PENGUINS DROP GAME ONE TO WOLVES

DES PLAINES, IL – The comeback kids came up a little short on Thursday night.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton fell behind by a 3-0 count in the first period, then clawed back into the game only to eventually fall by a 5-4 score to the Chicago Wolves in Game One of the 2008 Calder Cup Finals.

Game Two of the series will be played Sunday afternoon at 4:00pm at the Allstate Arena.

The Pens trailed by three goals in both Game Two of the East Division Finals against the Philadelphia Phantoms and in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Portland Pirates, but fought back to win both of those contests in overtime. 

No such luck followed the Penguins to Illinois. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pulled as close as 4-3 midway through the game, and then once again came within one goal late in the third when Kurtis McLean netted his second of the night.

There was some controversy late in the game, as Nathan Smith appeared to even the score at 5-5 with less than five minutes to play. But referee Brian Pochmara ruled that Smith's redirection of a point shot was actually kicked into the net, and the apparent tying tally was waved off.

"Watching it on the jumbotron, it didn't look like it [was kicked in]," said head coach Todd Richards. "Looking at it on replay, it's a tough call, it's a tough call. His ruling on the ice was he kicked it. Still, watching the replay, there's doubt in my mind it was a kicking motion. I think he was coming in to stop. But that's the call."

"The rules state that it has to be a distinct kicking motion. And for those people who saw it, they can make their own opinion whether it was a kicking motion or not," stated Smith, who said the puck deflected high off of the boot of the skate. "I haven't seen the replay, I don't know if it looks like a kicking motion or not. I guess I better not say too much about it."

The non-goal wasn't the deciding factor in the game, though. A slow start which saw the high-power Wolves take the three goal lead didn't help matters either.

Chicago, who posted 27 power play goals through the first round of the postseason, jumped on their first chance of the night, as Jesse Schultz finished off a tic-tac-toe play with Darren Haydar and Jason Krog 7:15 into the game to give the home club the lead.

The Penguins failed to convert on an extended five-on-three power play, and then saw Kevin Doell stretch the advantage to 2-0 when he capitalized on a Mark Ardelan turnover in front of his own net.

The Pens were caught on a line change with 1:30 left in the period as Chicago picked up the puck in the neutral zone. Doell dug a loose puck out from behind the Wilkes-Barre net and fed Jordan LaVallee who potted his second of the postseason.

It could have been worse, though, as the Wolved were awarded a penalty shot when Alex Goligoski hauled down Steve Martins on a breakaway with 30 seconds left in the frame. John Curry got a piece of the shot, sending it over the cross bar to keep the score 3-0.

The tide began to turn early in the second period, as Goligoski scored off a four-on-two break at 1:11, and McLean tipped home a pass from the rookie defenseman during the team's third power play of the night.

Joel Kwiatkowski lasered a shot from the right faceoff dot with Alain Nasreddine in the box for slashing, giving the Wolves their second power play goal of the evening, making the score 4-2. But Ryan Stone tallied seven seconds into a Brian Sipotz holding call to make the score 4-3 after 40 minutes.

Bryan Little regained the two-goal lead for Chicago, picking up a rebound on the left side and burying a shot into an empty net, before McLean tipped in his second of the night off a Goligoski feed at 14:08.

Curry made 31 saves in the loss, while Ondrej Pavelec stopped 30 of 34 for his 13th win of the postseason.

NOTES: The loss marked the first time all season that the Penguins scored four or more goals in a game and lost. They were 21-0-0-0 in the regular season and 7-0 in the playoffs when netting at least four goals...The penalty shot against the Penguins was just the second in team playoff history. Syracuse's Brad Moran scored against Rich Parent on April 13, 2001 in the Penguins' second postseason game ever...The Penguins are now 8-12 in Game Ones all-time, 3-7 on the road in Game Ones...Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has now dropped seven straight Calder Cup Finals games dating back to May 25, 2001...Ryan Stone moved into a tie for second place on the Penguins' all-time playoff points list with his 32nd point (11+21) on Thursday night. Eric Meloche also has 32, while Tom Kostopoulos leads the way with 38...Alex Goligoski tallied four ponits on the night (1+3) and moved into a tie for ninth on the team's all-time playoff points list with his 24th of the postseason (Ryan Whitney)...The team record for points in one postseason is 25, set by Chris Kelleher in 2001.