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AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

BEARS BLANK PENGUINS, 2-0

March 17, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


HERSHEY, Pennsylvania (Saturday, March 16, 2002) - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' playoff hopes were dealt a severe blow tonight as the Hershey Bears shutout the Penguins, 2-0, before a sellout crowd of 7,341 at Hersheypark Arena.

The Bears took a 1-0 lead early in the first period when Mikhail Kuleshov scored from the bottom of the left face off circle just 3:23 into the game. Kuleshov's snap shot slipped through the pads of goaltender Robbie Tallas for his seventh goal of the season.

The Penguins dominated the first period, outshooting Hershey by a 17-9 margin, but could not get one past goaltender Scott Fankhouser.

The Penguins had a good scoring chance early in the second period when Robert Dome came flying down the left wing and broke in on Fankhouser. Dome could not get off an initial shot on his drive to the net, but made a move through the crease and spun around and snapped a wrist shot that Fankhouser blocked at 5:14 of the period.

Later in the game, the Penguins almost got a break while killing off a penalty midway through the third period. Alexander Zevakhin's fired a shot from the high slot that trickled through the pads of Fankhouser but went just wide of the left post.

The Penguins also had numerous chances on their fifth and final power play of the game late in the third period, but came up empty. Yuri Babenko sealed the victory for the Bears with an empty net goal with 50 seconds left in the game.

The Bears, who are now unbeaten in their last seven games (6-0-1), improved to 28-25-11-6 (73 points), while the Penguins' record fell to 20-36-12-3 with the loss. The loss also snapped the Penguins' three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1).

The Penguins were shutout for the ninth time this season and tied the AHL record for shutouts in a season, shared by the Pittsburgh Hornets (196-62), Washington Lions (1948-49) and the New Haven Eagles 1938-39).

The Penguins return home to host the Syracuse Crunch on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. at the First Union Arena at Casey Plaza. The Penguins will wear special St. Patrick's Day jerseys against the Crunch. The sweaters (white with green, gold and black trim) will be auctioned during the game and bids will be accepted in the concourse area until the end of the second period intermission.

Before the game, the American Hockey League will hold a brief pre-game ceremony to honor the Penguins on setting the new record for sellouts in a season. The Penguins will set the new league record with their 37th sellout of the season today.

GAME NOTES

Scratches for the Penguins tonight were Alexandre Mathieu (wrist), Darcy Robinson (healthy) and Mike Wilson (hip pointer) while Hershey scratched Matt Herr (groin pull), Kyle Kidney (healthy), Kelly Fairchild (bruised lower leg) and Yevgeny Lazarev (shoulder) . The Penguins will play six of their remaining nine games on the road and will end the regular season at Hershey on Saturday, April 6 at 7:00 p.m. in the next-to-last regular season game in Hersheypark Arena. The Bears are moving next door to the new 10,500-seat Giant Center.

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