Five is Nice, Thiessen Shuts Out IceCaps

I think it's safe to say the recent slide is over, as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins won their 5th straight game tonight, 3-0 over the St. John's IceCaps.

The Penguins came out attacking in the first period, striking early, late and in the middle of the opening frame.

With Ben Maxwell in the box for tripping 1:30 in, Riley Holzapfel fed Alex Grant on the point and Grant's blast beat IceCaps net minder Eddie Pasquale to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Trevor Smith added an assist on the power play goal at 2:32.

Then midway through the period, Philip Samuelsson retrieved an IceCaps clearing bid and flung a shot on goal that eluded Pasquale, increasing the Penguins lead to 2-0.

Holzapfel capped the scoring (no pun intended) with 2:19 left in the first period, slamming home the rebound of a Paul Thompson shot to make it 3-0.

I bet St. John's is kicking themselves for getting rid of Holzapfel last season. He leads the Penguins in scoring so far this season with 27 points (12G-15A) through 40 games played.

Brad Thiessen picks up another shutout, a 26 save effort tonight, and is now tied with
fellow goalie Jeff  Zatkoff for the team lead with three. Good stuff all around.

ROSTER NOTES

• Phil Dupuis and Warren Peters did not take the warmup skate tonight. Dupuis hasn't skated since last Monday and Peters was skating at practice yesterday in a red no-contact jersey.
• Newly signed Mark Eaton and Tom Kostopoulos signed autographs before the game and watched from the Penguins luxury box. 
• Beau Bennett left the game early and did not return. Whether it has anything to do with his absence from yesterday's practice, listed by Pens beat writer Jonathan Bombulie as personal reasons, or if there is an injury to report on. 
• With Eaton coming in the Penguins are back to nine healthy defensemen, which begs the question if Cody Wild or Carl Sneeo might be heading back to Wheeling (ECHL). 

Penguins practice tomorrow before heading to Rochester for a game Friday night. The Penguins then hop the border for a Saturday night tilt with the Toronto Marlies.

Hopefully, I'll have an update on everyone's status for this weekend after practice tomorrow. Check our Twitter feed for all the latest breaking news on the WBS Penguins @H_P_Hockey.