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AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Penguins Plague Rats In Wednesday Night Shootout

March 11, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Nick Johnson tallied two points in regulation time, and added a fifth-round shootout winner to help the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 4-3 victory over the Albany River Rats on Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

Albany came into the contest trying to avenge a 9-2 pasting on February 17th and did the job they wanted to by scoring first. With Chris Conner off for a rare holding penalty, reigning Reebok/AHL Player of the Week Jerome Samson notched his 31st goal of the season by firing a puck past Penguins netminder John Curry. Nick Dodge and Jamie McBain were credited with helpers. But Tim Wallace would show his power play prowess once again as he tied up the game with his 19th of the year. Wallace was stationed at the net front and shoved the rebound of a Ben Lovejoy shot through the pads of Rats netminder Justin Pogge.

The Rats would regain the lead at 8:35 of the second period when Chris Terry knocked home a pass from Steven Goertzen. Then with the visitors attempting a defensive zone clear, Chris Lee stole the puck away on the left half boards and shoved a pass to Johnson. The Calgary native ripped a wrist shot from the left circle past the glove of Pogge for his 11th goal of the campaign.

Pogge would rob Dustin Jeffrey of a sure go-ahead goal with just under four minutes left in the second period, and emphatically shook his head at the Penguins' center after the stop. Jeffrey would respond by firing a long-range wrister past the stick of Pogge at 17:06 to give the hosts their first lead of the night. But with the game in their hands, Lovejoy was handed a late-period hooking penalty, and with Pogge on the bench for an extra attacker, the Rats tallied a 6-on-4 power play goal again off the stick of Samson. The goal came with just under ten seconds left in regulation.

After the Penguins could not capitalize on an overtime power play given to them when Chris Lee was hit with a high stick by Terry, the shootout would begin with Mark Letestu keeping a perfect shootout record intact with his fourth shootout goal of the year. Drayson Bowman answered in the first round for Albany. After Wyatt Smith and Jacob Micflikier were turned aside, Chris Conner scored his first shootout goal of the year to give the Penguins a third-round edge. Again, Albany had the answer as McBain beat Curry with a move to Curry's glove side. After Jeffrey and Terry were denied in round four, Johnson fired a hard wrist shot past Pogge to leave things up to Curry. The Shorewood, MN native stopped Bryan Rodney for his third shootout win of the year, and 11th in his Penguins career.

Curry made 31 saves in regulation and overtime, and went 3-for-5 in the shootout to earn his 22nd win of the season and improve to 22-17-1. Pogge took the shootout loss, stopping 32 shots prior to going 2-for-5 in the extra session. The Penguins outshot Albany 36-34, went 1-for-5 on the power play, and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill.

The Penguins will hit the road once again this Friday as they head to Rhode Island to battle the Providence Bruins. Faceoff is set for 7:05 pm at the Dunkin Donuts Center. The team returns home on Wednesday, March 17th for a key East Division battle against the Norfolk Admirals. Puck drop is at 7:05 pm at Mohegan Sun Arena. Players will be wearing their traditional St. Patrick's Day jerseys, which will be auctioned off on the concourse during the game. Fans can also purchase St. Patrick's Day "mystery pucks" with all proceeds going to charity. Tickets can be purchased at the Mohegan Sun Arena box office, through any Ticketmaster outlet, or by calling toll-free 1-800-745-3000.

NOTES: The Penguins recalled RW Casey Pierro-Zabotel from the Wheeling Nailers, but he sat as a healthy scratchF Eric Tangradi missed the game due to injuryThe Penguins improved to 5-1-0-0 against Albany with two games remaining in the season series The Penguins won their 40th game in the all-time season series, and improved to 22-6-3 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

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