Penguins Stay Alive with 6-2 Win
Published on April 19, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
Wilkes-Barre, Pa. - With their season possibly down to its final 20 minutes, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins responded with a deluge of five third-period goals en route to a 6-2 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins in Game 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Saturday.
The Griffins, who lead the best-of-five series two games to one, will have another chance to advance to the conference semifinals on Monday, when they return to the First Union Arena for Game 4. Faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m.
The final score belied a much closer game, which was tied for all but 58 seconds of the first 40 minutes of play. The Penguins took their first lead of the series at 14:13 of the opening period, when Milan Kraft received a pass inside the Grand Rapids line, outraced two defenders and beat Marc Lamothe with a shot into the upper right corner.
Less than a minute later, with the Griffins set up in the Wilkes-Barre zone on a power play, Jason Williams took a blast from the point that was turned away by Jean-Sebastien Aubin. However, Michel Picard beat Aubin and a Penguins defenseman to the loose rubber just outside the crease, and he stuck it just inside the right post at 15:11.
In a sequence that could have changed the game's outcome midway through the second period, Picard again found Aubin out of position and flung the puck towards the empty net. However, Penguins defenseman Darcy Robinson slid across the goalmouth behind the netminder to block Picard's shot and keep it a 1-1 game.
Wilkes-Barre began its charge with a shorthanded goal just 2:56 into the final period. Toby Peterson's cannon from the right circle clanged off the left post, but Kraft was waiting on the doorstep to slam the carom home. Tomas Surovy extended the Penguins' cushion at the 8:52 mark, shrugging off a defender in the right circle and firing a wrist shot past Lamothe's blocker.
Micki DuPont would then score twice in a span of 60 seconds (11:27 and 12:27) to chase Lamothe from the pipes, and Konstantin Koltsov welcomed Joey MacDonald with a goal on his first shot faced at 13:16. Hugo Boisvert tallied for Grand Rapids at 15:54 for the final margin.
The game set Griffins playoff records for most goals allowed in both a game and a period (5), and tied the standards for largest margin of defeat and most consecutive goals allowed (5).
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