“He was really good,” head
coach Todd Richards said of Stone. “And he was
probably the guy that drove our team. He had lots of
energy, he knows the way he needs to play. His game
is driven through physical play. I think the guys on
the bench saw that, and they kind of rallied around
that tonight.”
It didn’t take Stone long to get back on the
scoresheet, as his blast from the right point found
its way to Jacques during a second period power play.
Jacques buried that chance just 1:58 into the frame
for what would turn out to be the game-winning goal.
Rob Schremp got in on the act eight minutes later with
his ninth of the season, before Jacques closed the second
period with a tip in off a Noah Welch blast. All three
of the Pens’ second period goals came on the man
advantage, which went four-for-five on the night.
“Power play goes four for five…that’s
pretty demoralizing,” said Richards. “I
think once we really got going, I think that sucked
the life right out of them and gave us a lot of life.”
Jacques completed the hat trick 23 seconds into the
third period, with what was probably his prettiest goal
of the evening, as he buried a McLean feed off a two-on-one
behind Kelly Glass.
“He can be a force in games. I think we saw that
tonight,” Richards said of Jacques. “He’s
physical, he had some hits in the first period. He’s
got such good hands that he can finish. And he was really
good for us.”
His fourth goal was a tap home shortly after Daniel
Carcillo made it 5-0 with his 20th goal of the campaign,
and Jonathan Filewich finished the Pens’ scoring
with his team-high 22nd of the season.
So does Jacques expect to see a phone number with the
780 area code pop up on his cell phone tonight? Probably
not, but he said he’d be happy to give Pouliot
a call to rub in his four-goal outburst.
“I’m for sure going to chirp Pouliot,”
Jacques laughed. “I’m going to tell him
they’re sending him down just because I got four
goals instead of three.”
NOTES: The Penguins seven goal win
tied the team record for largest margin of victory,
and was the second time the club posted a 7-0 win (Oct.
22, 2000 vs. Albany)…Jacques’ last hat trick
came as a member of the Hamilton Bulldogs just one year
and one day ago (February 15, 2006) in a 5-3 win against
Toronto.
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