web1_Blueger.jpg

Penguins Plate: No white bread for Blueger

web1_AP17007679396352.jpg

Fort Lauderdale airport gunman charged; US seeks death penalty

<p>The last time Danny Kristo found himself in a lengthy goal-scoring slump, he turned to an old friend who is a familiar face to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins fans.</p><p>Current New Jersey Devils head coach John Hynes.</p><p>Kristo was a sophomore during the 2011-12 season at the University of North Dakota and the team had a big game coming up against rival Nebraska-Omaha. Kristo was in a scoring slump so before the game he called Hynes, his old coach from the USA Hockey development program.</p><p>&#8220;I told him I just couldn&#8217;t get a break right now and asked what I needed to do,&#8221; Kristo said. &#8220;He told me to just keep going to the net with the puck every chance I could.&#8221;</p><p>Kristo followed Hynes&#8217; advice and scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 win over Nebraska-Omaha. Now, five years later, Kristo is reflecting on Hynes&#8217; advice again as he hopes to break out of the longest goal-scoring drought of his pro career.</p><p>After registering 20-plus goals in each of his first three seasons in the AHL, Kristo has just one goal in 14 games since being acquired from the St. Louis Blues organization. Before the trade, Kristo was without a goal in eight games with the Chicago Wolves, giving him just one tally in a combined 22 games heading into Friday.</p><p>&#8220;Having had a lot of success in my first three season and being able to find the net pretty much my whole life, it&#8217;s just tough to get the puck to go in right now,&#8221; Kristo said.</p><p>But it could be worse.</p><p>Kristo said if he wasn&#8217;t getting shots and scoring chances the slump would be especially hard to deal with.</p><p>But that&#8217;s not the case.</p><p>During last Tuesday&#8217;s game against Hartford, Kristo had three quality scoring chances and two shots that came close in the first period. And he did it by carrying the puck to the net, just like Hynes recommended several years ago.</p><p>While the slump is frustrating, Kristo said it would be worse if he wasn&#8217;t even getting chances.</p><p>&#8220;When you go into a scoring slump and you&#8217;re not getting the chances or shots, you&#8217;re just invisible out there and that&#8217;s a lot more frustrating,&#8221; he said.</p><p>So what more does Kristo have to do to break out of his current slump?</p><p>The way head coach Clark Donatelli sees it, Kristo just has to stick with it.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s hit some posts and gotten some scoring chances. He&#8217;s just a little snake-bitten,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;I do think he feels it. I think he&#8217;s pressing a little bit. Eventually they&#8217;re going to go in. He&#8217;s just too good of a scorer.&#8221;</p><p>While the goals have yet to accumulate, Kristo said he&#8217;s focused on other details of his game, particularly defensive play and using his speed on the forecheck.</p><p>And he knows he isn&#8217;t the first prolific scorer to hit a slump.</p><p>When Kristo played with Hartford in 2014-15, he was teammates with one of the top goal scorers annually in the AHL in Chris Bourque.</p><p>Kristo said he learned something from Bourque when it comes to breaking out of a slump.</p><p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t stop shooting the puck and don&#8217;t second-guess yourself,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The team does help you and they&#8217;re supportive, but you&#8217;re the only one that can get yourself out of this hole.&#8221;</p><p>And don&#8217;t get frustrated.</p><p>Kristo knows the expectations he faces and understands the pressure that comes with being the player counted on to score on a consistent basis.</p><p>They&#8217;re expectations that he faced in college and after his rookie season in the AHL when he scored 25 goals in 65 games.</p><p>Kristo said it doesn&#8217;t faze him.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m the biggest critic of myself and I expect a lot,&#8221; Kristo said. &#8220;When you&#8217;re in a slump like this, you usually get a big goal to snap out of it. I think I&#8217;m close right now.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_DannyKristo.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">After scoring more than 20 goals in his first three seasons, Danny Kristo had one goal in his first 22 games this season. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_DannyKristo.jpg</photo0><caption0>After scoring more than 20 goals in his first three seasons, Danny Kristo had one goal in his first 22 games this season. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Danny Kristo working his way out of slump