Sixty-five minutes of hockey wasn't enough again tonight as the Penguins went to a shootout for the second straight night. Tonight, the Pens seemed they could do no wrong, scoring on three of four attempts and leaving Binghamton with two points.
The win, coupled with a Connecticut Whale loss, puts the Penguins in sole possession of 6th place in the Eastern Conference. Here's a look at the race to make the postseason:
5th - Portland (79 points)
6th - PENGUINS (76 points)
7th - Connecticut (74 points)
8th - Hershey (73 points)
9th - Norfolk (71 points)
10th - Manchester (69 points)
11th - Albany (68 points)
The Penguins got off to another good start, scoring the game's first goal on a 3-on-2 rush. Chad Kolarik stole a puck in the neutral zone and came streaking down the wing. He let loose a wrist shot from the far side face-off dot that was wired to the top shelf. It was Kolarik's 25th of the season.
The BSens tied it on their second shot of the hockey game, coming off an ugly defensive zone turnover. It was all Penguins through the first 12:22 of the game, but it quickly became a hard fought grudge match the rest of the way.
The Penguins re-gained the lead halfway through the second period while on a power play. Beau Bennett fed Chad Kolarik at the point and Kolarik's shot was tipped home past Lawson by Trevor Smith. The goal was Smith's 20th of the season.
The Penguins got into penalty trouble late in the second, surrendering two minor penalties with 5.9 left giving the BSens a two man advantage to start the third period. The Penguins were able to kill both penalties off, but a one-timer from Daniel New tied the game at two a few shifts after the penalty kill.
Again the Penguins fought their way to overtime and the shootout. Obviously there won't be shootouts in the postseason (thankfully), but the 2nd point goes to the Pens tonight.
The Penguins are off tomorrow. They practice Monday morning at Coal Street before getting on the bus and heading south to Norfolk for Tuesday night's game against the Admirals. Naturally, Highland Park Hockey (of the Blue Mountain's Town & Country Gazette) will be making the trip down to the Norfolk Scope Arena to continue to bring live road coverage of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
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