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AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Penguins Drop 4-3 Decision to Crunch

January 10, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A pair of goals by Jayson Megna and a late rally by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton were not enough to push the Penguins past the Syracuse Crunch as they fell, 4-3, on Saturday at Onondaga County War Memorial Arena

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton held the 2-1 lead after one period play, but Jonathan Marchessault knotted the score at 3:29 of the second when he caught up to a deflected shot at the near post and swatted the bouncing puck over the right shoulder of Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff.

The Crunch pulled ahead, 3-2, at 14:21 of the same period as Luke Witkowski took a faceoff win in the offensive zone and fired a low slapshot toward the crease, where Mike Blunden was stationed to redirect the puck inside the near post.

Henri Ikoknen notched the eventual game-winner with 5:44 left in regulation, finding space in the slot to take a feed from Joel Vermin and sneak a one-time shot under the pads of Zatkoff.

The Penguins would get back within a goal late in regulation while skating on a 6-on-4 advantage. Carter Rowney collected the tip-in goal with eight seconds left in the third period to set-up one final opportunity to notch the equalizer. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton won the ensuing faceoff into the Syracuse zone and was able to create a quality chance in on net, but the shot went wide just before the final horn expired.

Andrei Vasilevskiy collected the win for Syracuse, entering the game in relief after the first intermission and finishing with 10 saves on 11 shots. Crunch Starter Kristers Gudlevskis stopped 7-of-9 in the first. Zatkoff made 25 saves for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

With the Penguins down, 1-0, in the first period, Megna took control of the offense, scoring twice over a four-minute span to help his team to take the lead into the first intermission. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton got on the board at 14:31 of the opening frame during a 4-on-2 rush as Megna took a drop pass from Tom Kostopoulos and beat Gudlevskis with a wrist shot to the stick side. He struck again with 1:22 left until the break, catching up to Alex Boak's clearing attempt and whipping a shot in from the right circle for his 11th goal of the season.

Philippe Paradis gave Syracuse a 1-0 lead at 4:16 of the first, tipping Joey Mormina's point shot through the pads of Zatkoff.

The Penguins are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 17 as the travel to Worcester to face the Sharks at 7:00 p.m. Tune in on WILK Newsradio or watch online at AHL Live.

Individual tickets for all Penguins home games are available at the Mohegan Sun Arena Box Office, online at TicketMaster.com, or by calling 800-745-3000.

Penguins season tickets, including 12-game and 10-ticket flex vouchers, are available by calling 570-208-7367.

Check out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Statistics

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