Saturday night, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
blew a four-goal lead to the Binghamton Senators and
eventually fell in a shootout.
Less than 24 hours later, the Hershey Bears felt their
pain.
Marc-Antoine Pouliot tied the game with 1:45 left
in regulation and then notched two goals during an
eight-round shootout to help lift the Penguins over
the Bears, 4-3, Sunday at the Giant Center.
With the win, the Penguins regained sole possession
of first place in the AHL's East Division. They return
to home ice this Wednesday to take on the Syracuse
Crunch at 7:05 PM.
Alexandre Giroux notched a hat trick to provide all
of the Bears offense in regulation, but he came up
empty on two important attempts during the shootout.
Giroux's third goal of the game broke a 2-2 tie midway
through the third period, and it appeared as if that
score was going to be the game-winner. However, Pouliot
had other ideas, powering a slap shot home on a delayed
penalty call at 18:45 to force overtime and eventually
the shootout.
Pouliot replaced that power with finesse during the
shootout, undressing Hershey Bears goalie Frederic
Cassivi for two backhanded scores. The second of those
goals hit the top of the net, rattled the water bottle
and sent the Penguins home victorious.
Jonathan Filewich and Tyler Kennedy also lit the lamp
for the Penguins during regulation, and the latter
also added a goal in the shootout. Meanwhile, Jeff
Deslauriers recorded 29 saves between the pipes to
earn his eighth win of the season.
Eric Fehr, re-assigned from the Washington Capitals
earlier in the day, added two assists for the Bears,
who fell to 13-2-1-3 on the season.
Plenty of seats are still available for Wednesday's
home affair with the Crunch and can be purchased at
the Wachovia Arena Box Office or any Ticketmaster
outlet.
