Pens Looking For Caron To Provide Goaltending Lift The Struggling Team Hopes That `salmon’ Can Be As Productive Tonight Vs. Hershey As He Was Last Week In A Loss To Utah.
By STEVE SEMBRAT [email protected]
Tuesday, October 30, 2001 Page: 3E
WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Word out of Pittsburgh is that Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s
goaltending has been disappointing.
That assessment came from general manager Craig Patrick while talking to
reporters about the early season struggles of the organization’s American
Hockey League franchise.
That, of course, comes as little surprise to Penguin fans. They’ve watched
soft goals balloon the team’s goals-against average to 5.05, and sink its save
percentage to .827. Both numbers are dismal.
One glimmer of hope in that department is that “The Salmon” didn’t look
as if he was struggling to swim upstream in his last start. Sebastien Caron,
nicknamed “Salmon,” had a respectable performance on Wednesday against Utah.
He stopped 25 of 28 shots in a 4-2 loss to the Grizzlies, with the final goal
going into an empty net with Caron pulled for an extra attacker.
“He played very well out there,” Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Glenn
Patrick said. “I’m hoping that he plays up to his capabilities. He is a very
good goaltender.”
Caron, though, didn’t look it in his first two starts. He gave up seven
goals in two periods before being pulled in a 7-1 loss at Philadelphia on Oct.
period of a 7-3 loss at Cleveland on Oct. 13.
Part of the problem, Patrick and Caron said, was that Caron was dealing
with some undisclosed personal problems that threw him off his game. Those
seem to be behind Caron now, and he is ready to move on.
“I have to work hard and keep working like that,” Caron said of his
performance at Utah. “I tried to do my best for the team. I’ll try to do that
again.”
He’ll get the chance today when he starts as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton hosts
Hershey (7:05 p.m. faceoff, First Union Arena).
Each team has three points, fewest in the AHL, with the Bears having played
two fewer games. On the up side, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (1-9-1-0) has defeated
Hershey (1-7-1-0) in their only meeting this season.
“We need to play well at home,” Caron said. “We need to win as much as
we can before we head out onto the road.”
This is the final game of October for the Penguins, who spend much of
November on the road. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton plays eight of 12 games next month
away from the First Union Arena, and don’t play at home again until Nov. 11.
Whether it is at home or on the road, the Penguins need to solve several
basic problems. One, of course, is to get solid goaltending. Another is to put
together three solid periods of play.
In Sunday’s 6-3 loss to Quebec, for instance, “We played well for two
periods,” Caron said. “In the third period, five minutes killed us. We have
to stop things like that and play well for three full periods.”
Tibbetts is likely
to join NHL Pens
Billy Tibbetts won’t be in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s lineup today, as he will
be recalled by Pittsburgh.
The National Hockey League club didn’t make the move official on Monday,
but is expected to announce today that the 27-year-old center/right wing will
rejoin Pittsburgh.
Tibbetts’ call-up comes after a series of injuries that have thinned the
forward lines of the NHL Penguins.
On Monday, team owner and captain Mario Lemieux underwent arthroscopic
surgery on his hip, and is expected to be out three to four weeks.
On Sunday, center Martin Straka suffered a broken bone in his right leg
that will sideline him from three to six months.
Right wing Alexei Kovalev recently underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and
figures to be out of action until next week.
Tibbetts played eight of 11 American Hockey League games for
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, missing three because of a suspension. He has four
goals, one assist, 58 penalty minutes and a plus-minus rating of minus-eight
for the local Penguins. Tibbetts was expected to make Pittsburgh’s lineup out
of training camp, but was hampered by a neck injury and wound up starting the
regular season here.
