Twenty-nine Jeff Deslaurier saves and one Kyle Brodziak
slap shot were all the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
needed Friday, as they blanked the West-Division-leading
Chicago Wolves, 1-0, at the Allstate Arena.
With the win, the Penguins swept their two-game series
with Chicago and kept pace with the first-place Norfolk
Admirals and second-place Hershey Bears. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
trails both teams by three points in the East Division
standings, but still has three games in hand.
Friday's lone goal came late in the opening period
and began with some nice hustle by defenseman Ryan
Glenn, who dove for a loose puck in his own zone and
tapped it ahead to Kurtis McLean. McLean promptly
spotted a streaking Brodziak, who took the pass at
the blue line and teed off on a slap shot that beat
Wolves goalie Fred Brathwaite high to the stick side.
As it turned out, that score was more than enough
for Deslauriers who was flawless between the pipes
and helped kill off eight Chicago power plays, including
2:32 worth of two-man disadvantages.
Friday's win also snapped a streak of 74 straight
games in which the Wolves scored at least one goal.
They were last shutout on February 4, 2006 by the
Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights (4-0).
The Penguins will take this win into Grand Rapids,
where they will battle the Griffins tomorrow night
at 7:00 PM at Van Andel Arena.
Notes: Chicago center Jason Krog,
who had 52 points in 25 games with the Wolves during
the first half of the season, was picked up off waivers
by the New York Rangers Friday and was not in the
line-up. Jared Ross, Stephen Baby, Steve Martins and
Boris Valabik were scratched for the Wolves, while
Dennis Bonvie and Ryan Stone
(Injury) did not play for the Penguins. Kyle
Brodziak's first period goal tied him
with Jonathan Filewich for
the team lead in points (33).
