PENS BATTLE BACK, BUT FALL IN OT

WILKES-BARRE, PA - The Penguins have become pretty good at digging themselves out of early holes recently.

Three times in the past two weeks (March 28 vs. Hamilton; March 29 @ Bridgeport; April 6 @ Hershey), the club has found itself down by multiple goals early in contests, only to fight back for three wins.

They did their best to make it four-for-four on Wednesday night, only to come up just short.

A three-goal third period allowed the Penguins to erase a big deficit, but Blake Comeau's goal midway through overtime gave the Bridgeport Sound Tigers a 4-3 win at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.

With the win, the Sound Tigers upped their record to 39-34-1-3, and kept their slim playoff hopes alive.

The Penguins gained a point with the OT loss, jumping ahead of the Philadelphia Phantoms in the race for first in the East Division, 98 points to 97. Philadelphia has three games remaining to the Penguins' two, meaning three straight Phantoms' wins would clinch the East Division championship.

"We salvaged a point, but we wanted two," said Penguins captain Nathan Smith. "Obviously we don't want to start down two goals, but for some reason lately, it's been happening. Hopefully that's something we can clean up for the final two games and then heading into the playoffs."

Bridgeport wasted little time in taking the early advantage, as Trevor Smith banged home a puck from close range just 58 seconds into the game.

Dustin Kohn followed 17 minutes later with a blast from the left side that caught John Curry twisting and found its way into the net.

Matt Keith followed a scoreless second period with his 13th of the season at 1:13 of the third, a power play goal that gave the visitors what looked to be a commanding lead.

But Mark Ardelan's slap shot from the point at 4:26 broke Joey Macdonald's shutout bid, and Dave Gove picked up his 20th goal of the season at 6:59, taking advantage of Nathan Smith's hussle behind the Bridgeport net to pop the puck loose from a defender.

With the momentum firmly in their corner, the Penguins continued to pile on the pressure. And when Jean-Michel Daoust got a feed in the slot, he made sure it counted by wristing a shot into the far corner, tying the game with 2:11 left in regulation.

"With our fans here, we feed off the energy they provide," Smith said. "That kind of got us rolling in the third and we were able to tie the game."

Alain Nasreddine was whistled for hooking 25 seconds into overtime, giving the Sound Tigers a decided advantage. The Pens were able to kill that penalty, but couldn't clear their own zone as the infraction expired, and Comeau was able to pick up his fourth goal of the season just as Nasreddine was getting back into the play.

The Penguins head to Albany on Friday night for a playoff-type contest with the River Rats, and return home on Saturday to close out their ninth season against the Norfolk Admirals.