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AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Pens Shut Out Pirates, 3-0

February 8, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


WILKES-BARRE, PA - John Curry made 23 saves and Kurtis McLean picked up his sixth game-winning goal of the season, as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins posted a 3-0 win against the Portland Pirates Friday night at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.

The win upped the Pens' record to 28-17-0-3, and upped their lead over the third place Hershey Bears to three points (59-56), with the two teams set to square off Saturday in Wilkes-Barre at 7:05pm

The Pirates fell to 30-17-2-3, and sit in third place in the Atlantic Division.

The final score is somewhat deceiving, though. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton held just a 1-0 advantage after 40 minutes, thanks to a McLean goal off a miscue by Portland netminder J.P. Levasseur, before Chris Minard and the recently reassigned Tyler Kennedy each scored in the first 2:41 of the third period to give the home club a cushion.

"We talked about, going into the third period tonight, let's play on our toes. We don't need to change anything, let's keep going after these guys," said head coach Todd Richards. "And give credit to our players. They did it, and they were rewarded with a couple of goals."

Connor James did the work on Minard's goal, carrying the puck deep down the left wing, then dropping it back to his teammate in the slot. Minard had plenty of time to settle the pass and pick the far corner for his team-leading 21st tally of the season.

Just 1:25 later, Kennedy swooped in behind the Portland goal, fighting off a Pirates defender before spinning around and backhanding a shot on goal. The puck deflected off of a defenseman's skate and found the back of the cage for Kennedy's four goal in eight games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season.

"The Tyler Kennedy goal, it kind of sucked the life right out of Portland. You could see that, kind of a deflating goal that goes in off your defenseman," said Richards. "He drove in [from Pittsburgh] today, so it was a long day for him. Talking with him before the game, he didn't sleep well last night. So it was a tough day. I had him on the fourth line, kind of spotted him in and out. He did a great job."

As did Curry, who held down the fort when the score was 1-0, giving him teammates time to find the net in the third period.

"That's your goal as a goaltender, just to keep the team in the game. You're up just a goal going into the third period against a good team," said Curry. "As a goalie, you have to be focused and ready for anything. So luckily our team came out hard, put a couple of goals away and didn't look back. It was a comfortable third period, to say the least."

McLean tied his career-high with his 16th goal of the season late in the first period. Both he and Levasseur advanced on a loose puck in the Portland zone, but the sprawling goaltender couldn't corral it, allowing McLean to drive wide to the right and dump a shot into a virtually empty net.

McLean now sits tied for first among all AHL players in game-winning goals, and is just one short of tying the team record for game-winning goals in a season. Both Matt Hussey (2005-06) and Michel Ouellet (2003-04) recorded seven decisive tallies in a single campaign.

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