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By PATRICK WILLIAMS Special to Times Leader
Sunday, March 16, 2003 Page: 1C
HERSHEY – So, Glenn Patrick, was Saturday night’s 4-3 comeback victory over
the Hershey Bears a must-win for the Penguins?
“Yes, absolutely,” Patrick said, not hesitating. “A must-win. To find a
way to win is very important, especially (now). Just a great win.”
It was a must-win, obviously something that most divisional games in March
tend to be. A loss would have put the Penguins eight points behind the Bears.
As it is now, the Penguins trail the Bears in points, 74-70.
Overtaking the Bears – among other clubs in the Western Conference – could
enable the Penguins to push their way into sixth place in the conference and
earn a bye from the potential pitfall of the best-of-three first round
playoffs.
“These are vitally important wins,” Toby Petersen said.
Down a goal at the second intermission, the Penguins rallied behind
third-period goals from Petersen and Matt Murley. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin,
whose play Patrick called “terrific,” continued to impress, turning aside 38
of 41 Hershey shots. Petersen also had a second-period goal, while Colby
Armstrong chipped in with a goal as well.
Murley’s goal snapped a 3-3 tie. Hershey defenseman Brent Thompson’s
ill-advised drop pass in the Hershey zone found its way onto Alexandre
Daigle’s stick. A Daigle pass sprung Murley, who beat Hershey netminder Phil
Sauve from the top of the circles with 8:32 to play in the third.
The game was the type of wide-open hockey that suits the Penguins, who
outshot Hershey, 45-41.
The opening 10 minutes, however, saw both teams opt for the conservative
approach. Neither team generated much in the way of offense.
The second half of the period, however, was another story.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Shane Endicott got it started, driving in on Sauve
and backhanding a shot that was stopped. The puck eventually trickled to
Armstrong, who stuffed the puck past Sauve for his seventh goal of the season.
On the ensuing faceoff, Hershey’s Rob Voltera dropped Tom Kostopoulos with
a punch. Referee Tom Kowal hit Voltera with 27 minutes of penalty time and a
seven-minute power play for the Penguins. Then, 20 seconds later, the Bears’
Steve Moore took a slashing penalty that left the Penguins with 1:40 of 5-on-3
time.
If anything, though, the Penguins’ power play kick-started the Bears.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton put eight shots on Sauve, all of which were stopped.
Kris Beech did not help matters by taking two minors at separate junctures
of the man-advantage.
So, not all is rosy for the Penguins. A sputtering power play has now gone
dormant altogether. The Penguins finished the night 0-for-5 against the Bears,
and are 1-for-31 in March.
When all was said and done, it was Hershey that dominated the last couple
of minutes in the first. The visitors barely escaped the period with their
lead, needing Aubin to deny Charlie Stephens and Eric Bertrand deep in the
Penguins’ zone in the closing 10 seconds.
Hershey regained its first-period momentum and proceeded to put three goals
past Aubin in the second.
The power play continued to work against the Penguins. Hershey tied the
game during a Penguins power play when Bryan Muir joined Stephens on a Hershey
rush. Stephens threaded a pass to Muir, who powered a shot by Aubin at 4:40.
The Penguins came back to life for a brief spell, using the bounce of the
puck to take back the lead. Rob Scuderi swept up a bouncing puck just inside
the Hershey blue line, paused as if to shoot and then zipped a pass to Michal
Sivek at the left-circle dot. Sivek redirected the puck into the slot to
Petersen, who banged home his 25th of the season.
That lead disappeared, too. Just 1:35 after the Petersen goal, Jordan
Krestanovich put a rebound under Aubin to make it 2-2. Then Bertrand slid a
rebound past Aubin with Sivek off for hooking to put the Penguins behind for
the first time in the contest.
Petersen made it 3-3 when he popped in a shot for his second tally of the
game.