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By SCOTT REINARDY sreinardy@leader.net
Wednesday, January 26, 2000 Page: 1B
WILKES-BARRE TWP. – The smallest crowd to watch a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Penguins home game was treated to the biggest surprise Tuesday night at First
Union Arena.
Only 2,882 fans weathered the snowstorm to see the Penguins plow Empire
Division rival Syracuse, 8-4.
It marked the first time the Penguins scored five goals in a period and
eight goals in a game.
“We caught fire, played real hard the first 10 minutes,” said coach Glenn
Patrick. “It was nice to see us get a quick lead and ride it the rest of the
way.”
The Penguins pummeled Syracuse goalie Christian Bronsard for five goals on
11 first-period shots.
Alexei Kolkunov, Greg Crozier and Robert Dome all scored in the first 10
minutes. Martin Sonnenberg and John Slaney made it 5-0 with less than four
minutes left in the period.
The only thing that went wrong in the first period was when starting goalie
Jean-Sebastien Aubin slightly injured his right knee and left the game for
precautionary reasons at 8:59. Ryan Bach relieved Aubin, allowing four goals
on 32 shots.
It was the second time in three games the Penguins set a team record for
goals in a game. They beat Hershey on Friday, 7-3.
“We capitalized on our opportunities and that’s good to see,” Patrick
said.
Crozier’s power-play goal at 8:11 extended his points streak to 10 games.
It also was the fifth consecutive game the Penguins scored a power-play goal.
Sven Butenschon added a second man-advantage goal midway in the third period.
It was his fifth consecutive game with at least one point.
Slaney continued his hot hand, scoring twice and adding an assist. He had
nine points in three games last week. Meanwhile, Sonnenberg added two assists
to his goal.
Probably the most pleasant surprise of the evening was Dome scoring two
goals. He missed six of the previous nine games because of a groin injury and
then pneumonia. He has four goals in his last three games.
“I don’t think this is the best game I’ve ever played in my whole live,”
Dome said. “I can do a lot better. I’m really not in shape right now. I think
the pneumonia slowed me down a little bit.”
But nothing was slowing down the Penguins on Tuesday, not even a snow
storm.
ICE SHAVINGS: Aubin’s knee injury is not considered serious and Patrick
expects him to return to practice today. … The three stars Tuesday were: No.
1, Robert Dome; No. 2, Valentin Morozov; No. 3, Chris Kelleher.
Call Reinardy at 831-7342.