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By PATRICK WILLIAMS Special to Times Leader
Monday, March 17, 2003 Page: 1B
WILKES-BARRE TWP. – The First Union Arena crowd did not bother to wait
until the final horn in venting their frustration toward the Penguins in a 5-0
loss to the Saint John Flames on Sunday night.
Most of that frustration was directed toward the Penguins’ abysmal power
play, 0-for-7 in the loss and 1-for-38 this month.
The hostility reached its peak early in the second period, when minors to
the Flames’ Mike Mottau and Chuck Kobasew sent the Penguins onto a
five-on-three advantage for 1:32.
Seconds into the two-man advantage, boos were already heard. Point man
Alexandre Daigle attempted a number of shots. The jeers picked up as each
attempt failed to beat Saint John goaltender Dany Sabourin. Mottau’s penalty
expiring increased the animosity, and by the time Kobasew exited the penalty
box, the faithful were howling.
Sabourin shut out the Penguins for the second time in the past week, this
time stopping 42 Penguins shots.
“It’s a real disappointment to not score any goals,” head coach Glenn
Patrick said. “You can’t get any momentum going if you don’t score.”
Coming off Saturday night’s comeback win in Hershey, the loss stung.
“I thought we would have come out and gotten a win, some way just found a
way to win,” Patrick continued. “We found a way to win (Saturday), and I
thought we would have found a way to win (Sunday).”
The Penguins, now eighth in the Western Conference and tied with Rochester
and Milwaukee at 70 points, looked disorganized for much of the night.
Meanwhile, Saint John, barely hanging on in the Eastern Conference race,
looked playoff-ready. Time after time, the Penguins were beat to loose pucks,
outworked in front of the net and outhit. Flames’ defensemen repeatedly
cleared rebounds out of trouble, as the Penguins struggled to win scrums in
front of Sabourin.
Robert Dome came back and haunted the Penguins, scoring twice and adding an
assist. Kobasew also had a pair of Saint John goals. Martin Sonnenberg scored
his second goal in as many games against the Penguins this week.
Rob Tallas stopped 34 Saint John shots.
Sabourin, who shut out the Penguins, 2-0, on Wednesday night, again was
sharp, especially in the contest’s opening minutes. Ross Lupaschuk’s
one-timer, Daigle’s partial breakaway and Toby Petersen’s tip shot all were
stopped by Sabourin.
Kris Beech’s slashing penalty sent the Flames on the power play in the
game’s opening minute. Flames defenseman Mike Mottau threaded a pass to
Kobasew, who was breaking toward the right post. Mottau’s pass reached Kobasew
at the crease, where he stuffed it past Tallas at 1:36.
Not long after the botched five-on-three advantage early in the second
period, Kobasew put the Penguins down by two. Calgary’s first-round draft pick
in 2002, Kobasew won a battle along the end boards behind Tallas, wheeled
toward the net and stuffed the puck between Tallas’ right pad and the post.
The crowd had just finished booing Kobasew’s goal when Dome hit the 20-goal
mark to make it a 3-0 game. Only 36 seconds after Kobasew scored, Dome placed
a top-of-the-circles shot through a crowd in front that fooled Tallas.
Flames head coach Ron Wilson started a forward line of Martin
Sonnenberg-Darcy Verot-Dome. That trio of former Penguins poured on some more
offense in the third. Dome swept a rebound past Tallas to score his second
goal of the night, with Verot and Sonnenberg assisting.
Sonnenberg scored his 10th goal of the season with 2:09 to play before a
half-empty building, wrapping up the night’s scoring.
Notes: The game’s three stars were: 1. Sabourin, 2. Dome, 3. Kobasew. …
Jason MacDonald was Patrick’s only scratch. … Darcy Robinson hammered Flames
left wing Ryan Christie in a third-period scrap. … The Penguins can expect
tonight’s opponent, division rival Philadelphia, to come in hungry. The
Phantoms are battling to overtake 10th-place Rochester for the final
conference playoff spot. Philadelphia is three points out.