Sports

Ahl playoffs

By Paul Sokoloski psokoloski@timesleader.com
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PHILADELPHIA – Tim Brent made it his mission to charge the net throughout the Calder Cup playoffs. He’s taking a host of his Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins teammates with him.

Brent and Ryan Stone each scored two goals and added an assist apiece Wednesday as the Penguins plastered the Philadelphia Phantoms in a record-setting 8-4 win to take a 3-1 lead in their second-round playoff series at Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center.

“I’ve just kind of made it a desire that I’m going to go to the net,” said Brent, who now has nine goals in nine playoff games this season.

Because he did, the Penguins can wrap up the series and a spot in the Eastern Finals during tomorrow’s Game 5 at Wilkes-Barre’s Wachovia Arena.

Brent went high from the right circle for the game’s first score five minutes into the opening period, triggering a night where the Penguins matched team records by scoring five goals in the second period and eight for the game.

Brent found the net again in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s second-period avalanche as he lasered home a shot over sprawled-out Phantoms goalie Scott Munroe for a 5-3 Penguins’ lead.

Later in the period, Brent returned from a hard cross-check that left him kneeling on the ice to assist on a Nathan Smith goal that sent the Penguins into the final period in complete comfort, 7-3.

“In the playoffs, you need players to elevate their play. He (Brent) has done that,” Penguins Coach Todd Richards said. “Throughout the season, he was probably one of our most consistent players. We relied pretty heavily on him.”

Don’t think opponents haven’t noticed.

Don’t think it was by accident that the Phantoms stuck Brent with a low blow on a cross-check a few minutes after his second score of the night sent Munroe off the ice for the night.

“He’s one of the players that other teams key on,” Richards said. “He’s got to fight through all the adversity. Everyone’s really coming after him.”

Brent couldn’t care less because he’s too busy going after the net with the puck.

“When a team’s keying on you, it’s really the best compliment you can have,” Brent said.

Not that the Penguins were receiving much praise from their counterparts, who fell to the brink of playoff elimination during a night of penalty problems. Brent’s opening goal came on a 5-on-3 advantage and Mark Ardelan scored the second of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s four power-play goals to give the Penguins a quick 2-0 lead.

The Phantoms evened the score when Jared Ross converted a power-play chance 17 seconds into the second period. But eight seconds later, Stone skipped a shot off Munroe’s stick and into the net to ignite a five-goal period by the Penguins that flustered the Phantoms.

“It was kind of a character thing,” Stone said. “They score quick and we came back and got a quick goal on them. It just deflated them, I guess.”

“Ryan Stone comes back, scores a huge goal,” Richards said. “We came right back and scored and sucked the air right out of them.”

By the time the second period ended, Dustin Jeffrey, Connor James and Nathan Smith joined Brent and Stone on the scoring sheet, and Stone and Brent added assists.

“That second period was pretty fun to be a part of,” Brent said.

Except the part where he was off the ice for a few minutes recovering from the cross-check.

“You do worry, a little bit,” Richards said of watching his scoring star go down momentarily. “It was good to hear he was OK and he’s going to be all right.”

So are the Penguins, it appears.

“We got ourselves in a good position,” Richards said. “We came in here and won two games. We made some mistakes, gave up four goals, it wasn’t pretty. But you do some good things, obviously, when you score eight.”