Game One on the Eastern Conference Semifinal series between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Manchester Monarchs turned into a marathon, going into a third overtime for a total game time of 104:13. That makes the game the second longest in WBS Pens history:
LONGEST GAMES IN WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS HISTORY
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Conor Sheary collected two goals – including the game-winner – and an assist to help lead the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 5-2 victory over the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday at Onondaga Country War Memorial Arena and a sweep of the best-of-five Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series.
With the game knotted at one after the first period of play, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton went ahead for the second time 2:39 into the frame. Accepting a pass at the Syracuse blueline from Derrick Pouliot, Sheary was able to skate in alone to the left hashmark before firing a wrist shot inside the near post.
Holding the 2-1 edge after two periods, the Penguins pulled away from the Crunch with back-to-back power play tallies in the first five minutes of the third. Sheary set up on the far dot of the Syracuse zone and made no mistake with a snap shot off a circle-to-circle pass from Wilson with 2:59 gone in the period.
Back on a 5-on-4 advantage a minute later, Derrick Pouliot pushed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s lead to three at 4:30 when his bid from the center blueline zipped by the left side of screened Crunch goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis.
Tanner Richard needed only 66 seconds to get Syracuse back within two goals, swatting a puck to the right of Matt Murray’s crease that caromed off a body and through the pads of the Penguins goalie.
Using their timeout after the Crunch tally, the Penguins settled down and maintained their 4-2 lead until Andrew Ebbett sealed the victory on an empty-net goal coming with 1:18 left in regulation.
Though Syracuse controlled the beginning of Game 3, the Penguins were able sneak ahead, 1-0, at 7:32 after they took to their first power play of the game. From the top of the left circle, Sheary sent a pass across the zone that Wilson one-timed past the outstretched glove of Gudlevskis.
The Crunch would even the score with 3:07 remaining until the first intermission on a shot from the point by Luke Witkowski that was partially blocked by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defense. The puck slid slowly toward the front of the crease where Yanni Gourde was able to swat it over the shoulder of Murray.
Murray allowed two goals on 35 shots in recording his third straight win of the postseason. Gudlevskis made 19-of-23 shots for Syracuse.
Tickets for Penguins Playoff Home Game C are now available by calling 570-208-7367 or online at TicketMaster.com.
Pens head coach John Hynes talked to the media after Monday's practice, and discussed how some of the returning and new faces will fit into the lineup for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
First, coach Hynes discussed the returns of Derrick Pouliot, Taylor Chorney, Brian Dumoulin and Scott Wilson, who had been suiting up for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs:
Hynes also talked about how adding NHL caliber talent might affect the Penguins lineup:
Hynes also addressed the arrival of Pittsburgh Penguins draftee Oskar Sundqvist, who just arrived in Wilkes-Barre after the completion of his team's playoff run in Sweden:
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.”
