AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Slaney and Meyer score two goals apiece in 4-1 win over Pens

Published on April 3, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - John Slaney and Freddy Meyer scored two goals each and Ian MacNeil added two assists as the Philadelphia Phantoms skated to a 4-1 win over the Penguins on Saturday before a sellout crowd of 8,296 at Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.

"We were not sharp," said Penguins coach Michel Therrien. "When we're sharp, we focus well on the details of our system. Tonight, it seemed like we were always a step behind.

"They played well," he said of the first-place Phantoms, who have now won six straight and 11 of their last 14 games. "This is a team that is playing well lately, not allowing many goals. When we got some chances, we were not able to capitalize. We have to give those guys credit. They're battling for first place in our division. They're battling for first place in our conference. This is a good hockey team and they came in here and deserved to win tonight."

The Phantoms took a 1-0 on Meyer's 13th goal of the season at 11:18 of the opening period. From the corner, P.J. Stock fired a pass back to Steve Gainey at the top of the right face off circle and he slid a cross-ice feed to Meyer at the left point. Meyer got the pass and blasted a slap shot from the top of the circle that looked to have hit something on the way towards the net. Penguins Martin Brochu, who lost sight of the puck as he went down to block the shot, had the puck zip past him over his right shoulder for the goal.

After a scoreless second period, the Penguins fell behind 2-0 early in the third period as Slaney scored a power play goal 20 seconds in. With a scramble in front, Peter White got the puck in the slot and passed it back to Slaney, who was all alone at the point. Slaney had a perfect lane to fire and he unleashed a slap shot that beat Brochu high to the glove-side for his 17th goal of the season.

The Penguins cut the lead to a goal later in the period on Ross Lupaschuk's power play goal. Lupaschuk scored his fourth goal of the season at 11:36 as he took a pass from Eric Meloche at the point and scored on a one-timer that beat goaltender Neil Little 1:36 into Randy Jones' high-sticking penalty.

Late in the game, the Phantoms scored two goals within 27 seconds to put the game out of reach and the spoil the Pens' comeback attempt. Philadelphia increased their lead to 3-1 when Meyer notched his second of the game and 14th goal of the season at 18:28 and Slaney added an empty netter 27 seconds later to give the Phantoms a 4-1 lead.

Philadelphia goaltender Neil Little stopped 23 of 24 shots to earn his 24th win of the season, while Brochu, who was making his second consecutive start, stopped 13 of 16 shots in a losing effort.

Both teams were 1-for-7 on the power play in the game. With two wins over the Penguins in the last head-to-head meetings, the Phantoms and Penguins split the 10-game season series. Philadelphia leads the lifetime series, 27-18-3-4.

With the win, the East Division-leading Phantoms improved to 45-24-6-1 (97 points), while the Penguins fell to 34-28-8-7 (83 points) on the season. Despite the loss, the Penguins, who clinched a playoff berth last night, need a point in their final three regular season games to clinch third-place in the division. The Penguins will host Binghamton on Wednesday and will visit Hartford on Saturday, before closing the regular season at home next Sunday versus Bridgeport.

Game Notes ...

Scratches for the Penguins were Matt Hussey (healthy), Guillaume Lefebvre (healthy), Pauli Levokari (healthy) and Darcy Robinson (healthy) ... The Penguins are off tomorrow and will practice on Monday at 10:30 a.m. at Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza ... Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Craig Patrick was in attendance for the third straight game ... With Pittsburgh's season ending tomorrow, the four players on recall to the NHL Pens' - Tom Kostopoulos, Konstantin Koltsov, Brooks Orpik and Sebastien Caron - are expected to join the team on Tuesday for practice ... With an assist tonight, center Kris Beech has three points (1+2) in the last two games and 10 points (5+5) in the last seven games ... Beech is second on the team in scoring with 44 points (20+24) in 51 games ... Defenseman Ross Lupaschuk scored his first goal since February 11 tonight, ending a 12-game goal less streak.

Check out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from April 3, 2004


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