AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Grizzlies End Six-Game Winless Streak with 5-2 Victory over Penguins

February 20, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


West Valley City, Utah (Wednesday, February 19, 2003) - David Gosselin scored two goals and David Oliver added a goal and an assist as the Utah Grizzlies ended their six-game winless streak with a 5-2 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins before a crowd of 3,797 at The "E" Center.

The Penguins got off to a good start as Alexandre Daigle scored a short-handed 2:46 into the game to give the Pens' an early 1-0 lead. But from there, it was all down hill for the Penguins.

First, starting goaltender Robbie Tallas left the game after having ice sprayed under his mask by a Utah player on a skate stop in front of the crease at 4:33. Then, 1:15 later, Mark Wotton tied the game with a short-handed goal against Mike Valley to tie the game at 1-1 with his seventh goal of the season at 4:33.

Utah took a 2-1 lead at the 13:18 mark of the second period when Oliver blasted a one-timer past Valley. Oliver took a pass from Montgomery at the top of the left face off circle and beat Valley high to the glove side for his seventh goal of the season.

Early in the third period, Gosselin scored the first of his two goals in the period with his eighth goal of the season at 2:36 to give the Grizzlies' a 3-1 lead.

Later, the Penguins did close within a goal on Toby Petersen's 19th goal of the season at 15:28, but the Grizzlies scored two empty net goals with under a minute in the game spoil the Penguins' comeback bid. Marc Kristoffersson scored his ninth goal of the season with one minute left and Gosselin notched his second goal of the period and ninth of the season with 18 seconds left to close out the scoring.

With the win, Utah improved to 27-24-3-2 (59 points), while the Penguins' fell to 26-24-4-4 (60 points). The two teams wrap-up the two-game set on Friday at 9:00 p.m. EST at The "E' Center.

GAME NOTES

Scratches for the Penguins were forwards Matt Hussey (neck and back spasms), Konstantin Koltsov (bruised left elbow) and Jason MacDonald (left shoulder) ...Goaltender Robbie Tallas is listed as day-to-day ... LW Matt Murley recorded two assists in the loss ... In the last six games, Murley has nine points (1+8) and has recorded three multiple-assist games ... He is tied for seventh among AHL rookies in scoring and is third in assists ... Murley has 42 points (11+31) in 51 games ... He is third on the team in scoring ... LW Bobby Russell has a goal and an assist in the last two games and has four points (2+2) in the last four games ... The Penguins are 0-3 against the Grizzlies at The "E" Center.

Check out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from February 20, 2003


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.

OurSports Central