PENS BULLY BULLDOGS FOR 300th WIN IN FRANCHISE HISTORY
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ first foray into Canada proved to be a successful one, as the visitors posted a 3-2 win against the Hamilton Bulldogs at Copps Coliseum on Wednesday night.
The victory evened the Pens’ record at 10-10-0-0 on the season, while the defending Calder Cup champions fell to 7-8-0-3.
The win was also the 300th in Penguins franchise history, and came on the same ice where the club posted its first ever win back on November 10, 1999.
The Penguins wasted little time in getting the scoring going. Deryk Engelland fired a long range shot on netminder Jaroslav Halak, who stopped the puck but couldn’t control the rebound. Nathan Smith was posted to Halak’s right, and chipped in his fifth of the season from close range at 4:08.
Chances were few and far between for the Bulldogs until Maxim Lapierre found himself with a breakaway attempt with five minutes left in the opening
frame. But his shot rang off the post to Ty Conklin’s right, keeping the Penguins in the lead.
The advantage was only momentary, though, as Greg Stewart’s shot with 22.4 seconds left in the frame deflected off a Pens defender and trickled behind Conklin to make the score 1-1 at the end of the first period.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton struck quickly in the second as well, with Chris Minard keeping his recent hot streak alive. Minard’s slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle at 2:24 beat Halak five-hole, once again putting the Pens in front.
Former Bulldog backstopper Conklin once again bettered Lapierre on a breakaway with 12:13 left in the period, but a hooking call on Kurtis McLean allowed Hamilton to once again tie the contest.
Ryan O’Byrne’s shot from the right wing was stopped by Conklin, but the big rebound bounced out to Cory Urquhart in the slot, who banged home his fifth of the campaign at 10:06.
Duncan Milroy had a great chance to put the Bulldogs in front late in the third period, but like Lapierre before him, his shorthanded breakaway dinged off the goal post. The missed opportunity with 5:05 to play kept the game deadlocked at 2-2…at least for the next 19 seconds.
The Penguins won a faceoff in neutral ice, and Jonathan Filewich carried the biscuit down the right side of the rink. His blast from the point deflected across the crease, and found Joe Jensen all alone with an empty net staring him in the face. His easy tap in at 15:14 was his first goal of the season, and proved to be the deciding tally.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had a trying final 66 seconds, as Chris Minard was whistled for a hook and the Bulldogs pulled the netminder. But the Pens killed off their third of four disadvantages on the night to secure the win.
The Penguins travel to Syracuse, where they will take on the Crunch at 7:30pm on Friday night.
NOTES: Connor James extended his point streak to five games with his first period assist…The game was the 100th regular season contest for the coaching tandem of Todd Richards and Dan Bylsma.
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