AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Penguins Win Third Straight Game Against First-Place Norfolk

Published on January 9, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


NORFOLK, Va. (Wednesday, January 8, 2003) - If former first-round pick Alexandre Daigle is looking for a quick return trip back to the NHL, he's well on his way as he recorded three assists to help lead the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' to a 3-1 win over the first-place Norfolk Admirals before a crowd of 3,867 at the Norfolk Scope.

Since joining the Penguins in Norfolk on December 28, Daigle has six points (1+5) in five games. Along with extending his point streak to four games, Daigle also extended his assist streak to three games and recorded his first multiple-assist game in the Penguins' win tonight over the Admirals, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end. Coincidentally, the Admirals' last loss was to the Penguins at home on Dec. 28 (4-1 Pens' win).

Tomas Surovy, Mike Wilson and Toby Petersen each scored a goal, while Matt Murley recorded two assists as the Penguins' won their third straight game against the Admirals in their final visit of the regular season to Virginia.

The Penguins have won five of the eight meetings this season and finished with a 4-1 record on the road against the Admirals at the Norfolk Scope. Along with leading the season series, 5-3, the Penguins' now lead the lifetime series, 13-12-1. The Penguins are 8-6-0 lifetime against the Admirals in Norfolk and have a 5-6-1 record against Norfolk at the First Union Arena at Casey Plaza.

The Penguins will host the Admirals twice during the final week of the 2002-03 regular season. Norfolk will visit the First Union Arena at Casey Plaza on Friday, April 4 (7:05 p.m.) and Saturday, April 5 (7:05 PM).

The Penguins had the better of the play in the first period but goaltender Steve Passmore kept the Penguins off the scoreboard as he stopped all 10 shots faced in the period. The Penguins had several scoring chances, but came up empty.

The Penguins could not convert on a 5-on-3 power play early in the game and their best scoring chance of the period came at 11:00 as Matt Hussey's slap shot hit off the right post and bounced straight out to Passmore, who quickly covered up the puck before Surovy could tap in the rebound.

Midway through the second period, the Penguins successfully killed off the first part a 5-on-3 power play, but could not kill off Brooks Orpik's two-minute minor for cross-checking on the tail-end of the power play advantage as Mike Peluso scored his 14th goal of the season at 14:09 to give the Admirals a 1-0 lead. Peluso took a goalmouth feed from Brett McLean and knocked home the shot into an open net for the goal.

But the Penguins came back and answered with a power play goal of their own as Surovy continued his torrid scoring pace as he blasted a slap shot over the shoulder of Passmore for his 11th goal of the season at 17:07 to even the game at 1-1. The goal was Surovy's fourth in the last two games and was his seventh in the last seven games. He has 22 points (10+12) in the last 17 games, including seven multiple-point games.

Early in the third period, the Penguins scored two goals in a span of 1:30 to put the game out of reach. The Penguins' took their first lead of the game as Mike Wilson notched his third goal and second power play goal of the season 1:23 into Jeff Helperl's hooking penalty to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead. Center Toby Petersen followed up his 11th goal and third in the last three games at 4:49 to give the Penguins a commanding 3-1 and the Pens' never looked back from there.

Goaltender Robbie Tallas had an uneventful third period, as Norfolk did not mount much of a comeback attempt as the Penguins' defense tightened up and held the Admirals' to five shots in the final period.

Tallas stopped 22 of 23 shots to improve his season record to 6-4-1, while his counterpart, Steve Passmore allowed three goals on 24 shots to see his record fall to 2-7-1.

The Penguins outshot the Admirals, 24-23, for the game. And, for the third straight game, the Penguins scored a power play goal as they converted on 2-of-5 power play chances, while Norfolk scored on 1-of-3 attempts.

With the win, the Penguins (17-16-2-3, 39 points) trail the first-place Admirals (22-12-2-3, 49 points) by 10 points and the second-place Hershey Bears (19-11-7-1, 46 points) by seven points in the South Division standings.

The Penguins now travel to St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada for a pair of games against the Maple Leafs (11-25-3-1, 26 points) this weekend. The Penguins visit Mile One Stadium on Friday (6:05 p.m. EST) and Saturday (6:05 p.m.) for the second-leg of the road trip. The Penguins close out the four-game road trip next Wednesday (January 15) at Hershey. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Giant Center.

The win improved the Penguins' record on the road to 9-9-1-1. The Penguins will play six of their next nine games on the road.

After the current road trip, the Penguins will return home to begin a three-game home stand on Jan. 17 as the Pens' play the Lowell Lock Monsters (7:05 p.m. start) for the first-time in team history. The Penguins continue the home stand on Saturday, Jan. 18 as they play the Cleveland Barons 97:05 p.m. start) and host the Bears in the first game of a home-and-home series against their division rivals on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 7:05 p.m. at the First Union Arena at Casey Plaza.

GAME NOTES

With a goal tonight, center Toby Petersen extended his goal streak to three games and his point streak to five games ... Petersen has six points (3+3) in the last five games ... He is second on the team in scoring with 29 points (11+18) in 38 games ... Petersen has recorded 21 points (8+13) over the last 23 games and has a point in 15 of the 23 games ... He has totaled 20 points (6+14) on the power play ... Petersen has recorded a point in 23 of 38 games ... Right winger Tom Kostopoulos leads the team in scoring with 35 points (13+22) in 38 games ... Kostopoulos also leads the team in goals and in assists ... He has five points (1+4) in the last two games ... Kostopoulos has 11 points (3+8) in the last seven games, including nine points (2+7) in the last five games ... He has 19 points (7+12) in the last 15 games, including seven multiple-point games ... Scratches for the Penguins tonight were defenseman Francois Leroux (hip flexor) and right winger Eric Meloche injured his groin during warm-ups ... Leroux and Meloche are both listed as day-to-day ... Left winger Konstantin Koltsov returned to the lineup after missing the last five games with a groin injury ... Line combinations for the Penguins tonight were Surovy-Endicott-Kostopoulos; Murley-Petersen-Daigle; Koltsov-Hussey-Armstrong; and Russell-MacDonald ... The defensive parings were Orpik-Buckley; Wilson-Robinson; and Scuderi-Lupaschuk ... In the last two games against Norfolk, goaltender Robbie Tallas has allowed only one goal in each game and has a record of 2-0 with a .960 save percentage ... Coach Glenn Patrick announced following the game that Tallas will start on Friday against the Maple Leafs ... Right winger Michel Ouellet is expected to be recalled from Wheeling today ... Ouellet recorded one assist in three games with the Penguins this season ... In 27 games with the Nailers, he recorded 20 points (10+10) and 22 penalty minutes ... He is ranked among the team leaders in goals (tied for second), power play goals (tied for second with four), scoring (sixth) and assists (ninth).

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American Hockey League Stories from January 9, 2003


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