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WILKES-BARRE TWP. — The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins racked up a high shot count early in Saturday night’s game.
It was the Utica Comets, however, who made their shots count.
Akira Schmid made 39 saves for his first shutout of the season and the Comets cashed in on odd-man rushes for their first two goals in a 3-0 victory.
The loss sends the Penguins to Allentown for Sunday’s 3:05 game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, trying to avoid losing three times in less than 48 hours.
The Penguins (31-22-8-1) had not lost back-to-back games in exactly a month and have only lost three straight once all season.
“We’ve got to stop a little bit of a skid here,” Penguins coach J.D. Forrest said.
Every team is trying to avoid losing consecutive games, particularly at this point in the year as they are trying to lock down playoff spots.
Forrest said there are some things to address on the power play, but not necessarily a lot of time at the moment.
“We did not get many good looks,” he said following the 0-for-4 effort on the power play. “That could have been a difference and helped get us back in the game.
“That’s something we’ll try to tweak, but we play at 3 o’clock, there’s no time to pout about it.”
The Penguins will have to shake off being shut down by a previously struggling goalie. Schmid won his second straight after allowing 16 goals in a four-game losing streak from Feb. 2 to March 13.
“You can look at it as a problem or a challenge,” Forrest said. “I think we’re going to look at it as a unique challenge.”
Schmid was ready for Saturday’s challenges.
The Comets got an early boost when Graeme Clarke turned a 2-on-1 off a turnover into the game’s first goal at 2:08.
By the end of the period, the Penguins had a 14-6 lead in shots on goal, but still trailed 1-0.
That advantage grew to 24-10, but the deficit became 2-0 when Samuel Laberge won a race to a loose puck, sending him in on a partial breakaway that he converted at 6:46 of the second period.
Utica made the most of a 5-on-3 advantage with Brian Halonen scoring the power-play goal for a 3-0 lead going into what became a physical third period.
The physicality escalated when the Penguins pulled losing goalie Ludovic Waeber early in an attempt to come back.
Halonen fired a puck into an empty net after a whistle and Penguins forward Jonathan Gruden was quick to explain the breach of hockey’s unwritten rules.
While Gruden fought Halonen, who received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to create the last Penguins power play, Ty Smith and Utica’s Xavier Parent also squared off. Smith and Parent each received double minors for roughing.
NOTES
• The final shot lead for the Penguins was 39-22.
• The game, which included a Star Wars Night promotion, drew a crowd of 7,518 to Mohegan Sun Arena.
• Utica swept the game’s three stars with Schmid followed by Clarke and Labarge.
• Clarke’s goal was his 24th of the season.
• The Comets were 1-for-2 on the power play.
• The Penguins were trying to cling to their one-point lead over fourth-place Charlotte in the Atlantic Division. At press time, the Checkers were tied with Providence 2-2 midway through the third period.
• The Penguins next home game is Saturday against Lehigh Valley at 6:05 p.m.