In The Crease

Wednesday, December 15, 1999 Page: 3B

crease / ‘kres /n, 1: the 4-by-8-foot area in front of the goal off-limits
to offensive teams until the puck enters. 2: this column filled with inside
information about the Penguins. Stat of the Week The Penguins have allowed
two or more power-play goals in the past four games, killing off just 11 of 20
penalties (55 percent). They are last in the AHL in penalty killing at 74.33
percent. Play of the Week Thirty-six seconds into overtime against
Providence, Robert Dome crosses the blue line along with defenseman Pavel
Skrbek. Dome drops the puck for Skrbek, who drives down the right boards and
to the goal line. Skrbek then moves from the goal line toward Bruins’ goalie
Kay Whitmore. It appears Skrbek is attempting to thread the puck to Dome in
front, but instead intentionally bounds the puck off Whitmore’s stick and into
the goal for his second game-winner in three games. Number Crunchers After
the three-game winning streak, there are three Penguins with a positive
plus-minus rating, the most this season. John Slaney, Tom Kostopoulos and
Robert Dome are all plus-1. ... Tyler Wright’s goal against Providence on
Saturday ended a 10-game goal-less streak for the team captain. Although he
hadn’t scored a goal, during that time he posted nine assists and leads the
team in scoring with 20 points (five goals, 15 assists). ... With an assist
Saturday, Slaney is tied for second on the team in scoring with 19 points
(nine goals, 10 assists). Dennis Bonvie also has 19 points (one goal, 18
assists). ... Slaney is second among AHL defensemen with nine goals. ... Tom
Kostopoulos and Greg Crozier are tied for second in goals scored by AHL
rookies with 10 each. ... Crozier leads the team with four power-play goals
and is tied for second among AHL rookies in that category. ... Since being
reassigned to the local Penguins, Dome has seven points (one goal, six
assists) in five games and is plus-5. ... The Penguins have a 4-0-1 record
when leading after two periods. ... Bonvie is second in the AHL with 196
penalty minutes, a five-minute major and three minors behind Kentucky’s
Garrett Burnett (207 PIM). Passing the Puck The Penguins have a goal of
earning 18 points this month. Before the three-game winning streak, they only
had two points in three games. Now, with eight games remaining, the Penguins
have eight points. Last week’s question was: Is 18 points a reasonable goal
for a team that accumulated 10 points in its first 20 games? One caller said
prior to the three-game winning streak: “I think that’s a very unreasonable
goal given that this team is very young and inexperienced and haven’t yet
played 60 minutes of hockey. Eighteen points is a good month and I don’t think
they’re good enough yet to get that.” Scott Culp writes: “I had to think
about your question this time. My first instinct was to say that it’s not a
realistic goal. Then I thought about it. 1. The players are more comfortable
on the ice together. 2. The coaching staff has a better idea of the players
abilities. This should lead to more ties and more wins.” This week’s
question is more of a personal nature. Many of the Penguins have nicknames.
Dennis Bonvie’s nickname is Bones, Jean-Sebastien Aubin’s nickname is Seabass,
and Martin Sonnenberg is called Sonny. With the recent aggressive play of
rookie forward Casey Harris, he desperately needs a nickname. Do you have any
ideas? You can respond to Scott Reinardy at 831-7342 or online at