Vitale leads fourth-line charge for Penguins

WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forward Paul Bissonnette didn’t immediately join his teammates after Joe Vitale scored a second-period goal against Albany on Friday.

Instead, Bissonnette skated to the Albany net and retrieved the puck that Vitale had just wristed past Justin Peters.

Not only was the puck the first one that Vitale put into an AHL net, it was the second for a line that paved the way for the Penguins’ 4-2 win over the River Rats at Wachovia Arena.

On the night, the Penguins fourth line of Bissonnette, Vitale and J-M Daoust combined for two goals and five points.

“Their game has been trending in the right direction,” said head coach Todd Reirden. “I’m a coach that rewards players who go about things the right way. They (Bissonnette-Vitale-Daoust) started the game for us and they were outstanding again tonight.”

The win knots things up in the East Division but essentially allows the Penguins to control their own destiny with two games remaining in the regular season. The Penguins (102) are currently two points behind Hershey (104) and Bridgeport (104) for first place. If the Penguins win their remaining two games, they will clinch the East Division title.

After tonight’s home game against the Norfolk Admirals, the Penguins travel to Hershey on Sunday to close out the regular season in what should be a very meaningful contest.

“I knew these games were going to be important,” Reirden said. “It is up to us. This arena’s been very kind to us this year and we’re going to do everything we can to secure that home-ice advantage.”

After Albany opened the scoring with a power-play goal six minutes into the first period, the line of Bissonnette, Vitale and Daoust quickly got the Penguins back into the game.

Utilizing an aggressive forecheck, the line got the puck deep into the Albany end. Daoust picked up the puck behind the net and dished it to Bissonnette at the corner of the net for his eighth goal of the season. The goal came less than a minute after the Albany score.

With the game tied, Connor James put the Penguins ahead with a nice wrist shot from the left faceoff circle at 9:28.

Mark Letestu extended the Penguins’ lead to 3-1 when he tipped a Janne Pesonen pass around the pads of Albany goaltender Justin Peters with 44 seconds left in the first period.

Vitale extended the Penguins lead in the second period when he wristed a Daoust pass from behind the net past Peters for a 4-1 lead. The goal was his first in three AHL games.

“It was great to get that first goal under my belt,” Vitale said. “It was a great forecheck by JM and Biss, and the puck just kind of came out to me.”

Albany’s Ryan Weston scored in the third period to make it 4-2, but the Penguins squelched any chance of a comeback with the goaltending of John Curry, who stopped eight of nine shots in the period.

With the victory in the books, the Penguins can now look ahead to the remaining two games and their chance to win the East Division. Bissonnette said they aren’t taking anything for granted.

NOTES

•Bill Thomas played for the first time after missing the last 15 games with a knee injury. Miroslav Satan returned to Pittsburgh on Thursday after he cleared re-entry waivers.

•Chris Minard and Alex Goligoski were rested on Friday and did not play. Reirden said they were a little banged up and he wanted to rest them for a couple of days at the start of three straight games this weekend.

•Jon D’Aversa and Andy Wozniewski returned to action after being scratched on Wednesday.

•The Penguins host Norfolk at 7:05 tonight, and Bissonnette hasn’t forgotten about Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the Admirals in which Radek Smolenak scored the game-winner.

“I heard he was dancing after he scored the overtime winner,” Bissonnette said. “I guess we have a couple of things to take care of.”