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AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Penguins End Disappointing Season With 6-4 Loss to Hershey

April 8, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


HERSHEY, Pennsylvania (Saturday, April 6, 2002) - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins dropped a 6-4 decision to the Hershey Bears before a crowd of 7,294 at Hersheypark Arena in their final game of the 2001-02 regular season.

Tomas Surovy recorded his first career hat trick and the third in team history, while Tom Kostopoulos notched three assists for the Penguins, who ended the season on a 10-game winless streak (0-9-1). The Penguins finished their third season in the American Hockey League with a record of 20-44-13-3 (56 points).

Hershey took a 3-0 lead in the first period with three power play goals. Kelly Fairchild opened the scoring with his 21st goal of the season at 8:04 to give the Bears a 1-0 lead. Hershey then scored two goals within a span of 1:47 to take a 3-0 lead. Tavis Hansen tallied his ninth of the season at 12:06 and Yevgeny Lazarev scored his 10th of the season at 13:53 of the period.

The Penguins got on the scoreboard exactly one minute into the second period as Surovy scored his 21st goal of the season to cut the lead to 3-1. But Hershey answered right back 46 seconds later as Jeff Daw scored his 26th goal of the season to give the Bears a 4-1 lead.

Later in the second period, Hershey put the game out of reach with two goals to take a commanding 6-1 lead. Lazarev scored his second of the game and 11th of the season at 12:27 and then K.C. Timmons added his seventh goal of the season at the 14:20 mark of the period. A few minutes later, Surovy tallied his second goal of the game and 22nd of the season with 2:30 left in the period to draw the Penguins within four goals at 6-2.

The Penguins made it interesting with two goals in the first 10 minutes of the third period. Ross Lupaschuk scored his ninth of the season at 3:26 and Surovy recorded the hat trick with his 23rd goal of the season at 9:37.

But that would be as close as the Penguins would get as Hershey tightened up the defense and goaltender Scott Fankhouser made some big saves down the stretch as Hershey held off the Pens the rest of the way to post the 6-4 victory.

Fankhouser, who recorded his second straight win against the Penguins, made 32 saves to improve his record to 5-2-1 on the season. He finished the season 2-0 against the Pens with a 2.00 goals against average and a .938 save percentage.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goaltender Robbie Tallas stopped 41 of 47 shots in a losing effort. In eight games against the Bears this season, Tallas had a record of 2-4-2 with a 2.72 goals against average and .927 save percentage.

Tonight was the third time in eight season meetings that he recorded 40 or more saves against the Bears. Overall, Tallas posted a 6-25-5 record during the season with a 3.46 goals against average and a .901 save percentage in 38 games.

GAME NOTES RW Tom Kostopoulos edged out C/LW Martin Sonnenberg for the race for the team's scoring title . Both players had 50 points each coming into tonight's contest . Kostopoulos finished the season as the team's leading scorer with 53 points (27+26) and 112 penalty minutes in 70 games . Kostopoulos led the team in goals and power play goals (10) and was tied for first with three game-winning goals . He was also among the team leaders in assists (second), short-handed goals (second with two), shots (third with 217) and eighth in penalty minutes . Sonnenberg finished second on the team in scoring with 50 points (20+30) and 127 penalty minutes in 78 games . D Brendan Buckley was the only player to appear in all 80 games this season . Buckley recorded 20 points (1+19) and 116 penalty minutes . The Penguins ended the season with a record of 6-28-6 on the road . The Penguins finished the season 4-6-2 against the Bears . The Penguins were 2-3-1 against Hershey this season at home and are 2-3-1 against the Bears this season at Hersheypark Arena . Overall, the Penguins are 14-16-2 lifetime against the Bears . The Penguins are 8-7-1 against the Bears at the First Union Arena at Casey Plaza and have a record of 6-9-1 against the Bears at Hersheypark Arena.

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