Three Goal Third Haunts Penguins

Through two periods, the Penguins did everything they wanted to. Except score goals. They possessed the puck most of the first 40 minutes, and held the Syracuse Crunch to just five shots until the third period.

With the Penguins at the tail end of a three games in two and a half days, I sort of got the feeling that the first Crunch goal was deflating. Much like Friday night, the Penguins did a lot of things right on the ice but were just not rewarded for it.

Kyle Wilson scored 2:02 into the third period and Brett Connelly followed it up just 1:23 later to put the Penguins in a 2-0 hole. Wilson tallied his second of the game with about eight minutes to go for the 3-0 final.

Tough game for Jeff Zatkoff, who saw just five shots in the first 40 minutes, to get much of a rhythm going. Zatkoff stopped 7 of 10 in the third period. He only faced 12 shots in Friday's 1-0 loss to Norfolk.

Lineup changes tonight were Zatkoff in net for Thiessen and  Dylan Reese (upper body) out and Mark Eaton in.

The Penguins have a scheduled day off tomorrow before resuming practice on Tuesday. Check tomorrow for a feature story on Chad Kolarik and Trevor Smith, two guys who formed quite a duo Sarurday night in Binghamton.