Penguins Offense Frozen By IceCaps in 5-0 Defeat

Photo courtesy of awesome @dwancherry!

The Penguins couldn't dig themselves out of the hole in the second period, and didn't help their cause by taking penalties late in the second period. They couldn't muster up much offense in a penalty-filled third period either and are shelled by the IceCaps by a 5-0 final score.

With the Penguins already down seven forwards out of their regular lineup, the call from Pittsburgh to take Harry Zolnierczyk, the 8th forward, away from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins was just too much for the AHL Pens, as they are blown out by the St. John's IceCaps tonight.

In the first period, the IceCaps controlled play offensively for the most part, though some nice saves from Eric Hartzell kept the game scoreless until late in the first period, when Carl Klingberg finished off an Eric O'Dell shot with 4:51 left in the opening period to give the IceCaps the 1-0 lead. It was Klingberg's 5th of the season.

While the Penguins weren't scoring, they were playing a sound defensive game and mixed in a few chances on IceCaps goaltender Eddie Pasquale in the opening frame. Trailing 1-0 on the scoreboard and 9-5 in the shots department, the Penguins needed someone to step up in the scoring derpartment.

The Penguins got an early power play in the 2nd period with a chance to tie the score at 1-1 and got some decent chances early on the man advantage but were unable to score.

From there, an unfortunate call on Peter Merth for slashing after the replay clearly showed Merth being pushed into Ryan Schnell from behind by Blair Riley. Riley, thinking Merth had cut Schnell intentionally, dropped the gloves and went after Schnell. The IceCaps didn't score on the power play but the Pens lost all momentum they might have had and could be looked at as a turning point in the hockey game.
 
The Pens out shot the IceCaps by a 5-1 count in the first six minutes of the period, but the IceCaps regained control midway through the period and took a 2-0 lead on Klingberg's 2nd goal of the night.

The IceCaps added to their lead late in the middle period with 2:25 left when Zach Redmond's wrist shot from the point eluded Hartzell and gave the IceCaps a three goal lead at 3-0. Redmond's 3rd of the season came with just one second left on a penalty to Kostopoulos for hooking.

The IceCaps scored two quick goals 1:05 apart in the final frame to blow the game open. First, Jarome Samson picked up a WBS turnover at center ice and shot a puck that changed direction on Eric Hartzell to give the IceCaps a four goal lead. Moments later, another Redmond point shot found its way past Hartzell after Eric O'Dell tipped it home for his 12 goal of the season.

ROSTER NOTES

C.J. Severyn made his WBS debut on the fourth line tonight. Eric Hartzell got the start in net, dropping his first game at the AHL level. On defense, Harrison Ruopp and Reid McNeill were healthy scratches. Up front, Nick Drazenovic, Dominik Uher and Adam Payerl are all out with injuries.

Lines

Thompson - Gibbons - Kostopoulos
Sylvester - Carman - Kuhnhackl
Zlobin - Manderson - Rowney
Farnham - Severyn - Leblond

Samuelsson - Dumoulin
Mikkelson - Harrington
D'Agostino - Merth