Sports stats



AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Curry Celebrates Birthday With 2-1 Shootout Win

February 27, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


Tradition dictates that the birthday celebrant is supposed to receive gifts, not hand them out. But John Curry turned tradition on its head Wednesday night at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.

On the night he observed his 24th birthday, Curry turned aside 26 of 27 shots through regulation and overtime, then snuffed eight of nine in the shootout to give the Penguins a 2-1 win over the Syracuse Crunch. The win upped Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's record to 32-22-0-3 on the season, and gave the Pens some breathing room between themselves and the fifth place Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the East Division standings. The Penguins now have 67 points to Bridgeport's 62, with the clubs squaring off this Friday in Wilkes-Barre.

Syracuse, meanwhile, fell to 27-26-2-5 (61 points, fourth place in the North Division).

Curry was the reason the Penguins picked up the extra point. He surrendered a solitary tally to Alexandre Picard in the first period, then saw Joakim Lindstrom score on the first shootout attempt before he stopped eight consecutive Crunch attempts.

"He played well tonight and deserved the win. We struggled a little bit in the shootout but he stood firm. He was great," head coach Todd Richards said of the rookie netminder. "For the game he battled, made some very big saves for us, especially in the second period. He gave us the opportunity to win, got it into overtime, and then he gave us the opportunity to win it in the shootout."

The victory snapped a personal three game losing streak for Curry, who raised his record to 12-7-2 on the season, and saw his goals against average fall to 2.14, the fourth best mark in the American Hockey League.

"It was something I needed," said Curry. "It was a little bit of a confidence booster. The guys were able to help me out, some huge blocked shots and keeping shots to the outside, letting me feel it a little bit. A huge two points."

The Penguins opened the scoring at 7:33 of the first period when Tim Brent slipped a shot past former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton netminder Karl Goehring during an early power play. But that was the only score the home club would pick up, despite having the man advantage seven more times during the game.

"We had a great power play in the first period, score a goal. From that point it was all downhill for us as a group," said Richards, whose team has just four power play goals in the last 11 contests. "It's something we've worked on, it's still something that we have to get a lot better at."

Picard evened the score with his fifth of the year during a scramble in front of Curry six minutes after the Penguins' goal.

Brent appeared to put the Pens ahead midway through the second period, but referee Francois St. Laurent waived off his shot, saying it bounced off the cross bar and did not go over the goal line.

Connor James, who scored his first National Hockey League goal while playing with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night, failed to convert on a penalty shot after being hauled down on his way to the net with 1:02 left in the second period.

Goehring held the Penguins at bay during the first three rounds of the shootout, before Brent evened the score at 1-1. Kurtis McLean tallied in the ninth round, and Curry stopped Picard's second attempt to preserve the win.

Check out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Statistics

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from February 27, 2008


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.

Other Recent Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central