LACK OF OFFENSE HAUNTS PENGUINS AGAINST PHANTOMS

WILKES-BARRE, PA –The Penguins offensive woes continued on Saturday night, as the Philadelphia Phantoms posted a 3-1 win at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.  The loss dropped Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s record to 32-24-0-3 on the season, just one point ahead of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the battle for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division.  The first place Phantoms now sit at 38-18-2-3.

“We came out, the players took it upon themselves that they were going to play a certain way.  They were more committed, I think physically, emotionally, mentally to the game,” said head coach Todd Richards, who has now watched his club drop four of its last five contests.  “We had some opportunities and weren’t able to finish…Tim Brent hits a cross bar, we’ve got an empty net with the puck on our stick, can’t get it across the line.  Then we score a goal, up 1-0, and then we give up another shorthanded goal.

“For as well as I thought we played, and as hard as we played, as proud as I am of the way the guys battled and competed tonight, we have a couple of lapses and the puck’s in our net.  And the way things are going right now, you have two lapses and two goals go in, that’s a huge mountain right now for us, because we can’t seem to find the back of the net.”

The Penguins have managed more than three goals in a game only twice since the beginning of the calendar year, and have seen the gap between themselves and the Phantoms widen from six points back on January 11 to 14 points after Saturday’s loss.

For the second straight game, the Penguins opened the scoring, only to see the opposition strike back.

Ryan Potulny and Jared Ross were whistled for penalties 26 seconds apart midway through the game, giving the Pens a five-on-three advantage for more than a minute and a half.  Alain Nasreddine tipped Tim Brent’s shot behind Scott Munroe to break the ice and give the home club a 1-0 lead.

The advantage lasted for just 1:19, as Rory Fitzpatrick redirected a Jonathan Matsumoto cross-ice feed past David Brown with four seconds left on the Penguins power play.

Potulny put the Phantoms ahead 2:40 into the third, shoveling a backhand feed from Boyd Kane into the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton cage on an early power play.  Potulny then sealed the victory with a second power play goal with less than a minute to play.

“It’s frustrating for me, I’m disappointed for the guys,” said Richards.   “Because when you see guys put it on the line like I thought they did tonight, you want to see them rewarded.”

Brown stopped 19 shots in the loss, while Munroe turned aside 28 to pick up the win.

The Pens will look to break their two-game losing streak Sunday afternoon when they take on the Senators in Binghamton.  Game time is 5:00pm.