Sports stats



AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Quick-Scoring Crunch Skate Past Penguins

January 8, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Brett Connolly and Jon DiSalvatore each registered a goal and two assists to lead the offense in a 4-2 win for the Syracuse Crunch over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

The Crunch were able to open up a 2-0 lead midway through the first period on two goals in quick succession on the power play. During a two-man advantage, Vlad Namestnikov fired a slap shot from the near circle that clipped off a stick in front and knuckled over the shoulder of goaltender Jeff Deslauriers at 10:17.

Thirty seconds later, on the ensuing 5-on-4, Syracuse converted again when DiSalvatore set up along the far post and redirected a low shot from Connolly into the top corner of the Penguins net.

Syracuse stretched its lead to four in the second frame, again collecting back-to-back goals in rapid fashion. After Nikita Nesterov sent a shot wide of the net from the near circle, the carom came off the back wall to Connolly at the right dot, where he fired the rebound back into the open net.

Less than a minute later, Cedrick Paquette muscled his way to a loose puck in front of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton crease and flinging a shot past Deslauriers to make the score 4-0 for Syracuse. Deslauriers would exit the game, having made 13 saves on 17 shots in 28:59 of play, as Eric Hartzell came in for the Penguins.

Philip Samuelsson did his best to try to erase the Penguins' deficit, recording the first multi-goal game of his pro career. Denver Manderson hit Samuelsson coming out of the penalty box with a breakaway pass that the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defenseman took toward net before slipping a backhander through the pads of Crunch netminder Kristers Gudlevskis.

The Penguins cut the Crunch's cushion down to two goals with 4:49 left in regulation as Tom Kuhnhackl had his sharp-angle wrist shot stopped by the glove of Gudlevskis, but Samuelsson was in position to swat his second of the season out of mid-air and into the net.

Hartzell turned aside all five shots he faced in relief. Gudlevskis earned the win for Syracuse with 24 saves.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head to Adirondack to face the Phantoms on Friday, Jan. 10 at 7:00 p.m. Tune into of the all of the action on the Sports Hub 102 or AHL Live.

Check out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from January 8, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central