Timesleader

Penguins sunk by Admirals again

E.Wright3 months ago

First Posted:

WILKES-BARRE TWP. — The Norfolk Admirals have the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ number.

Especially goaltender John Gibson.

Coming into Friday’s contest, the Admirals had won four of the last five meetings against the Penguins and the last 10 games played at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Make that 11.

Led by Gibson, who allowed one goal and withstood a Penguins’ offensive onslaught at the end, the Admirals earned a 3-1 win and improved to 2-0 against the Penguins this season.

The one constant: Gibson was in net for both wins and allowed just one goal in each contest, giving him a 1.01 goals against average and a .963 save percentage this season against the Penguins.

“They are a good team defensively, but he made some quality saves that otherwise could’ve been in the net,” Penguins coach John Hynes said.

The Penguins started out with a couple good chances early in the first period despite getting outshot 10-6 and allowing Norfolk to jump out to a 1-0 lead on a rebound to Max Friberg at 14:00.

The Admirals gained a 2-0 lead early in the second when a shot from the top of the slot was tipped past Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers just two minutes into the period, but the Penguins continued to press.

Bobby Farnham just missed on a pair of two-on-one rushes, but Tom Kostopoulos took matters into his hands midway through the period. While in the Norfolk end, Kostopoulos stripped the puck from Admirals center Chris Wagner, wheeled around into the slot and roofed a wrist shot past Gibson to make it 2-1.

That was the only mistake Gibson would make for most of the night. Through the first two periods, he made several key stops to keep the Penguins off the board, including a save on a Brendan Mikkelson backhand and a Nick Drazenovic shot from the corner.

“I think we had higher quality chances than we had in the past few games, and we have to bear down and start scoring on some of those. Especially me,” Farnham said. “I give (Gibson) credit. He came up with some big stops. it just boils down to you just have to find a way.”

Midway through the third period, Gibson smothered a Denver Manderson shot from an open slot to maintain the Admirals’ 2-1 lead before Norfolk made it a two-goal advantage on a shot from Steven Whitney, who was wide open in the slot.

Still, the Penguins continued to pressure in the Norfolk end, but Gibson stopped everything that came his way to preserve the win.

“We really had some prime time chances and they didn’t go in,” Hynes said. “We made a good push in the third and we have to find a way to connect on a couple.”

—D Peter Merth (injury), D Reid McNeill, RW Tom Kuhnhackl, C Adam Payerl (injury) and C C.J. Severyn (injury) were scratched for the Penguins. Hynes said Kuhnhackl was a healthy scratch and a decision based on matchups.

—Former Penguin goaltender Brad Thiessen, who is now with Norfolk, took in Friday’s game from the stands, marking his first trip back to the arena since last season. Thiessen is out with an injury.

—The last time the Penguins faced the Admirals (Oct. 26), there were four fights. Friday’s contest was a continuation of the physical play, highlighted by a heavyweight bout between Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and Zach Stortini in the opening minutes, and Paul Thompson against Norfolk’s Joseph Cramarossa at the end of the period.

“There are no token games in this league, especially in this division,” Farnham said. “Credit to Pierre, his fight was great, and Paul Thompson’s fight was awesome. That’s a part of who we are as a team.”

—The Penguins travel to Hershey to take on the Bears tonight at 7 p.m. in another East Division matchup.

***

Norfolk 3, Penguins 1

Norfolk‘1’1’1’—‘3

Penguins’0’1’0’—‘1

First Period

Scoring — 1. NOR, Max Friberg 8 (Rakell, Etem) 14:00. Penalties — NOR, Stortini (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting) 1:54; WBS, Leblond (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting) 1:54; NOR, Stortini (delay of game) 14:00; WBS, Leblond (delay of game) 14:00; WBS, Kostopoulos (slashing) 15:23; NOR, Wagner (high-sticking) 16:59; NOR, Cramarossa (tripping, fighting, misconduct) 19:01; WBS, Thompson (roughing, fighting) 19:01.

Second Period

Scoring — 2. NOR, Nolan Yonkman 2 (Blacker, Etem) 1:59. 3. WBS, Tom Kostopoulos 11 unassisted 7:28. Penalties — WBS, Zlobin (tripping) 14:43; NOR, Wagner (interference) 17:22.

Third Period

Scoring — 4. NOR, Steven Whitney 8 (Steckel) 17:10. Penalties — NOR, Yonkman (hooking) 9:56.

Shots on goal

Norfolk — 10-7-5-22

Penguins — 6-14-6-27

Power-play Opportunities

Norfolk — 0 of 2

Penguins — 0 of 3

Norfolk — John Gibson 10-8-3 (26 saves-27 shots)

Penguins — Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers 12-7-2 (19-22)

Norfolk — D Garnet Exelby, D Stefan Warg, LW Devante Smith-Pelly, C Joseph Cramarossa, RW Chris Wagner

Penguins — D Philip Samuelsson, D Barry Goers, LW Anton Zlobin, C Nick Drazenovic, RW Tom Kostopoulos