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AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Pens Survive Third Period Rally to Edge Houston

December 7, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


HOUSTON, Texas (Friday, December 6, 2002) - Defenseman Ross Lupaschuk recorded two goals and one assist and goaltender Robbie Tallas made 39 saves, including 18 in the third period as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins held off the Houston Aeros, 6-5, before a crowd of 5,427 at the Compaq Center.

Rookie winger Matt Murley had a goal and two assists, while forwards' Tom Kostopoulos and Toby Petersen had a goal and one assist in the win. Center Milan Kraft also added two assists for the Penguins, who improved to 2-0-1-1 on their current road trip.

The game looked like to was going to be a blowout as the Penguins jumped out a 5-0 lead, but Houston scored a goal late in the second period and fed off the goal and as they came out strong in the third period. The Aeros scored four goals in the period and had the momentum, but Tallas made several key saves down the stretch as the Pens' held off the first-place Aeros for the win in the first-ever meeting between the two clubs.

Houston outshot the Penguins, 45-29, in the game and 22-5 in the third period. Although Tallas allowed five goals, the Penguins would not have won if not for his performance in goal.

The Penguins jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Petersen scored a power play goal, his fourth power play tally of the season at 8:03 of the opening period. The goal was set-up by Kris Beech who sent a cross-ice pass to Ross Lupaschuk, who was inside the left face of circle. Lupaschuk gave Petersen the puck at the top of the center blue line and snapped a wrist shot that beat Houston goaltender Dieter Kochan high to the stick side.

Playing one of their best periods of the season, the Penguins increased their lead to 3-0 with a pair of goals late in the period. Murley, who was not scored a goal in more than a month, capitalized on a 3-on-2 advantage with his second goal of the season. Lupaschuk got into the act when he took a pass from Tom Kostopoulos and the right point and blasted a slap shot past Kochan for his eighth goal of the season at 18:31.

The Penguins struck for two early power play goals to take a commanding 5-0 lead. The Penguins chased Kochan early in the period as Lupaschuk scored a power play goal a little over a minute into a four-minute power play to start the period.

The Penguins scored 2:21 in Kyle Wanvig's when Eric Meloche tipped home Murley's wrist shot past Kochan at 2:21 of the second period for his fourth goal of the season. A few minutes later, Lupaschuk scored his second goal of the game and ninth of the season at 5:54. Milan Kraft gave the puck back to Lupaschuk at the top of the point and he fired a slap shot that went through traffic in front and through the pads of Derek Gustafson, who was screened on the play. Houston spoiled Robbie Tallas' shutout bid with a goal with 50 seconds left in the period. Defenseman Brooks Orpik failed to clear the puck out of the zone and Houston took advantage as Jeremy Stevenson got the puck and fired a shot on net that Tallas blocked, but Dan Cavanaugh was in the slot and knocked home the rebound past Tallas at 19:10 for his third goal of the season.

The Aeros come out quick in the third period and struck for a goal just 39 seconds in to the period. Jeff Hoggan took a pass from Jean-Guy Trudel and slipped home his second goal of the season to cut the Penguins' lead to 5-2. The Penguins answered back to regain their four-goal cushion as Kostopoulos scored his seventh goal of the season at 13:35.

The play started when Tomas Surovy kept the puck in off an offensive zone face off. Surovy fought off a Houston defender and gave the puck to Kraft in the corner, who found Kostopoulos in the slot. Her got the feed from Kraft and skated to the right and slipped the puck through Gustafson's left pad for the goal.

The Aeros didn't flinch after the goal as they came right back and answered back as Dan Cavanaugh scored his fourth of the season and second goal of the game just 15 seconds after Kostopoulos' goal.

With Houston on a rush, Hnat Domenichelli tried to score on a back-door play but Tallas made a left pad save at 1:40 to keep the Penguins ahead, 6-3. After a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton timeout, the Aeros' Zbynek Michalek tried to score on a back-hander but Tallas was there to make another pad save.

Houston's pressure finally paid off as Rickard Wallin swiped home a loose puck in the slot for his sixth goal of the season at 9:26 of the period. The Penguins had a chance to change the momentum, but Gustafson blocked Konstantin Koltsov's breakaway shot at the 11:43 mark of the period

Houston rallied within a goal as David Cullen scored his first goal of the season with 2:48 left in regulation. Cullen got a loose puck and knocked the puck past Tallas to the far left post for the goal.

The Aeros pulled Gustafson with about one minute in regulation and had three great scoring chances, but Tallas come up big on all three, including making a sprawling save on Jeremy Stevenson's back-hander with 40 seconds left to preserve the lead.

The Penguins (9-11-2-2, 22 points; 3rd - place, South Division, Western Conference) wrap-up their five-game road trip tonight when they visit the San Antonio Rampage (7-7-5-2, 21 points; 4th - place, West Division, Western Conference) at 8:00 p.m. EST at the SBC Center.

GAME NOTES

Scratches for the Penguins tonight were defenseman Mike Wilson (suspension) and forwards Shane Endicott (healthy) and Alexander Zevakhin (healthy) ... LW Tomas Surovy and C Milan Kraft and extended their point streaks to four and five games, respectively ... Surovy has one assist in each of the last four games ... He has six points (1+5) in seven games and has a point in five of seven games, including one multiple-point game while Kraft has eight points (3+5) in the last five games and nine points (3+6) in his last six games played ... With the win, the Penguins are now 3-7-1 against former IHL teams.

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