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WILKES-BARRE TWP. — How many Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins does it take to earn two wins?
Ten.
That’s how many players combined to score the 10 goals the Penguins totaled in their last two victories, the most recent coming on Friday night in a 4-1 win over the Rochester Americans.
Jake Guentzel, David Warsofsky, Josh Archibald and Lukas Bengtsson accounted for the goals while Casey DeSmith came within 1:22 of recording his first pro shutout, stopping 26 of 27 shots on the night.
The Penguins (18-5-3-0) have now won four straight games.
“It shows the depth on this team from top to bottom,” Guentzel said of the goals being produced by different players. “We’re all scoring, so it’s fun.”
On Friday, Guentzel scored his fifth goal in his last six games when he picked off a pass in the first period and found himself with space in the low slot before placing a shot behind Rochester goaltender John Muse for a 1-0 lead. With a two-point night, Guentzel now has 12 points in his last seven games and eight points in five games since being reassigned by Pittsburgh.
The Penguins built a 3-0 lead in the second period on goals by Warsofsky and Archibald, but it was the penalty kill and DeSmith that proved to be a pivotal factor.
With less than three minutes left in the period, the a pair of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton penalties gave Rochester more than two minutes of power play time, including 1:22 with a two-man advantage.
DeSmith came up big, making a diving glove stop on Cal O’Reilly alone at the corner and then answering by stopping a shot from Mac Bennett alone in the slot.
“There was a little bit of traffic and I moved to the middle expecting a shot, but the guy moved it back door,” DeSmith said. “I lost it for a second, picked it up and just threw everything over there I could. He shot it in my glove.”
The successful penalty kill sent the Penguins into the third period with a commanding 3-0 lead.
“That’s a momentum-changer right there,” head coach Clark Donatelli said. “Five-on-three, the goalie’s got to be our best killer and I thought (DeSmith) was great.”
The Penguins remained in control and expanded their lead in the third period when Guentzel dished a pass down low to Bengtsson, who was streaking to the net. Bengtsson made a nifty flip over Muse for his first pro goal and a 4-0 Penguins lead.
The goal was the first of Bengtsson’s North American career.
Rochester tallied a goal with 1:22 remaining to spoil DeSmith’s bid for a shutout, but it wasn’t enough to threaten the Penguins win.
NOTES
– D Tim Erixon, RW Patrick McGrath, C Carter Rowney (injury), C Jarrett Burton, LW Sahir Gill, C Thomas Di Pauli (injury), D Barry Goers and RW Reid Gardiner were scratched for the Penguins.
– Pittsburgh defenseman Trevor Daley left Friday’s game with an injury and his status is unknown. If the NHL club calls up a defenseman, Donatelli said his team will be fine. “Our depth is good. We have a couple of really good defensemen sitting out right now,” he said.
