WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON BEAT BY SYRACUSE, 4-1
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ perfect record in the New Year came to an end on Monday afternoon as a result of a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Syracuse Crunch at Onondaga County Oncenter War Memorial Arena.
Despite outshooting the opposition 32-19, the Penguins (28-8-3-0) saw their win streak snapped at seven games. It was their second seven-game winning streak of the season.
Yanni Gourde opened the scoring after picking off a breakout attempt by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. It was Syracuse’s first shot of game and made it 1-0 at 10:57 of the first period.
Daniel Walcott squeaked in a power play goal off a rebound at 14:54 of the first period making it 2-0 Crunch.
At the 6:42 mark of the second stanza, Syracuse extended their lead to 3-0 thanks to Slater Koekkoek’s first goal of the season.
Carter Rowney cleaned up the garbage beside the Crunch’s net and smacked in a rebound at 14:27 of the middle frame, cutting Syracuse’s lead to 3-1 and giving Wilkes-Barre/Scranton life. The tally was Rowney’s third in three games since returning from injury on Friday night.
The Penguins proceeded to outshoot the Crunch 10-3 in the third period, desperate to find the goals necessary to keep their streak alive. However, their fate was sealed when Matthew Peca added an empty-net goal with 2:55 of the final period to make the score 4-1.
Tristan Jarry made 15 saves on 19 shots for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, while Syracuse’s Adam Wilcox made 31 saves on 32 shots faced.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is Wednesday night, Jan. 18, when they’ll battle the Hershey Bears at Giant Center at 7:00 p.m. The Penguins’ next home showing is Saturday, Jan. 21, once again against the Bears, and less than 900 tickets remain for that game.
Individual game tickets for the game on Jan. 21 and all Penguins home games, are available at the Mohegan Sun Arena box office, online at TicketMaster.com, or by calling 800-745-3000.
Penguins ticket packages, including 22-game, 12-game, and 10-voucher flex packs, are available directly through the Penguins offices by calling (570) 208-7367.
