Pens Seeking Unity, Elusive Wins On Road

By STEVE SEMBRAT [email protected]
Friday, November 02, 2001 Page: 5B

AHLWilkes-Barre/Scranton is hoping a little togetherness can take the team a
long way.

Getting out of the American Hockey League cellar would be a nice first
step, and the Penguins could accomplish that in today’s game at Quebec.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (1-9-1-1, four points) takes on the undefeated
Citadelles (8-0-2-0, 16 points) to start a four-game road trip (7:30 p.m.
faceoff, Le Colisee, Quebec City). From there, the Penguins travel to Albany,
N.Y., where they’ll take on the River Rats tomorrow (7 p.m., Pepsi Arena).

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton left Wednesday morning for Canada by bus. That gave
them an extra day in Quebec, where the players hope to build team unity.

“We’re going to get everybody together, whether it’s sitting in a hotel
room or going to a restaurant or something like that,” said
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defenseman and assistant captain Peter Ratchuk.
“Hopefully, we can get everybody to relax and have confidence in each
other.”

It’s the start of a month in which the Penguins will spend a lot of time
together on the road. After the Quebec-Albany trip, the team will fly out to
“The Rock” for a pair of games in St. John’s, Newfoundland. There will be a
pair of trips to Rochester, N.Y., later in the month. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
plays eight of 12 games in November away from First Union Arena.

“It’s always harder to win on the road, but we can do it if we play good,
strong games,” said Penguins head coach Glenn Patrick. “We need to get a
good effort from every player.”

Make that a good, consistent effort.

Take the Penguins’ most recent loss, a 4-3 overtime setback against Hershey
on Tuesday, as a reason why. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton trailed 2-1 going into the
third period of the game, rallied to take the lead, then watched victory slip
away.

“If we can keep playing like that, and build on that, we can definitely
take some positives from it,” said center Darcy Verot.

Minus the five-minute major that Verot took at the end of regulation that
led to a power-play winner in overtime. Minus the inability to clear the puck
while protecting a one-goal lead in the final minute of regulation. Minus the
numerous lapses throughout.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow when you get so close and you can’t pull it
off,” Ratchuk said. “We have some momentum from that (third period against
Hershey) going into this weekend. Hopefully we can come out of it with a
couple of wins.

“The best thing for us is to win a hockey game. Once we win one or two, I
think there is no stopping what we are capable of doing.”

TODAY’S GAME

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS (1-9-1-1, 4 points)



QUEBEC CITADELLES (8-0-2-0, 18 points)

Faceoff: 7:30 p.m. today, Le Colisee, Quebec City.

TV/Radio: The game can be heard on Oldies 92 and 100 FM.