinquished.

Hartford rattled off three power play goals on six chances, while the Penguins were stifled at 0-for-3.  Wolf Pack goaltender Matt Zaba, appearing in his first contest since early October, stopped 21 Penguins shots for the win.  John Curry made 28 saves on 33 shots in taking the loss.

The last regular-season victory by the Penguins over the Wolf Pack was a 4-0 shutout on November 8, 2006 at Hartford.  The Penguins will have a chance to end that drought when the teams close out the season series in Wilkes-Barre Township on Saturday, December 5th.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21:  Phantoms 1, PENGUINS 3

Returning home for the teams’ first-ever meeting since the Phantoms’ move to Glens Falls, the Penguins set the tone in the first period, outshooting Adirondack 10-6.  Strong goaltending by both John Curry and the Phantoms’ Johan Backlund kept the game scoreless.  After both squads traded unsuccessful power plays in the second period, Luca Caputi capitalized with the Phantoms’ Matt Clackson serving a roughing penalty.  Less than five minutes later, rookie defenseman Lane Caffaro had a goal changed to an assist, as a deflection by Eric Tangradi was ruled after review.  Then with the Phantoms working on their fourth power play, Dustin Jeffrey made a steal in the defensive zone and took off on a partial breakaway.  Backlund denied his shot, but captain Wyatt Smith was there to stuff the rebound home.

Kevin Marshall netted the Phantoms’ lone tally in the third period.

The Penguins went 6-for-6 on the penalty kill, and 1-for-5 on the power play.

Jeffrey assisted on all three Penguins’ goals, earned a plus-2 rating, took a team-high six shots, and earned the game’s number one star.  Curry stopped 29 of 30, including a season-high 20 in the third period, to earn his eighth win of the season.  Backlund absorbed the loss in a well-played contest, stopping 33 of 36.

The Penguins and Phantoms meet seven more times, with the next two contests being played back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday, December 12th and 13th at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

PENGUINS NOTABLES

ROOKIES MAKING HEADLINES…

F Joey Haddad earned his first professional point, an assist, on Thursday at Hartford.  Despite the Penguins’ 5-3 loss, Haddad earned a plus-2 rating.

MAJOR GENERALS…

The Penguins have recorded a first-period fighting major over the past seven straight games – twelve consecutive games overall – and are currently ranked fourth in the league in major penalties.

FIRST-I-CUFFS…

Rookie defenseman Alex Grant registered his first professional scrap against Hartford’s Dale Weise on Thursday, and F Joey Haddad dropped the gloves for the first time against Adirondack’s Kevin Marshall on Saturday.  Six rookies have had their first pro fights this season.

BRICKS IN THE WALL…

Goaltenders John Curry and rookie Brad Thiessen have kept the opposition to just 39 goals, best in the Eastern Conference and second best to the Rochester Americans’ 38.

ALWAYS WILLING TO HELP…

C Dustin Jeffrey picked up his team-leading 16th, 17th, and 18th assists in the Penguins’ 3-1 victory against the Adirondack Phantoms on Saturday.  Jeffrey is currently second in the league in assists, and has posted nine of his 18 over the past four games.  He had a total of 26 assists in 63 games last season.

PLUS-TIN JEFFREY…

Dustin Jeffrey’s three-point effort on Saturday earned him a plus-2 rating.  His plus-8 overall rating is tied for the team lead.

CURRY CRUISING…

John Curry now sits 13th in the league in goals against average (2.20).  He holds the Penguins’ all-time wins mark, and now has a career record of 65-32-5.

MILESTONE FOR CURRY…

John Curry’s 30-save performance on November 7th at Worcester gave him his sixth win of the season.  The win came in his 100th career game with the Penguins.

PENGUINS STATISTICAL LEADERS

GOALS                                     ASSISTS                                  POINTS                                    PIM

Ryan Bayda                              Dustin Jeffrey                           Dustin Jeffrey                           Wade Brookbank

(8)                                            (18)                                           (19)                                           (41)                              

POWER PLAY GOALS              GOALIE WINS                          GAA                                         SAVE %

Luca Caputi                               John Curry                                Brad Thiessen                           Brad Thiessen  

(5)                                            (8)                                            (1.99)                                        (.937)

GAME WINNERS

Eric Tangradi

(2)

PENGUINS PLAYER STREAKS

• C Dustin Jeffrey has four assists over his last two games.  He had a six-game assist streak snapped on November 14th at Hershey.  Jeffrey also has a five-game home assist streak going, tied for the longest in the league to date.

UPCOMING PRACTICES

Tuesday, November 24th

            10:30 am – Practice at Wachovia Arena

Wednesday, November 25th

            10:00 am – Morning Skate at Wachovia Arena

            7:05 pm – Game vs. Norfolk Admirals

Thursday, November 26th

            Time TBA – Practice at Wachovia Arena

Friday, November 27th

            11:15 am – Morning Skate at Blue Cross Arena

            7:00 pm – Game at Rochester Americans

Saturday, November 28th

            10:00 am – Morning Skate at Wachovia Arena

            7:05 pm – Game vs. Syracuse Crunch

Sunday, November 29th

            5:00 pm – Game at Hershey Bears

Monday, November 30th

            Off

UPCOMING GAMES

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 7:05 pm:  Admirals at PENGUINS

Despite playing an Eastern-Conference-high 22 games and holding a sub-.500 record (10-11-1-0), the Norfolk Admirals sit one point ahead of the Penguins, tied for second place in the East Division.  The Admirals took the first meeting of the season on November 6th by a 2-1 score.  Rookie netminder Dustin Tokarski stopped 30 shots in the win, while veteran RW Mark Parrish and rookie LW Matt Syroczynski found the net.  LW Ryan Bayda notched the only goal for the Penguins in the third period, a frame in which the Admirals were outshot 17-7.

The Admirals are led by RW Brandon Bochenski, who sits in second place in the AHL in goals (12) and is tied for sixth in points (20).  C Paul Szczechura and D Mike Lundin, who each registered an assist on November 6th, are both on recall to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 7:00 pm:  PENGUINS at Americans

A Black Friday matchup pits the Penguins and the North Division-leading Rochester Americans at Blue Cross Arena.  This game marks the Penguins first visit to western New York since March 11, 2007.  The Penguins won that game by a 4-1 score, with C Rob Schremp and C Robert Nilsson each notching a goal and an assist.  Nolan Schaefer stopped 21 Amerks shots in the victory, the Penguins’ 40th win of the 2006-07 season.

The Amerks have turned around a horrendous 2008-09 campaign and have led the AHL for much of the early going.  They have the fewest regulation losses (2) to go along with a league-best 14 wins.  They remain one of two teams without a regulation loss at Blue Cross Arena (9-0-1-0).  C Jamie Johnson leads the Amerks with 16 points (7+9), and former Penguins C Jeff Taffe’s 12 points (5+7) put him in a tie for third on the team.

Rookie netminder Alexander Salak leads the AHL in wins (11) and is seventh among goaltenders with a 1.88 goals against average.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 7:05 pm:  Crunch at PENGUINS

Two of the Penguins’ five victories in October came against the newest members of the East Division.  The Penguins took a 4-2 win on opening night, October 3rd, and a 4-3 victory on October 17th, both in Wilkes-Barre Township.  Captain Wyatt Smith tallied three points (2+1) on opening night, and C Dustin Jeffrey posted three assists on October 17th.

Alexandre Picard leads the way for the Crunch, with 14 points (8+6), and LW Jon Mirasty is third in the AHL with 96 penalty minutes.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 5:00 pm:  PENGUINS at Bears

Both the Penguins and Bears will be finishing a stretch of four games in five nights when the teams re-convene at Giant Center on Sunday.  The Penguins fell 3-1 to Hershey last Saturday, in a game which saw the Penguins bench shortened by three players who exited with injuries.  Up 2-0 on goals by LW Boyd Kane (shorthanded) and D Karl Alzner, the Bears finally surrendered a tally from RW Jesse Boulerice halfway through the third period.  With the Penguins in striking distance, the Bears regained their two-goal lead for good on C Kyle Wilson’s goal, as he cleaned up the rebound of D John Carlson’s point shot.

The Bears lead the twelve-game season series 2-1-0-0.  LW Alexandre Giroux leads the scoring race for Hershey, with 26 points (10+16) in 15 games played.  His 26 points are second-best in the AHL.  The goaltending tandem of Michal Neuvirth (6-3-0, 9 GP, 2.34 GAA) and Jason Bacashihua (5-1-0, 6 GP, 1.84 GAA) rank 17th and 5th, respectively, among AHL goaltenders.           

EAST DIVISION STANDINGS (AS OF NOVEMBER 23rd)

            TEAM                                       GP       W         L          OTL      SOL      PTS

1.         Hershey Bears                           19         13         5          0          1          27        

2.         Binghamton Senators                20         9          8          2          1          21

3.         Norfolk Admirals                       22         10         11         1          0          21

4.         PENGUINS                               17         9          6          1          1          20

5.         Albany River Rats                      21         9          10         0          2          20

6.         Adirondack Phantoms               16         8          7          1          0          17

7.         Syracuse Crunch                       19         6          9          2          2          16

RECENT TRANSACTIONS (AS OF NOVEMBER 23rd)

11/20 DELETE F T.J. Fox, reassigned by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to Wheeling (ECHL)

11/20 DELETE D Mitch Ganzak, reassigned by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to Wheeling (ECHL)

11/20 ADD D Chris Lee, reassigned by Pittsburgh to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

11/20 ADD D Nate Guenin, reassigned by Pittsburgh to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

11/19 ADD D Mitch Ganzak, recalled by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton from Wheeling (ECHL)

11/19 DELETE D Chris Lee, recalled by Pittsburgh from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

11/18 ADD F T.J. Fox, recalled by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton from Wheeling (ECHL)

11/17 ADD C Mark Letestu, reassigned by Pittsburgh to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

11/16 DELETE D Nate Guenin, recalled by Pittsburgh from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

UPCOMING EVENTS/PROMOTIONS

The Penguins annual Pennsylvania Lottery Night is coming up on Wednesday, November 25th as the team takes on the Norfolk Admirals.  The first 2,500 fans ages 18 or over will receive a coupon good for one free PA Lottery instant game.

Also on Wednesday, fans will be able to purchase special Thanksgiving-themed mystery pucks for $10 each on the Wachovia Arena concourse.  All pucks are individually wrapped and autographed by a Penguins player.  Fans who receive a puck autographed in silver will also win a special stick signed by the same player.  All proceeds benefit the Wilkes-Barre Junior Penguins youth hockey.

The Wilkes-Barre Junior Penguins will be collecting used cell phones for recycling at the Penguins home games on Wednesday, November 25th and Saturday, November 28th.  Fans can make their donation at drop boxes placed at entrances to Wachovia Arena.  The team that collects the most cell phones will be treated to a pizza party after a home game in December.

On Saturday, November 28th, the first 5,000 fans through the gates will receive a Jeep game-worn jersey card, the first of four such giveaways in the 2009-2010 season.  The Penguins battle the Syracuse Crunch at 7:05 pm.

Tickets for all upcoming Penguins home games are available at the Wachovia Arena box office, or through any Ticketmaster outlet.  Tickets can be purchased via phone by calling 1-800-745-3000.  Additionally, season tickets, mini-plans and group packages for the 2009-2010 season of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Hockey are on sale, and available by calling 570-208-PENS (7367).

All 80 regular-season Penguins games can be heard live on the home for Penguins hockey, 102.3 The Mountain, and on-line at www.wbspenguins.com.  Games may also be viewed on-line at www.ahllive.com.  AHL Live, powered by NeuLion, is the official video provider of the American Hockey League.

Commissioner Bud Selig shaved drug suspensions of players and broke the rules of MLB. Will Manny Ramirez and three others do a year? What will happen to dozens of minor league players whose records, teams, and leagues are affected? Read the whole story at SZ ( www.mlnsports.com).