Hanover Township fire companies honored

Irish face another battle

First Posted: 11/20/2013 From the drop of the puck, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins had a little extra jump in their step.
They would ride a hot start to a 3-1 victory over the Rochester Americans in front of 2,860 at Blue Cross Arena on Wednesday night.
Before both sides of the rink even had skate marks, the Penguins hit the post twice and forced Rochester Americans goaltender Matt Hackett to make several sprawling saves.
With 2:09 left in the first period, Amerks&#8217; forward Colton Gillies took a roughing penalty that would lead to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton&#8217;s first tally.
Just as the penalty expired, captain Tom Kostopoulos tipped a point shot from defenseman Scott Harrington into the Rochester net to give the Penguins the 1-0 lead with 3.9 seconds remaining in the first.
&#8220;He&#8217;s a huge presence,&#8221; head coach John Hynes said of his captain. &#8220;He&#8217;s a leader and a great influence for our young players. But he&#8217;s also always around the net and plays a solid game.&#8221;
The Penguins, who finished the opening frame with a 11-7 advantage in shots, carried over their momentum into the early portion of the second period.
Just 4:38 into the period, recently called up forward Cody Sylvester posted his first American Hockey League goal on a quick wrist shot over Hackett&#8217;s glove.
&#8220;It&#8217;s one of our key components,&#8221; defenseman Simon Despres said. &#8220;We want to be a team that has good starts. We want to take away the game away in the first period.&#8221;
The two-goal lead, however, turned out to be a dangerous one. Rochester cut the lead in half on a power play goal by veteran forward Kevin Porter.
&#8220;We knew they were a very talented team and be ready to play,&#8221; Hynes said. &#8220;We needed to make sure we focused on us.&#8221;
The Amerks&#8217; forecheck shook a puck loose along the boards and Jamie Tardif bounced a puck off goalie Jeff Deslauries&#8217; pads. Porter was there on the doorstep to put it home for his first of the year.
Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s netminder was forced to turn away several more Rochester chances before the period came to an end with the away team leading by one.
In the third period, the Penguins locked down defensively, keeping the Amerks at bay despite their mad scramble to get shots on net. With five minutes remaining in the third, the Penguins, content to dump the puck in and play defense, had only registered two shots on goal.
&#8220;That&#8217;s their bread and butter,&#8221; Amerks&#8217; head coach Chadd Cassidy said. &#8220;They play a very patient game and if you press, you can get in bad situations. They&#8217;re not going to make a lot of mistakes.&#8221;
Forward Jayson Megna put the game on ice with an empty netter with less than a minute remaining. With the win, the Penguins improve to 11-3-0. They are back on home ice at Mohegan Sun Arena for games Friday and Saturday against the St. John&#8217;s Ice Caps.
Penguins 3, Rochester 1Penguins`1`1`1`-`3
Rochester`0`1`0`-`1
First Period &#8212; 1, Penguins, Kostopoulos 6 (Harrington, Ebbett), 19:56. Penalties-Ristolainen Rch (interference), 0:42; Thompson Wbs (bench minor - too many men), 11:32; Gillies Rch (roughing), 17:51.
Second Period &#8212; 2, Penguins, Sylvester 1 (Manderson), 4:38. 3, Rochester, Porter 1 (Tardif, Crawford), 6:40 (PP). Penalties-Harrington Wbs (delay of game), 5:58; Thompson Wbs (bench minor - too many men), 7:18; Armia Rch (roughing), 12:43.
Third Period &#8212; 4, Penguins, Megna 6 19:10 (EN). Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal
Penguins 11-10-3-24.
Rochester 7-10-7-24.
Power Play Opportunities
Penguins 0 / 3
Rochester 1 / 3
Goalies
Penguins, Deslauriers 10-2-2 (24 shots-23 saves).
Rochester, Hackett 4-5-2 (23 shots-21 saves).
A-2,860
Referees-Steve Papp (36), Dave Lewis (46).
Linesmen-Dan Murphy (21), Chris Woodworth (17).

Penguins jump past Amerks