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PENS SCARED OFF BY PHANTOMS

 

The Penguins saw a pair of streaks come to a screeching halt on Saturday night, as the Philadelphia Phantoms posted a 5-3 win at the Wachoia Spectrum. The loss snapped Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's string of consecutive wins at seven, and ended the team's road winning streak at fie games.

The Pens potent road power play, which entered the game ranked first in the league, continued to shine in the opening minutes of the game. With a pair of Phantoms resting in the penalty box, Pouliot poked home the rebound off an Erik Christensen shot, which gave the Edmonton prospect his first goal of the season at 3:31.

That lead lasted less than five minutes, as former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Petr Nedved tapped home a Marty Murray feed from the slot at 8:09. The goal was Nedved's third in six games since being assigned to the Phantoms from the Flyers last month.

Pouliot pulled the Pens back in front though, as Martin Houle failed to get enough padding on his shot from the half boards, which just trickled oer the goal line with 2:06 left in the opening period.



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Philly came on strong in the early stages of the second period, as Nedved put a shot just over the cross bar, whith Nolan Baumgartner hitting a post on the same shift. But while neither of those attempts found twine, the Phantoms would tied things up minutes later.

A Wilkes-Barre clearing pass midway through the game hit the linesman's skate on its way out, then bounced right to Denis Tolpenko in the slot. His shot found space just between Jeff Deslauriers' left skate and the post to tie the game.

Daniel Carcillo looked poised to put the Pens back in the lead, but his breakaway attempt a minute after the equalizer was snuffed on the goal line by Houle.

That seemed to give the Phantoms the momentum, which paied off when Tristan Grant notched his first of the season from close range at 15:09.

Wilkes-Barre threatended late in the second period while on the power play, but Rob Schremp and Ryan Stone both banged shots of the pipes before time expired.

Matt Davis extended the Philadelphia lead with a laser that beat Deslauriers glove side five minutes into the third period. The goal was Davis' first of the season and the first of his pro career.

The Pens got their second five-on-three advantage of the game late in the third period, and once again found pay dirt on the front end. Houle couldn't stop Micki DuPont's shot from crossing the goal line at 14:33, pulling the visitors to within one goal with more than five minutes to play.

Unfortunately, the Penguins couldn't convert on the second half of the advantage, and a penalty to former Phantom Wade Skolney at 17:24 allowed Nedved to connect for his fourth of the season - a goal that would prove crucial.

Schremp threw a shot on net with 15 seconds remaining that beat a screened Houle, but the Pens couldn't strike twice in the final seconds, as Philly held on for the victory.

The loss was just the second of the season for the Penguins, and the second against an East Division foe.

NOTES: Penguins scratches were Tim Wallace, Curtiss Patrick, and the recently-assigned Alexei Mikhnov.