THIRD TIME NOT THE CHARM, AS PENS FALL TO PHANTOMS AGAIN
The third time was not a charm for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, who dropped a 5-2 decision to the Philadelphia Phantoms on Sunday evening at the Wachovia Specturm.
The loss was the third in a row for the Penguins, with all three of those coming at the hands of the Phantoms, who upped their record to a perfect 5-0-0-0 on the season. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton fell to 2-3-0-0 with the defeat.
Philadelphia used four power play goals on 10 tries to cruise to the win. The Phantoms have scored a league-high 12 goals with the man advantage, while the Penguins have surrendered 10 on the season.
It didn’t take long for the scoring to start. Goaltender Ty Conklin was whistled for a tripping call just 37 seconds into the game, and Ryan Potulny took advantage 10 seconds later, taking a Stefan Ruzicka feed and potting his second of the season with the game less than a minute old.
The Penguins evened the score at 9:03, as Nathan Smith swatted at a loose
puck and found the back of the net from in tight for his first of the campaign. Jeff Taffe picked up an assist on the goal to extend his point streak to five games (4+2).
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton would get no closer though, as Ruzicka beat Conklin while the Phantoms skated two-men up at 12:15, and Darren Reic upped the lead to 3-1 38 seconds later to close out the first period scoring.
A scoreless second saw the Phantoms outshoot the Penguins 15-8, but they would not find the twine again until 4:55 of the third. Conklin attempted to rim a puck around the boards, which was intercepted by a Philadelphia forward on the near side. Two quick passes later and Reid had his second of the game from the slot, the goal coming as Conklin scrambled to get back in net.
Alain Nasreddine picked up his first goal since returning to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the 12:30 mark of the third, but Ruzicka countered before Nasreddine’s tally could be announced, his second of the day coming at 12:38.
Scott Munroe, making his first start of the season for Philadelphia, made 24 saves to pick up the victory.
NOTES: The last time the Penguins dropped three games in a row was Jan. 26-Feb. 2, 2007, when they fell to the Phantoms (7-2), Bridgeport Sound Tigers (4-1) and Norfolk Admirals (6-3)…The loss dropped the Penguins to below .500 for the first time since October 30, 2004, a string of 132 regular season games. The Pens had a 3-4-1-1 record at that time, before defeating the Binghamton Senators 2-0 on Halloween night.
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