Pens fall in overtime, 3-2, on Slaney's goal
Published on March 20, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Former Penguin John Slaney came back to haunt his former club again as he scored the game-winning goal 1:24 overtime to lift the Philadelphia Phantoms to a 3-2 win over the Penguins on Friday before a crowd of 13,125 at the Wachovia Spectrum.
With Matt Murley in the penalty box for interference, the Phantoms scored on their 11TH power play opportunity of the game as Slaney took a pass from Kirk Furey and fired a wrist shot from the right face off circle that hit off defenseman Alain Nasreddine and past goaltender Andy Chiodo for the game-winner.
Slaney had a chance to win the game in regulation as time was expiring, but he shot from the same identical spot from inside circle beat Chiodo but hit the inside of the far post.
"We were in position to win the game," said coach Michel Therrien. "We took some bad penalties and we were not smart. We were undisciplined and it cost us the game.
"This time of year, there's no reason to take bad penalties," he added. 'We should have played a lot smarter on that power play at the end."
The Phantoms scored two goals in less than a minute late in the first period to take the lead. With Reid Simpson in the penalty box for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, the Phantoms scored with six seconds left on the man-advantage penalty as Kirby Law scored his team-leading 24th goal at 14:21. After a failed clearing attempt, Peter White fired a slap shot from the right point that goaltender Andy Chiodo blocked, but the rebound came over to Law all alone at the bottom of the left circle, and he banged home the rebound over an outstretched Chiodo into the top of the net for the goal.
The goal ended the Phantoms' scoreless against the Penguins at 218:50. But the Phantoms weren't done as they scored again less than a minute later.
The Phantoms kept the pressure on and scored 52 seconds later to take a 2-0 when Ben Stafford slipped home his 12th of the season at 15:14. Peter Vandermeer got the puck just inside the blue line and made a pass to Ian MacNeil in the high slot. MacNeil skated in and snapped a wrist shot. Chiodo blocked the shot, but Stafford got the rebound in the slot and slipped the puck between his pads for the goal.
The Penguins came back in the second period and tied the game with power play goals. Patrick Boileau got the Penguins back in the game as he scored his fourth goal of the season 56 seconds into the 5-on-3 power play to cut the lead to 2-1. Boileau took a pass from Toby Petersen at the top of the left circle and fired a slap slot that beat Antero Niittymaki low to the stick side at 6:24.
The Penguins scored again on another two-mad advantage about 10 minutes later as Michel Ouellet notched his team-leading 28th goal of the season with 3:59 left in the period. Matt Murley fired a shot from the high slot, but Niittymaki blocked the shot and there was a mad scramble in front. Ouellet came out with the puck and lifted a wrist shot over Niittymaki's catching glove for the goal.
The Phantoms scored two goals on 11 power play chances, while the Penguins scored two power play goals on ten chances.
"Our power play 5-on-4 was terrible," said Therrien. "We didn't move the puck and well and we didn't execute. We were not a good threat on the power play."
With the win, the Phantoms ended their four-game losing streak against the Penguins. However, despite the loss, the Penguins still lead the season series, 5-4. The two teams will meet for the tenth and final time this season at Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza on April 3.
Antero Niittymaki made 21 saves to improve his record to 19-11-6, while Andy Chiodo stopped 13 of shots of 16 shots in a losing effort.
The third-place Penguins (30-26-8-6, 74 points) return to action on Sunday when they visit the fifth-place Hershey Bears (29-29-8-4, 70 points) at 5 p.m. at the Giant Center.
GAME NOTES: Forwards Ryan Tobler (back strain) and Kris Beech (broken collarbone) and defenseman Ondrej Nemec were scratches for the Penguins ... Right wing Eric Meloche injured his foot blocking a John Slaney slap shot at 15:12 of the first period ... Meloche returned to the game, but left in the second period ... He will have an MRI Saturday morning ... Center Toby Petersen extended his point streak to seven games with two assists ... Petersen has nine points (1+8) in the last seven games ... Michel Ouellet has power play goals in each of the last two games ... Ouellet leads the team with 11 power play goals ... Matt Murley has three assists in the last two games ... The Penguins are 3-6-8 in overtime games this season ... Four of the six losses have been on the road ... Slaney has recorded 31 points (11+20) in 29 games against the Penguins since being traded to Philadelphia in January, 2001 ... Four of his 11 goals against the Penguins have been game-winners.
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