Streak Snapped: Sharks Stun Pens 4-2

The Penguins fall 4-2 to the Worcester Sharks tonight and while the game might not mean all that much for the Pens in the standings, the players and coaches won't use that as an excuse.

With the game tied at two late in the third period and the Penguins on a power play, a turnover at the blue line led to a 2-on-1 chance and shorthanded goal. The Sharks added an empty net goal in the final minute to cap the 4-2 final.

"We played a soft game," head coach John Hynes said. "We got off to a great start but we didn't maintain how we needed to play."

The Penguins came out and played well at times, starting three minutes into the contest when Adam Payerl notched his 3rd of the season. Payerl came out from the corner and threw a puck on net. Alex Stalock made the save, but Payerl followed his shot and tapped home his own rebound to get the Penguins on the board.

After a rather uneventful middle frame, the Penguins found themselves down 2-1 after allowing a Sharks power play goal. Riley Holzapfel knocked in the rebound of a Brian Dumoulin shot to tie the game at two with just about seven minutes left in regulation.

The goal was Holzapfel's 20th of the season, his first 20-goal season as a pro. While he couldn't have been happier at that moment, the eventual turnover and shorthanded goal certainly left Holzapfel and the Penguins wanting a bounce back game. Luckily for them, they end the regular season with a game against Manchester tomorrow night.

"They don't mean that much in the standings, but at the same time you want to be playing your best hockey going into the playoffs, said Holzapfel. "Tonight was unacceptable and we need to bounce back tomorrow night."

Tonight was also the debut of forward Derek Nesbitt, who started the game on the 2nd line with Brian Gibbons and Jayson Megna, but found himself playing in different situations and with different line mates most of the night. Nesbitt won't play tomorrow to avoid the veteran rule for next season so I figured I would gather his thoughts on his first game with the Penguins:

"Definitely new. Not even close to the result you wanted," Nesbitt said of tonight's loss. "Each period got a little better mentally for me to kind of know what was going on. I was probably thinking more than I normally do. I got another week of practice until playoffs start, so hopefully go through that a few more times and hopefully it'll be second nature by then."

ROSTER NOTES

Jeff Zatkoff got the start in net tonight for the Penguins.

Healthy Scratches: Peter Merth, Cody Wild, Chris Barton, Chris Minella, Chris Collins, Anton Zlobin, Harrison Ruopp and Matia Marcantuoni

Lines:

Holzapfel - Smith - Kolarik 
Megna - Gibbons - Thompson
Payerl - Peters - Nesbitt
Farnham - Sill - Uher

Reese - Dumoulin
Samuelsson - Mormina
Grant - McNeill