BLACK AND GOLD BITS - April 27, 2015

• The Penguins 4-0 win over the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday night was Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s first playoff shutout since May 22, 2013, when the Pens defeated the Providence Bruins 5-0 behind a 34 save performance from Brad Thiessen.  It was also the team’s first home shutout since May 18, 2013 against Providence, when Thiessen made 30 saves in a 4-0 win over the Bruins.

• Matt Murray became the first Penguins rookie to record a shutout since John Curry blanked the Portland Pirates, 2-0, on May 14, 2008 in Game One of the Eastern Conference Final.  Curry made 19 saves in that win.

• Defenseman Danny Syvret entered the 2015 postseason with 693 professional regular season games on his resume (59 in the NHL, 634 in the AHL), but had only appeared in 19 postseason contests (5 with Hershey in 2007-08; 4 with the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2008-09; 10 with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010-11).  And when he found the back of the net midway through the third period, the veteran blue liner picked up his first career playoff goal.

“I haven’t played very many games in the playoffs, and I said that to our team a couple of days ago,” he said after Saturday night’s win.  “Playing here in Wilkes-Barre, they’ve made the playoffs 13 or 14 years in a row.  I just sort of mentioned to them that I’ve been in the league a long time, and you can’t really take for granted your opportunities.  Because you never know when and if they’ll come again.”

• The Penguins defense for the first two games of the postseason featured Syvret, who joined the team at the trade deadline; Ryan Parent, who made his Wilkes-Barre/Scranton debut in Game One after signing a PTO; two players (Reid McNeill and Barry Goers) who had recently missed significant time due to injury; and Scott Harrington and Nick D’Agostino.

That rag-tag group did a tremendous job of limiting the Crunch to just one goal over 120 minutes of play.

“We have a pretty good system here in place, obviously good goaltending.  But our forwards do a real good job tracking the puck and are real defensively responsible,” Syvret said, spreading the credit around the ice.  “We just threw a bunch of D on the ice, but we can all play.”

But with the Pittsburgh Penguins being eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday night, and three defensemen (Derrick Pouliot, Brian Dumoulin and Taylor Chorney) being reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Syvret is well aware that changes could be coming to the lineup for Wednesday night’s Game Three in Syracuse.

“There’s guys sitting out that can all play.  I’m sure the next few games there will be guys sitting out who can play.  But as a team we’re pretty defensively responsible.”

• The pairing of Syvret and Parent on the blue line was unfamiliar to almost everyone inside the Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday night.  Everyone except Syvret and Parent that is. Those two skated alongside one another with the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2009-10 season.

Syvret joined the Pens from the Iowa Wild, who finished the 2014-15 regular season dead last in the league, while Parent suited up for the St. John’s IceCaps, who also found themselves sitting on the outside of the playoff field this postseason.

“We were fortunate to be able to get picked up here,” Syvret said of the veteran duo, “and hopefully go on a long run.”