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ALLENTOWN – On his first shift in the AHL, Kasperi Kapanen was held without a shot by the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
It was a small victory.
Behind Kapanen’s playmaking and Matt Murray’s 12th shutout of the season, the Penguins defeated the Phantoms 3-0 to clinch a playoff spot for the 13th consecutive season – the 6th longest streak in AHL history.
“It feels good. It’s the next step in our journey,” said Murray, who is now one shutout away from tying the AHL record. “It was nice to do it the way we did it. This was our first chance to clinch and we did it with authority.”
And with the offensive firepower from Kapanen, who scored on his first shot – during his second shift – in memorable fashion. Lehigh Valley’s Petr Straka turned the puck over inside the blueline, and Kapanen raced in to scoop it up. He then deked around a Phantoms’ defenseman before ripping a wrist shot that went into the top corner before goaltender Rob Zepp knew what happened.
“I’ve been going high glove this year so I trusted that and it went in,” Kapanen said. “I felt surprisingly good. My legs were going good.”
And Kapanen wasn’t done.
In the second period he got some power play time and found his niche working the half-wall. After firing a few quick shots that were stopped, Kapanen got another chance and this time he sent a pass to the front of the net that hit Tom Kuhnhackl’s blade for the easy tip-in.
“It’s a little different playing the whole season in Europe and now being on a smaller rink, but I think I adapted to it really well,” Kapanen said. “I think I need to shoot a little more.”
With a 2-0 lead after two periods, the Penguins were in prime postion to clinch a spot in the postseason. And Kapanen wasn’t the only Penguin standing out on the night.
Murray went to work on his second straight shutout – and fourth against the Phantoms, by stopping all 19 shots he faced through two periods.
Murray’s best stint came not long after Kapanen’s goal when the Phantoms generated a flurry of shots. Murray stopped them all, highlighted by a quick pad save on a redirect from Scott Laughton to end the attack.
“He was important all along,” said head coach John Hynes. “We made some mistakes at times and they had some pushes, but he’s just solid. When a breakdown happens, he makes the save.”
With a 2-0 lead in the third period, the Penguins went into protection mode and only managed two shots while trying to keep the Phantoms out of the zone.
The Phantoms did generate some pressure during a late power play with the goaltender pulled to give them a two-man advantage, but Murray stopped every shot sent his way.
Kuhnhackl put the game out of reach when he scored an empty net goal with less than two minutes remaining to seal the 3-0 win.
NOTES
– Hynes on Kapanen’s performance: “A good first game for him. He has some good habits, looks stronger, quicker faster. The most important thing is he looked in place. Very consistent.”
– Murray on pulling within one shutout of tying the season record: “It’s something I’m aware of. It would be nice but at the same time I’m just trying to focus on getting ready for the playoffs. Shutouts are great, but it’s not what we play for.”
– D Harrison Ruopp (injury), D Reid McNeill (injury), C Nick Drazenovic (injury), LW Anton Zlobin (injury), C Adam Payerl, D Steven Shamanski, D Barry Goers (injury) and LW Conor Sheary (injury) were scratched for the Penguins.
– C Jean-Sebastien Dea and RW Josh Archibald were reassigned to Wheeling on Wednesday.