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By SCOTT REINARDY sreinardy@leader.net
Sunday, January 30, 2000 Page: 3C
WILKES-BARRE TWP. – When the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins looked at the
schedule and saw that St. John’s, Newfoundland, was coming to town, it
appeared the local team could string together a couple of victories.
It was a matchup that pitted the two worst units in the 19-team AHL, both
sitting at the bottom of their divisions with 28 points. Both teams also had
just 11 victories in 45-plus games, and both are glaring up at a Mount
Everest-like climb to reach the playoffs.
“You don’t want to be the last team in the league,” Penguins defenseman
Sven Butenschon said.
But after 60 minutes of regulation play, and a five-minute overtime period,
the two teams were right back where they started in this battle for the
league’s 18th place.
A 3-3 deadlock Saturday at the First Union Arena gave each team one point
in the standings, and little satisfaction.
“We have to come out with a win,” said defenseman J.P. Tessier, who
scored one of the Penguins’ three goals. “They’re in the same situation we
are, and if one more bounce goes our way, we win that game.”
The Penguins dominated the overtime, nearly scoring on three occasions.
With 2:45 remaining, Butenschon carried the puck across the blue line,
moving from right to left. He then fired a wrist shot from the high slot that
nearly beat St. John’s goalie Jimmy Waite on the lower left side.
“That’s where you want to put the puck, but he’s a good goalie,”
Butenschon said.
Just 23 seconds later, from the slot, Butenschon slid a pass to Valentin
Morozov at the right of Waite. Morozov’s shot banked off the side of the net.
The Penguins’ third great chance to win the game came seconds later, when
defenseman Andrew Ference found himself alone at the edge of Waite’s crease,
banging away at the puck.
Instead, the Penguins had to settle for one point, instead of two for the
victory. It’s the second time in three meetings the two teams have tied. The
Penguins earned their first-ever point against the Maple Leafs with a tie on
Oct. 13.
The Penguins appeared to have the upper hand early on when Alexandre
Mathieu scored his second goal of the season just 56 seconds into the game.
St. John’s Nathan Dempsey tied the score at 5:47 with a power-play goal.
The Penguins would take their final lead of the game when Tessier banged in
his second goal of the season after receiving a nice cross-ice pass from
Martin Sonnenberg.
The second period was a much different story as the Penguins did not get a
shot on goal until 7:52.
“We thought they’d be a lot easier than that, but they competed the whole
game,” coach Glenn Patrick said. “They dominated us in the second period,
but Ryan Bach kept us in it.”
Goalie Bach turned away 10 second-period shots and 32 in the game. Still,
St. John’s Aaron Brand and Terry Ryan banged in goals on rebounds in a
five-minute span to give the Maple Leafs a 3-2 advantage.
Alexei Kolkunov’s ninth goal of the season at 18:27 of the second period
allowed the Penguins to force overtime.
In the end, it appeared neither team was better than the other. Today, the
teams meet again in an attempt to settle the issue.
“I was impressed with their effort. That was one of the better teams we’ve
played, believe it or not,” Patrick said.
ICE SHAVINGS: It has not been confirmed, but speculation is that Pittsburgh
will assign Steve Leach to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Leach was placed on waivers
earlier in the week but went unclaimed by another team. Pittsburgh has the
option of either buying out his contract, assigning him here or returning him
to the NHL roster. The deadline was noon Saturday … Saturday’s game was a
sellout with 8,201 fans … The Penguins have a 3-1-6 overtime record.