PENGUINS FIND SCORING TOUCH AGAINST MONSTERS

CLEVELAND, OH –The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins posted their biggest offensive output in more than a month Friday night, recording six goals to down the Lake Erie Monsters, 5-3, at the Quicken Loans Arena.
The win upped the Penguins' record to 35-24-0-3 on the year, keeping the team one point ahead of the Hershey Bears and in third place in the East Division standings.

The six-goal outburst marked the first time the Penguins have recorded five or more goals since defeating the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 5-3, on February 2.

The win was the third in a row for the Penguins, who now sit just three points behind the second place Albany River Rats with three games in hand.

Alex Goligoski led the way for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, recording a season-high three points (1+2), which included the game-winning goal. The rookie defenseman now leads all Penguins blueliners with 26 points (8+18) on the season.

Chris Stewart opened the scoring for the Monsters, snapping his team-leading 17th goal of the season over John Curry's glove hand at 8:01 of the first period.

The Penguins then rattled off four consecutive goals to take control.

Ned Havern's centering pass from the left boards caught goaltender Tyler Weiman's skate, then found its way into the Monsters' goal for his third tally in the past six games. The goal came at 14:44 of the first period.

A suddenly resurgent Ryan Stone notched his third goal in as many games with less than two minutes to go in the opening period to put the Penguins in front.

Stone then set up Tim Wallace's backhand goal 1:38 into the second period, giving him six points in the past three games. Goligoski also assisted on Wallace's tally.

Goligoski made the score 4-1 a few minutes later, blasting a one-timer off a three-on-one.

Stewart picked up his second of the night before the period was out.

Nathan Smith and Kurtis McLean sandwiched scores around a Brent Kelly shorthanded goal in the third, giving the Penguins their largest goal output since they scored six goals against the Syracuse Crunch on January 2.

The Penguins are scheduled to finish their short swing through the North Division Saturday night against the Syracuse Crunch at 7:30pm.