PENS TAKE 2-0 SERIES LEAD WITH GAME TWO VICTORY

POST GAME AUDIO: Todd Richards | Tim Brent | Dave Gove

WILKES-BARRE, PA – Tim Brent had heard stories about the Wachovia Arena playoff crowds, about how the whiteout warriors have helped to carry the team in years past. 

Now he knows what a home ice advantage really is.

Brent tallied two goals and added an assist to lead the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 6-2 win against the Hershey Bears in Game Two of the East Division Semifinals on Saturday night.  The victory gave the Pens a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Game Three scheduled for 5:05pm Sunday in Wilkes-Barre.

Brent netted the opening goal of the evening, set up Alex Goligoski’s game-winner, and added an insurance tally late, as the Penguins rolled to a decisive victory in front of a crowd of 5,854.

“Right from the drop of the puck, even when we came out in warm-ups, we knew people were pretty excited here,” he stated.  “That revved us up and gave us a lot of confidence going out to start the game.”

Unlike Game One, in which neither team tallied until the third period, the scoring came early and often on Saturday night.  With the game barely two minutes old, Chris Minard carried the puck down the left side of the ice, then hit Kurtis McLean as he headed toward goal.  McLean drew goaltender Frederic Cassivi across the crease, then quickly dished the puck back to Brent who tapped in his first of the playoffs.

“We got off to a good start.  It’s nice when you’re able to get the 6,000 or so people into the game right away,” said head coach Todd Richards, “and it was a great atmosphere in there tonight.  The energy that was created, I think the players gave the fans something to get up off their seats for early, and then they stayed energized and charged throughout the game, and that helped us as well.”

That didn’t keep the Bears – or Andrew Gordon, to be more precise - from grabbing a pair of goals, though.  His first came at the 13:34 mark of the first period, when he used a four-player screen to squeak a shot behind John Curry into the upper right corner.

The tie stood for less than a minute, as Minard blasted a rising slapshot from the top of the right faceoff circle that found its mark at 14:31.

Gordon evened things once again less than five minutes into the second period, taking advantage of a Penguins penalty for too many men on the ice.

Goligoski gave Wilkes-Barre/Scranton its third lead of the night, and the one that would stand, by banking a shot off the near post that trickled over the goal line midway through the second period.

Things opened up for the home side in the third period, as Dave Gove, Brent and Ryan Stone all scored in a matter of 2:15 to pad the Penguins lead.

“We didn’t want to sit back, we wanted to come on the offense, and we were able to do that the whole third period.  It was certainly the third period we were looking for,” said Gove.  “I think all night we battled hard, the third period was just a matter of getting pucks to the net and burying our chances.”

With the game out of hand, fists began to fly, as the Bears attempted to set the tone for the all-important Game Three on Sunday afternoon.

“We know that we’ve kind of backed them in a corner now, and we’re expecting their best game tomorrow,” said Brent.  “We don’t have a lot of time to savor this win, tomorrow at five o’clock is what’s on our mind now.”

NOTES:  Dennis Bonvie appeared in his 98th career AHL playoff game, moving him into sole possession of 10th place on the league’s all-time games played list…The Penguins tied the team record for goals scored in a home playoff game…The Penguins have won the first two games of a playoff series on three previous occasions, and have gone on to win those series all three times.