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 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Penguins hit 100 with point Sunday

March 27, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


A five-point weekend allowed the Wileks-Barre/Scranton Penguins to crack the century mark, and extend their lead over the Hershey Bears in the race for the East Division title to five points.

The Penguins picked up wins against the Bears on Friday (7-2) and the Albany River Rats on Saturday (2-1 in a shootout), before dropping a 3-2 overtime decision in Hershey on Sunday. The point gained at the Giant Center was the 100th for the team this season, making them the second team in the American Hockey League to hit triple digits in the points column this year (Grand Rapids, 109).

The Penguins have picked up points in each of their past nine games (5-0-2-2), and continue to lead the Eastern Conference in wins (45) and points (100). The Portland Pirates lead the Atlantic Division with a 44-18-5-3 record for 96 points.

Wilkes-Barre also holds a five point lead over Hershey in the East Division, and has two games in hand on the Bears (73 played for Hershey, 71 played for Wilkes-Barre). The Pens record stands at 45-16-5-5, while the Bears have a 41-19-3-10 mark.

BONVIE BREAKS TEAM SINGLE SEASON PENALTY MINUTES RECORD

Dennis Bonvie picked up nine penalty minutes during the Penguins' 2-1 shootout victory against the Albany River Rats on Saturday, and in the process set a new team record for penalty minutes in a season with 393. His league-leading total is six minutes more than Darcy Verot's former team record of 387 penalty minutes in a season, established in 2001-02.

PENGUINS TIE HOME WINS RECORD

The Penguins' win March 25 against the Albany River Rats was the 23rd victory on home ice this season, equaling the team record set just last year. This year's club is 23-7-2-2 (50 points) through 34 home games, and has six more contests at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza. Last year's club went 23-12-3-2, and established a team record for home points with 51.

SABOURIN CATCHES FLEURY

Dany Sabourin picked up his 26th victory of the season with a 7-2 win March 24 vs. Hershey. That victory tied the team record for wins in a season, set last year by Marc-Andre Fleury.

Sabourin currently leads the American Hockey League with a 2.21 goals against average, is first with a .924 save percentage, fourth with 26 wins and tied for second with three shutouts.

DEFENSE FIRST

The Penguins continue to have the fewest goals against in the AHL this season, having allowed just 155 goals through 71 games thus far (2.18 goals per game). The next closest team in the goals against column is the Manitoba Moose, who have allowed 186 goals through 70 games, an average of 2.66 goals per game.

The Penguins team record for fewest goals allowed in a season is 197 (2.4625 goals per game), set during the 2003-04 campaign.

PENS IN ‘THE OFFICE'

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins fans will tuning into this week's episode of the NBC comedy, ‘The Office', will see a familiar team sweater. The new episode entitled Michael's Birthday sees Dunder-Mifflin boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell) celebrating his big day with a trip to an ice skating rink. He also gets a little gift from salesman/lackey Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) that any Pens fan would love (get a sneak peek at http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/photo/2.shtml#photo).

Fictionally set in Scranton, ‘The Office' airs Thursday nights at 9:30pm on NBC.

ATTENDANCE

The Penguins are averaging 8,147 fans per home game this season (277,022 in 34 games), 100% of capacity.

A LOOK AHEAD:

Friday, March 31 - PENGUINS @ Binghamton Senators

NOTES:

The Penguins are 5-0-0-0 against the Senators this season. This is the sixth of eight games between the teams. Binghamton is 30-32-4-4 (68 points) and in fifth place in the East Division.

Saturday, April 1 - Lowell Lock Monsters @ PENGUINS

NOTES:

The Penguins are 1-0-0-0 against the Lock Monsters this year, following a 2-1 win in Lowell on February 17. It was announced last week that the New Jersey Devils will be purchasing the Lock Monsters and moving minor league operations to Lowell from Albany beginning next season. This is the final meeting between the teams this season. Lowell is 27-33-5-7 (66 points), fifth place in the Atlantic Division.

Sunday, April 2 - PENGUINS @ Philadelphia Phantoms

NOTES:

The Penguins are 5-1-1-0 against the Phantoms this season. This is the eighth of 10 meetings between the clubs. Philadelphia is 29-33-1-7 (66 points) and in sixth place in the East Division.

INDIVIDUAL LEAGUE LEADERS

Dany Sabourin leads the American Hockey League with a 2.21 goals against average, is first with a .924 save percentage, fourth with 26 wins and tied for second with three shutouts. Dennis Bonvie is first overall with 393 penalty minutes. Alain Nasreddine is tied for fourth with a plus-20 rating. Matt Hussey is tied for sixth with six game-winning goals.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

03/24/2006 Noah Welch (D) DEL Recalled from loan by Pittsburgh/NHL

03/24/2006 Kurtis McLean (C) DEL Returned on loan to Wheeling/ECHL

03/23/2006 Alain Nasreddine (D) ADD Returned from loan by Pittsburgh/NHL

03/23/2006 Shane Endicott (C) DEL Returned from loan by Pittsburgh/NHL

ON THE AIR

All Penguins games can be heard live on QFM 92.1 and on the internet at www.wbspenguins.com, with Tom Grace calling the action.

ON THE WEB

All Penguins games can be seen live on the internet thanks to the B2 Network. Log on to www.wbspenguins.com to watch all Penguins home and road games live.

TICKETS

Good seats remain for all Penguins home games. Full season, partial season, group and individual tickets for Penguins home games are now on sale. For more information, contact the Penguins at 570-208-7367 or log on to www.wbspenguins.com.


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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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