Connor James netted two goals, Sean Collins scored
on a shorthanded penalty shot, and the Pens used their
fists as well to subdue the Hershey Bears, 7-1, at
the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza in the team's exhibition
opener Friday night.
"It was a physical game, a lot of hatred in
the game, and I'm proud of the way they stuck up for
each other," new head coach Todd Richards said
of his squad. "There's a sign in our locker room
that says be proud of the way we work, and I'm proud
of the way we worked tonight."
The first period saw the Pens called for eight penalties,
six of which led to Hershey power plays. But despite
playing down a man for the majority of the frame,
the Pens and Bears were deadlocked at 0-0 after 20
minutes.
One of the biggest reasons for the tied score was
Andrew Penner, the goaltender who frustrated Penguins
fans with the Syracuse Crunch last season.
"He was great, especially in the first period
when we took all the penalties. Our penalty killing
was very good," Richards said. "But your
best penalty killer has to be your goaltender, and
he made the saves at the beginning of the game that
kept us in the game."
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After that, it was all Wilkes-Barre. Erik Christensen,
Micki DuPont and Tim Sestiot scored three times in a
span of 2:49, with all three tallies coming on the power
play.
Sandwiched between the first two goals
was some excitement, as Pete Vandermeer crushed Tim
Wallace into the boards, which led to an all out go
with new Pens' tough guy Matt Carkner. As if that wasn't
enough, Vandermeer then threw down with Dennis Bonvie
as he was being escorted to the visitors' runway. Both
players were shown the showers after that.
Connor James poked home his first of the
night 2:08 into the third before rookie Tyler Kennedy
picked up a loose puck on the penalty kill then beat
Frederic Cassivi on a breakaway to make it 5-0.
James picked up his second of the evening
before Matt Hendricks netted the lone Bears goal of
night. Collins, hauled down on his way to an almost
sure goal, finished the deal with the penalty shot score
at 11:16.
"Everybody was very good," Richards
said of his lineup. "It's tough to find a guy that
didn't play well. I was impressed with a lot of guys,
they worked hard."
NOTES: Edmonton assigned
netminder Jeff Deslauriers to Wilkes-Barre on Saturday...The
Penguins released their Saturday lineup after the game.
FORWARDS: Sestito, Dixon, Wallace, Morrison,
Filewich, Roy, Kennedy, Cheesman, Reddox, Sonnenberg,
Bodie, Brodziak. DEFENSEMEN: McNeill, Bissonnette,
Fernholm, DuPont, Sersen, Lannon. GOALTENDERS:
Deslauriers, Schieve.
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