Another game on a big stage. Another come-from-behind 2-1 win for the Penguins, this time against the Adirondack Phantoms in front of a large Wells Fargo Center crowd in Philadelphia.
Trailing 1-0 with less than seven minutes left to play, head coach John Hynes opts to put the 4th line out on the ice. Bobby Farnham takes a nice pass from Philip Samuelsson and ties the game.
"In that atmosphere it felt good to get that one," Farnham said of his second goal on the season. "Big crowd, great atmosphere. You love to play in these games."
Two shifts later, Brian Gibbons scores a greasy goal, completing the third period comeback. Two unanswered goals 1:47 apart swings the game the other way, after it seemed the Penguins would be shut out for the third time in their last four games.
"Some games you get them and some games you don't," Gibbons said on his game winning goal. "Luckily for us tonight, we got one."
I spoke with Penguins head coach John Hynes after the game and he summed things up quite well. The team knew what they had to do in the third period and they went out and got it done tonight.
"The difference was really our mindset. The last couple games we had opportunities to score but there became more frustration than raising the compete level," Hynes said. "That was the challenge we talked about between the second and third period."
Brad Thiessen improved to 3-0 against the Phantoms this season, stopping 29 of the 30 shots he faced.
The Phantoms opened the scoring halfway through the first period while on a two-man advantage. Brad Thiessen stopped a Matt Mangene shot through traffic, but the three WBS penalty killers lost sight of the rebound and Marcel Noebels swooped in from the point to blast home the puck.
From there, the Penguins began to get pressure on Phantoms' goalie Cal Heeter. Heeter was up to the task in the first frame, stopping all 10 shots he faced, including a one-timer in the slot by Tom Kostopoulos.
The 2nd period belonged to the Penguins as they outshot the Phantoms 10-3 in the middle frame, but Heeter again made the necessary saves.
Things got physical in the second period, particularly in the second half of the period. Bobby Farnham, Philip Samuelsson and Tom Kostopoulos all had 2nd period fights, much to the delight of the Wells Fargo Center crowd.
ROSTER NOTES
Brad Thiessen got the start in net tonight. Reid McNeill was the lone healthy scratch on defense. Forwards Paul Thompson, Phil Dupuis, Chris Collins and Steve MacIntyre are still out with injuries.
The Penguins are back in action tomorrow night in Wilkes-Barre as they take on Chad Kolarik's old team in the Connecticut Whale.
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