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How They Fared

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Dine and dash at Denny’s, Wilkes-Barre police say

<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; When Bridgeport goaltender Stephon Williams slid across the crease and stretched his arms and legs as far as they would go to snare a Josh Archibald shot in the first period, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins got a glimpse of what was in store.</p><p>The rookie netminder stopped 30 of 32 shots - including several brilliant glove saves, as the Sound Tigers beat the Penguins 3-2 on Saturday. The loss drops the Penguins to 36-20-4-1 and keeps them .008 percentage points behind Hershey, who also lost, for first place in the Atlantic Division.</p><p>The Penguins almost completed a comeback for the second straight game when a Kael Mouillierat goal made it 3-2 with three minutes left, but as he did most of the night, Williams shut the door.</p><p>&#8220;We were throwing pucks at him from every where and he was making some really good saves,&#8221; Archibald said. &#8220;You don&#8217;t get discouraged, but he was definitely making it hard on us.&#8221;</p><p>The Penguins could get nothing past Williams in the opening period, despite generating numerous chances. The Bridgeport netminder stuffed Ty Loney in close, snagged Archibald&#8217;s wrister and gave Adam Krause a not-so-kind welcome in his first AHL game when he gloved a shot from the corner and then flashed the leather again on a Krause breakaway later in the period.</p><p>&#8220;I couldn&#8217;t get off the one-timer so I tried to wait him out until he slid across and then I&#8217;d get it far side,&#8221; Archibald said of his chance. &#8220;He&#8217;s got long arms, long legs and credit to him he made a really good save.&#8221;</p><p>But Williams came up bigger when the Penguins had a two-man advantage for 1:56, and he stopped all three shots he faced.</p><p>&#8220;You have to take advantage of that,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;We get one there and it might be a different game. It might set the tone.&#8221;</p><p>It wasn&#8217;t until the Penguins&#8217; third power play of the night - in the second period, that they were able to get one into the Bridgeport net when Tom Kostopoulos put home a Mouillierat rebound for a 1-0 lead.</p><p>Bridgeport answered back when Colin Makison snuck a shot through Tristan Jarry minutes later to send a 1-1 tie into the third period.</p><p>Bridgeport continued to ride Williams&#8217; hot goaltending in the third period and eventually pulled away for a commanding lead. The Sound Tigers connected on a two-on-one rush when Carter Verhaeghe blew a one-timer past Jarry to make it 2-1 five minutes into the period.</p><p>Williams followed with a dazzling glove save on a Tim Erixon point shot through traffic in front, and then Bridgeport scored again with a redirect through Jarry to make it 3-1.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t even think (Williams) saw that,&#8221; Donatelli said of Erixon&#8217;s shot. &#8220;He was just hot.&#8221;</p><p>But it wasn&#8217;t over.</p><p>With three minutes left the Penguins went on the power play and won the draw in the Bridgeport end. It took two seconds for the puck to get to Mouillierat for a one-timer into the back of the net to cut Bridgeport&#8217;s lead to 3-2.</p><p>Seconds later, Carter Rowney was robbed when his shot slid into the crease but was swept out just before crossing the line.</p><p>While Donatelli said Williams was &#8220;spectacular,&#8221; he also acknowledged that the Penguins could&#8217;ve tried something different to solve the hot goaltender.</p><p>&#8220;We had to get traffic in front and shoot the puck more. Especially in the third period, when you have a hot goalie like that, you have to keep shooting,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;We were a little bit fancy.&#8221;</p><p>NOTES</p><p>- The Penguins recalled F Adam Krause from Wheeling on Saturday. In his first AHL game, Krause had no points and three shots.</p><p>- F Dominik Simon and F Conor Sheary were recalled by Pittsburgh on Saturday. F Tom Sestito was reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.</p><p>- D Harrison Ruopp, F Tom Sestito, D Ryan Parent, F Tyler Biggs (injury), F Sahir Gill (injury) and F Dominik Uher (injury) were scratched for the Penguins.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Penguins&#8217; Ty Loney (right) and Sound Tigers defensman Matt Finn fight for the puck at Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_TTL031316zPensGame1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penguins&#8217; Ty Loney (right) and Sound Tigers defensman Matt Finn fight for the puck at Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_TTL031316zPensGame3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Bridgeport&#8217;s Mike Halmo attempts to steal the puck from Penguins center Oskar Sundqvist at Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_TTL031316zPensGame3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Bridgeport&#8217;s Mike Halmo attempts to steal the puck from Penguins center Oskar Sundqvist at Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday night. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_TTL031316zPensGame4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penguins&#8217; Adam Krause (right) breaks away from Bridgeport defenseman Matt Finn during Saturday&#8217;s game at Mohegan Sun Arena. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_TTL031316zPensGame4.jpg</photo2><caption2>Penguins&#8217; Adam Krause (right) breaks away from Bridgeport defenseman Matt Finn during Saturday&#8217;s game at Mohegan Sun Arena. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_TTL031316zPensGame5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penguins right wing Adam Krause attempts a shot against Sound Tigers&#8217; Stephon Williams at Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_TTL031316zPensGame5.jpg</photo3><caption3>Penguins right wing Adam Krause attempts a shot against Sound Tigers&#8217; Stephon Williams at Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday night. </caption3><photoCredit3>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_WBS-Penguins-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_WBS-Penguins-4.jpg</photo4><caption4></caption4><photoCredit4>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Bridgeport 3, <strong>Penguins 2</strong></strong></p><p><strong>Bridgeport`0`1`2`&#8212;`3</strong></p><p><strong>Penguins`0`1`1`&#8212;`2</strong></p><p><strong>First Period</strong></p><p><strong>Scoring</strong> &#8211; None. Penalties - WBS, McNeill (boarding) :11; BPT, Lafranchise (tripping) 10:52; BPT, Carkner (cross-checking) 10:56; WBS, O&#8217;Neill (hooking) 18:59.</p><p><strong>Second Period</strong></p><p><strong>Scoring</strong> &#8211; 1. WBS, Tom Kostopoulos 15 (Mouillierat, Rowney) power play 7:47. 2. BPT, Colin Markison 3 (Jones, Lafranchise) 10:18. Penalties - BPT, Wright (cross-checking) 6:32; WBS, Dea (cross-checking) 8:31; BPT, Halmo (broken stick) 9:30; WBS, Burton (high-sticking) 11:52.</p><p><strong>Third Period</strong></p><p><strong>Scoring</strong> &#8211; 3. BPT, Carter Verhaeghe 6 (Kearns, Halmo) 5:07. 4. BPT, Mike Halmo 15 (Wright, Finn) power play 8:01. 5. WBS, Kael Mouillierat 15 (Rowney) power play 17:00. Penalties - BPT, Vaive (fighting) 7:16; WBS, Mouillierat (roughing) 7:16; WBS, Oleksy (fighting) 7:16; BPT, Wright (holding) 12:21; BPT, Graham (hooking) 16:58.</p><p><strong>Shots on goal</strong></p><p>Bridgeport &#8211; 6-9-6-21</p><p>Penguins &#8211; 16-7-9-32</p><p><strong>Power-play Opportunities</strong></p><p>Bridgeport &#8211; 1 of 5</p><p>Penguins &#8211; 2 of 6</p><p>Goaltenders</p><p>Bridgeport &#8211; Stephon Williams 9-9-0 (30 saves &#8211; 32 shots)</p><p>Penguins &#8211; Tristan Jarry 12-8-3 (18-21)</p><p><strong>Starters</strong></p><p>Bridgeport &#8211; G Stephon Williams, D Matt Carkner, D Kevin Czuczman, LW Justin Florek, C Ben Holmstrom, RW Justin Vaive</p><p>Penguins &#8211; G Tristan Jarry, D Reid McNeill, D Niclas Andersen, LW Jarrett Burton, C Oskar Sundqvist, RW Patrick McGrath</p><p><strong>Three Stars</strong></p><p>1. BPT, Mike Halmo (goal, assist) 2. WBS, Tom Kostopoulos (goal) 3. WBS, Carter Rowney (two assists)</p><p><strong>Referee</strong> &#8211; Michael Mullen, Tim Mayer. <strong>Linesmen</strong> &#8211; Jason Mandroc, Luke Murray</p><p><strong>Attendance</strong> &#8211; 7,378</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Rookie netminder stifles Pens in 3-2 loss