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Pens listless in 1st 2 periods of loss

By Tom Venesky tvenesky@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – When Ryan Bayda swatted a rebound past Norfolk Admirals goaltender Dustin Tokarski, it broke a three-period scoring drought for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins that had started in their previous game.

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The Penguins’ Ryan Bayda and the Admirals’ Ty Wishart, No. 6, and Ethan Graham, No. 5, turn to chase the puck.

FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

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Unfortunately, the goal came with only 1:50 left in Friday’s matchup against the Admirals and it was the only tally the Penguins could manage during a 2-1 loss to Norfolk.

Including Friday’s contest, the Penguins have now managed just six goals in their last five games. Head coach Todd Reirden admitted that a lack of scoring is obviously a problem, but it wasn’t the only one during Friday’s loss.

“We’re a team that has to play a certain way with a certain style for a full 60 minutes, and tonight we didn’t do that,” Reirden said.

The Penguins’ scoring chances in the first two periods were scarce – a Wade Brookbank shot from in front that just missed and a Deryk Engelland rocket that sailed a little wide, and the team managed a mere five shots in the second period.

Norfolk, on the other hand, got the ball rolling right away by spending gobs of time in the Penguins’ offensive zone, forcing them to take penalties.

“When you have extended offensive zone time, then you seem to end up on the power play,” Reirden said. “For the first two periods we didn’t have that at all. Their (Norfolk) first shift they spend it in our zone and we have to take a penalty.”

The Ben Lovejoy cross-checking minor resulted in a Norfolk power play goal from Mark Parrish just two minutes into the game. Matt Syroczynski added another tally late in the period for the early 2-0 lead.

Norfolk continued to dominate the offensive zone time in the second period and for the Penguins it was like looking in the mirror.

“They were getting us frustrated playing the way we want to play,” Bayda said.

After Reirden made some adjustments in the locker room during the second intermission, the Penguins came out in the third and finally started to play their game. They outshot Norfolk 17 to 7 and created scoring chances throughout the period, but all they had to show for the effort was Bayda’s seventh goal of the season with less than two minutes remaining.

Even with John Curry stopping 25 of 27 shots, it just wasn’t enough.

“Hopefully we learned our lesson,” Bayda said of the first two periods. “We have to build off the third period and take the positives and know that when we play the way we want to we can be a good team.”

That means better execution, more attention to detail and dictating the pace – all things that the Penguins didn’t do for two periods.

“That’s the way we want to play the entire game,” Reirden said.

Bayda added the team played with more urgency in the third period as well, which was a major turnaround from the first two periods.

“For whatever reason we were flat. We weren’t doing anything out there,” Bayda said. “The third period we started getting our feet moving, playing with urgency and getting pucks in deep. We put a good push on at the end, but it wasn’t enough.”

NOTES

• Jon D’Aversa, Zach Sill, Nick Johnson (injury) and Aaron Boogaard were scratched for the Penguins.

• The Penguins boarded the bus immediately after the game to drive to Worcester for tonight’s matchup against the Sharks.

First Period— 1. NOR, Mark Parrish 2 (Szczechura, Lundin) power play 2:00. 2. NOR, Matt Syroczynski 1 (Hall, Karsums) 16:11. Penalties – WBS, Lovejoy (cross-checking) :43; NOR, Fritz (fighting) 2:02; WBS, Boulerice (fighting) 2:02; WBS, Lee (interference) 2:32; NOR, Parrish (interference) 3:46; WBS, Strait (hooking) 7:31.

Second Period— None. Penalties – None.

Third Period— 3. WBS, Ryan Bayda 7 (Caputi, Letestu) 18:10. Penalties – NOR, Simek (tripping) 5:43; NOR, Jones (interference) 13:28.

Shots on goal: Norfolk 7-13-7-27. Penguins 9-5-17-31. Power-play Opportunities: Norfolk 1 of 3. Penguins 0 of 3. Goaltenders: Norfolk – Dustin Tokarski 5-3-0 (30 shots-31 saves) Penguins - John Curry 5-3-1 (25-27).

Attendance - 6,349