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AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Penguins Suffer First Overtime Loss of the Season, Drop 4-3

January 29, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The say that there's a first time for everything, and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins found that out on Friday night at PPL Center, as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms handed them their first overtime loss of the 2015-16 season.

The Penguins (29-12-1-1) went through the entire first half of the season and then some without losing a game in extra time, but a 4-3 decision for the Phantoms saw Wilkes-Barre/Scranton suffer that fate for time first time in 43 contests.

A Penguins power play goal from Tom Kostopoulos gave Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the game's first tally 14:39 into the first period.

Tic-tac-toe passing in the neutral zone sprung Josh Archibald on a breakaway. He made no mistake, rifling one past Jason LaBarbera, lifting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a 2-0 lead at 8:34 of the second period and giving Archibald his eight goal of the season and eighth this month.

Lehigh Valley got on the board when Davis Drewiske blasted a shot through traffic, making it 2-1 with 14:05 still to play in the third.

Cole Bardreau tied the game, 2-2, after taking a pass from Chris Conner from behind the net after Conner was able to corral a shot that had missed the Penguins net wide. 9:10 was left on the clock at the time of Bardreau's equalizer.

The Phantoms found some puck luck in the form of a cross-crease pass that ricocheted twice off of Penguins defenseman Steve Oleksy and goalie Tristan Jarry before it trickled inside the post, giving Lehigh Valley its first power play goal of the game and a 3-2 lead with 3:44 left to play.

Twenty six seconds later, Kael Mouillierat knotted the score, 3-3, after picking up a rebound and placing it right under the crossbar for a quick answer to Lehigh Valley's go-ahead goal.

"That was a nice response," Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli said of Mouillierat's goal, "They go down, get a bounce, and take the lead. Then we come right back and score. That was one of the positives to come out of the third period."

Thanks to Mouillierat's tying goal, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forced overtime and earned one point in the standings. Lehigh Valley ended up with the victory on Bardreau's second goal of the game come with 44 seconds remaining in the extra frame.

Jarry was handed just his second loss of the season and made 30 saves in the outing. LaBarbera made 27 stops between the pipes for the Phantoms.

The Penguins get the chance to bounce back a day later, as both Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Lehigh Valley meet again on Saturday, Jan. 30, this time at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. The game will also serve as the Penguins' Hall of Fame night, as former defenseman John Slaney will become the fourth member of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Hall of Fame with a pre-game ceremony. Game time is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

With two assists in the game, defenseman Will O'Neill has nine points in his last 10 games.

Chris Conner's power play goal in the third period ended the Penguins' penalty kill streak that had reached 23-consecutive successful kills.

Conor Sheary was awarded a primary assist on Kael Mouillierat's goal, extending an AHL points streak to eight games. In his last 19 AHL games, Sheary has 28 points (6G-22A).

With the OT loss, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is now 7-1-1-1 all-time at PPL Center.

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