Pens' Improved Effort Not Enough in 3-0 Shutout Loss
December 27, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins responded to their shutout loss from a day before with more shots on goal, stronger play, and a greater all-around effort, yet still came out on the losing end against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday evening at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
The Phantoms finished the game shutting out the Penguins 3-0, keeping Wilkes-Barre/Scranton off the scoresheet for the second game in a row despite a noticeably better performance from the home team compared to the night before.
"For long periods of time, we stuck to our game plan and had a lot of chances. Pucks just didn't go into the net," said Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli. "I thought the effort was there, the structure was there. In terms of our details and habits, we were better. We were a lot better coming into the D-zone coverage, and our stick coverage in the defensive zone was much improved from the other night. Overall, it was good game. We just couldn't get pucks to go into the net."
The Penguins came out buzzing to start the first period, outshooting Lehigh Valley 9-1 at one point in the opening frame. However, Andrew MacDonald got the Phantoms on the board first with a slap shot at 9:46.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton nearly doubled Lehigh Valley's shot total in the first period, posting 13 shots to the Phantoms' seven, yet the Penguins still found themselves down 1-0 heading into the first intermission.
Petr Straka scored his league-leading 16th goal of the season late in the second period on the power play, putting the Phantoms up 2-0 with 1:23 to go in the middle frame.
Lehigh Valley went up 3-0 off of a Colin McDonald shot at 8:47 of the third period.
The sound of the final buzzer marked the first time the Penguins were shut out in back-to-back games since Dec. 26 and 27 during the 2014-15 season, a margin of exactly one year.
The clean sheet for Phantoms goalie Jason LaBarbera was his first of the season and first since Mar. 18, 2015. Brian Foster made 16 saves in the loss for the Penguins.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton finished the game having outshot Lehigh Valley 35-19. However, the Phantoms held the edge in the special teams department, going one-for-two on the power play and holding the Penguins scoreless on four man advantages.
Donatelli will have the opportunity to practice with his team for the first time and build off Sunday's effort before the Penguins' next game on Thursday, Dec. 31, a New Year's Eve showdown with the Syracuse Crunch. Face-off between Syracuse (12-12-4-1) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (21-7-0-1) is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
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