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AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Slow Work Week For The Penguins

March 30, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


EAST DIVISION FACE-OFFS: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (46-24-2-2, 96 points) will have a relatively light work week, with just two games on the schedule. All six of the team's remaining regular season games are against East Division foes, and four of those six will take place on home ice.

Wednesday, April 1 @ Binghamton - 7:05pm

The Senators are in a dog fight with the Philadelphia Phantoms for the final playoff spot in the East Division. Binghamton currently holds down the fourth spot with 86 points, but Philadelphia trails the Sens by just four points with one game in hand. Binghamton has had 48 different players suit up this season. The Senators have the top ranked power play unit in the league at 23.6%, and have scored 86 of their 216 goals this season while on the man advantage. The Penguins are 4-3-0-0 against Binghamton this season.

Saturday, April 4 vs. Hershey - 7:05pm

The Bears lead the entire AHL with 279 goals scored on the season, and feature the league's leading points producer (Keith Aucoin - 94) and leading goal scorer (Alexandre Giroux - 54). The Bears are the only team in the AHL with two 30-goal scorers (Giroux and Graham Mink - 32). The Bears have qualified for the playoffs for the 60th time in team history. The Penguins are 6-2-0-0 against Hershey this season.

All Penguins games can be heard live on 102.3 the Mountain and on-line at www.wbspenguins.com. All Penguins games can also be viewed on-line at www.ahllive.com, the official video provider of the American Hockey League.

QUICK HITS:

- The Penguins qualified for postseason play for the seventh straight season, and eighth time in 10 seasons, with their 1-0 win Sunday at Hershey.

- Three team records were tied in the Penguins 5-2 win against Toronto on Saturday night - Jeff Taffe picked up his 48th assist on the season, matching Kris Beech's mark (2004-05); Chris Minard notched his eighth game-winning goal of the season, catching Kurtis McLean (2007-08); and John Curry tied Dany Sabourin's record of 30 wins in a season (2005-06)

- Chris Minard set a new personal best with four points (2+2) on Saturday against Toronto.

- The Penguins 254 goals this season are the second-highest in team history (276 in 2006-07).

- The team's 122 goals on the road are the most the Penguins have scored away from home in any season.

- Minard set new team records for goals in a season (32) and career power play goals (32) with his second period tally against Grand Rapids on March 25.

LEAGUE LEADERS

JANNE PESONEN is tied for sixth in points (74), tied for eighth in goals (29), 12th in assists (45), tied for 13th in power play goals (12) and ninth in shootout percentage (.778, 7 for 9)

JEFF TAFFE is tied for ninth in points (71), tied for sixth in assists (48), tied for eighth in game-winning goals (6)

CHRIS MINARD is third in goals (34), tied for first in power play goals (21), tied for second in game-winning goals (8)

LUCA CAPUTI is tied for 16th among rookies in points (43)

BEN LOVEJOY is first in the league in plus-minus (plus-43)

CONNOR JAMES is tied for second in shorthanded goals (4) and shorthanded points (5)

DUSTIN JEFFREY is tied for the league lead in shorthanded points (5) and shorthanded assists (4)

JOEY MORMINA is second in the league in plus-minus (plus-38)

J.P. COTE is tied for 19th in the league in plus-minus (plus-19)

JOHN CURRY is ninth in goals against average (2.38), 12th in save percentage (.917), tied for first in wins (31) and tied for fifth in shutouts (4)

ADAM BERKHOEL is 11th in goals against average (2.41), tied for 15th in save percentage (.915) and tied for fifth in shutouts (4)

CURRY CONTINUES TO REWRITE RECORD BOOKS: John Curry's magical season continued on Sunday, March 29, as he shut out the Hershey Bears, 1-0. That win was Curry's 31st on the year, setting a new team record for wins in a season.

PENGUINS SINGLE SEASON WINS LEADERS

1. JOHN CURRY 31 (2008-09)

2. Dany Sabourin 30 (2005-06)

3. Marc-Andre Fleury 26 (2004-05)

4. John Curry 24 (2007-08)

5. Jeff Deslauriers 22 (2006-07)

The shutout against the Bears was the fourth of the season for Curry, and the seventh of his Penguins career. Both of those numbers are tied for second in their respective categories.

PENGUINS SINGLE SEASON SHUTOUT LEADERS PENGUINS CAREER SHUTOUT LEADERS

1. Marc-Andre Fleury 5 (2004-05) 1. Sebastien Caron 10

2. JOHN CURRY 4 (2008-09) 2. JOHN CURRY 7

ADAM BERKHOEL 4 (2008-09) Andy Chiodo 7

Jeff Deslauriers 4 (2006-07) 4. Marc-Andre Fleury 5

Dany Sabourin 4 (2005-06) Dany Sabourin 5

Andy Chiodo 4 (2003-04)

Sebastien Caron 4 (2000-01)

Curry made 21 saves on Sunday, March 8 to post a 4-1 win against the Norfolk Admirals. That win was the 49th of Curry's Penguins career, moving him one win ahead of Sebastien Caron and into sole possession of first place on the team's all-time wins list. Curry recorded his 49th win in just his 78th game with the Penguins, while Caron's 48th win came in his 122nd game with the team.

PENGUINS ALL-TIME WINS LEADERS

1. JOHN CURRY 55 (31)

2. Sebastien Caron 48

3. Marc-Andre Fleury 39

4. Dany Sabourin 38

5. Andy Chiodo 31

Curry stopped 38 shots in a 5-2 win over the Worcester Sharks on February 15, giving him his 10th consecutive victory between the pipes - a new team record.

Curry became the first Penguins goaltender to post back-to-back 20 win seasons when he stopped 20 shots in a 3-2 win against Hamilton on February 14.

HOME, SWEET HOME: The Penguins' 5-2 win against Toronto on March 28 was the team's 26th home victory of the season, the third-highest single season home win total in team history. The 2005-06 and 2006-07 teams posted 28 wins apiece.

The Penguins have the highest home winning percentage in the league as of March 30 at .764% (26-7-1-2, 55 points), and the club has an all-time home record of 217-129-24-17-9 (W-L-T-OTL-SOL).

MINARD SETS TEAM RECORD FOR GOALS IN A SEASON: One of the longest standing records in team history finally fell on Wednesday night, as Chris Minard posted his 32nd goal of the season in a 5-3 win against the Grand Rapids Griffins.

That tally set a new franchise best for goals in a single season. The former record of 31 was set by Toby Petersen during the 2002-03 season, and tied by Michel Ouellet in 2004-05.

Minard has also set a new team record for power play goals in a season (21) and tied the mark for game winning goals in a season (8)

PENGUINS SINGLE SEASON GOAL LEADERS PENGUINS ALL-TIME GOAL LEADERS

1. CHRIS MINARD 34 (2008-09) 1. Tom Kostopoulos 97

2. Toby Petersen 31 (2002-03) 2. Tomas Surovy 89

Michel Ouellet 31 (2004-05) 3. Shane Endicott 73

4. Jonathan Filewich 30 (2006-07) 4. Toby Petersen 72

Michel Ouellet 30 (2003-04) 5. Michel Ouellet 71

John Slaney 30 (1999-2000) 6. Jonathan Filewich 64

7. Eric Meloche 61

8. CHRIS MINARD 59 (34)

Minard's 32nd goal of the season also set a new record for career power play goals (32), bypassing Tom Kostopoulos for the mark. His 21 power play goals this season are also a team record.

PENGUINS ALL-TIME PP GOAL LEADERS PENGUINS SINGLE SEASON PP GOALS LEADERS

1. CHRIS MINARD 34 (21) 1. CHRIS MINARD 21 (2008-09)

2. Tom Kostopoulos 31 2. Chris Minard 13 (2007-08)

3. Toby Petersen 28 Greg Crozier 13 (2000-01)

4. Tomas Surovy 27 4. Jonathan Filewich 12 (2006-07)

Michel Ouellet 12 (2003-04)

Toby Petersen 12 (2002-03)

Minard's eight game-winning goals this season are tied for the single season team record with Kurtis McLean (2007-08), and his 10 all-time winners are tied for fourth in team history.

PENGUINS ALL-TIME GAME-WINNING GOALS LEADERS PENGUINS SINGLE SEASON GWG LEADERS

1. Michel Ouellet 13 1. CHRIS MINARD 8 (2008-09)

2. Tomas Surovy 12 Kurtis McLean 8 (2007-08)

3. Toby Petersen 11 3. Matt Hussey 7 (2005-06)

4. CHRIS MINARD 10 (8) Michel Ouellet 7 (2003-04)

Erik Christensen 10 5. Kyle Brodziak 6 (2006-07)

Tom Kostopoulos 10

Matt Hussey 10

TAFFE TIES TEAM ASSIST MARK: Jeff Taffe assisted on two goals on March 28 against Toronto, giving him 48 assists on the season. That tied Kris Beech's single season team record, set in 2004-05.

PENGUINS SINGLE SEASON ASSISTS LEADERS

1. JEFF TAFFE 48 (2008-09)

Kris Beech 48 (2004-05)

3. JANNE PESONEN 45 (2008-09)

4. Tim Brent 43 (2007-08)

5. Tom Kostopoulos 42 (2002-03)

Jeff Taffe enters Wednesday's game with 71 points on the season, which is the second-highest single season point total in team history behind only current teammate Janne Pesonen's 74 points this season.

YOU CAN'T SPELL CONNOR WITHOUT A 'C': Penguins right wing Connor James was named the 14th captain in Penguins history on March 25, and promptly responded by picking up two assists as the Penguins downed the Grand Rapids Griffins, 5-3. Those points were the 114th and 115th of James' Penguins careeer (38+77) and he now trails Ross Lupaschuk by one point for 13th place on the team's all-time scoring list.

PESONEN SETS POINTS RECORD: Janne Pesonen picked up two assists in the Penguins 7-2 win at Albany on March 16, giving him 68 points on the season, a new club record. The former single season point record was 67, set by Toby Petersen during the 2000-01 season.

He enters this week with 74 points on the year, tied for sixth in the league.

PENGUINS SINGLE SEASON POINTS LEADERS

1. JANNE PESONEN 74 (2008-09)

2. JEFF TAFFE 71 (2008-09)

3. Toby Petersen 67 (2000-01)

4. Toby Petersen 66 (2002-03)

5. Michel Ouellet 63 (2004-05)

Tom Kostopoulos 63 (2002-03)

PESONEN PRODUCING: Pesonen has not gone more than two consecutive games without a point all season, and has seven scoring streaks of at least three games on the year.

- Pesonen has appeared in 36 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton since the first of the year, and has recorded 43 points (20+23) in that time.

- In the past 17 games dating back to February 27, Pesonen has posted 25 points (13+12).

- He has 22 points (11+11) in his past 15 games dating back to March 1.

- In his past 10 games dating back to March 11, Pesonen has picked up 16 points (7+9)

- Pesonen is second on the team with 29 goals, but has just three multi-goal games (March 6 @ Syracuse, March 18 vs. Philadelphia, March 25 vs. Grand Rapids)

- He has 21 multi-point games on the year, including a four point outing (1+3) on January 11 vs. Hershey and a team-record tying five point game (1+4) on March 11 at Philadelphia.

PENGUINS FIVE POINT GAMES

John Slaney (1+4) Jan. 21, 2000 vs. Hershey

Kurtis McLean (1+4) Jan. 18, 2006 vs. Syracuse

Tyler Kennedy (2+3) Jan. 6, 2007 vs. Hershey

Janne Pesonen (1+4) Mar. 11, 2009 @ Philadelphia.

SHOOTOUT SUCCESS: The Penguins won their fifth shootout contest of the year on March 18, downing the Philadelphia Phantoms 3-2, and 2-1 in the shootout:

DATE OPPONENT W/L GWG WINNING GOALIE LOSING GOALIE GAME SCORE SHOOTOUT SCORE

10/17 vs. BRIDGEPORT L McLean Danis Berkhoel 4-3 2-1 (six rounds)

11/21 @ Grand Rapids W Pesonen Berkhoel Larsson 3-2 2-0

1/3 vs. HOUSTON W Letestu Curry Schaefer 3-2 2-1

1/10 @ Syracuse L Kelly Dahm Berkhoel 4-3 3-2 (six rounds)

1/23 @ Hershey W Daoust Curry Neuvirth 4-3 2-1

1/30 vs. HERSHEY W Pesonen Curry Neuvirth 4-3 2-0

3/18 vs. PHILADELPHIA W Pesonen Curry Munroe 3-2 2-1

John Curry has posted a perfect 4-0 record in shootouts, and has stopped 16 of 19 shootout attempts he has faced.

Janne Pesonen has been just as impressive, scoring seven times in nine tries this season, including three decisive tallies for the Penguins.

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