PENS POST 3-1 WIN, VANQUISH PHANTOMS

POST-GAME AUDIO:Todd Richards | Kurtis McLean | Chris Minard

WILKES-BARRE, PA – Chris Minard netted his third game-winning goal of the postseason and John Curry turned aside 22 shots to post a 3-1 win in Game Five of the East Division Finals Friday night.  The win allowed the Penguins to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2004.  Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will face off with the Portland Pirates, who defeated the Providence Bruins, four games to two, in the Atlantic Division Finals.

“For the guys who have been here the last couple years, relief.  This is the first time we’ve got out of this round, even won two games in the round,” said Kurtis McLean, who recorded seven points in the second round series.  “It’s nice to win the banner, and now we’re going to the league semis, and hopefully to that championship round.”

The Penguins rattled off four straight wins after dropping Game One of the series, eliminating the Phantoms from postseason play for the third time in four tries.  The clubs also met during the 2001, 2004 and 2005 playoffs.

“It was a great job by our players.  We went through a lot leading up to the series, guys had to deal with a lot of different things,” said head coach Todd Richards.  “We lose Game One and come out for Game Two.  Again, you look at where we were in that second game, down 4-1 going into the third period.  We battle, we battle and we’re resilient.

“Everyone stepped up their game, doing the little things, paying the price for the team.  And we beat a very good Philadelphia team, a very good team.”

And they beat them in about every way possible – an improbable come-from-behind win in Game Two; jumping out to a 3-0 lead then hanging on for a one-goal win in Game Three; and a blow out 8-4 thrashing in Game Four.

Game Five was yet another different path to victory, as both teams played it close to the vest in a game that referee Dean Morton virtually put the whistle away, calling only five penalties total.

That didn’t seem to bother the Penguins, who entered the game with the top power play in the postseason. 

Dustin Jeffrey, who notched his first career goal in Game Four, opened the scoring, picking up a Mark Ardelan rebound in front of Scott Munroe and beat the Philadelphia netminder with less than 46 seconds remaining in the opening frame.

Darren Reid scored seven minutes into the second period to tie the score, but Chris Minard countered with his eighth of the postseason at the 12:20 mark, one-timing a Tim Brent feed in the slot for what proved to be the eventual series clincher.

“Fortunately I found an open spot.  Brenter made a great play and Mac made a great play as well,” said Minard, who ranks second in the league in goal scoring behind Brent.  “It’s always fun scoring goals, and big goals, it’s even better.”

Philadelphia threatened in the final minutes of the second, when they were awarded their only power play of the game as Alex Goligoski was called for hooking with 2:03 left in the frame.  Kyle Greentree had the team’s best opportunity, but missed a virtually open net while on a two-on-one break with less than a minute left in the period.

Tim Wallace closed out the scoring with his second of the playoffs, a goal off a McLean rebound 4:01 into the finals stanza.

From there the Penguins held their course, refusing to let the Phantoms close to the goal – Philadelphia recorded just six shots in the third.

“We play a pretty simple game.  We don’t have a lot of fancy players that make fancy plays,” Minard said.  “We stick to our game plan, and that’s how we win hockey games.”

Now the team hopes there will be a few more wins, as they begin their series with the Pirates on Wednesday.

“We can’t be satisfied with what we got.  We have a great bunch of guys, great team, great leadership,” stated McLean. “We want to strive for the Calder Cup obviously, that’s our goal.  There’s no need to settle for a second round victory.”