The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins bounced back with a 4-1 win over the Adirondack Phantoms, snapping the Phantoms four-game win streak.
Team captain Tom Kosotpoulos led by example, opening the scoring and figuring in on two power play goals for the Pens in the second period, just 52 seconds apart. Jeff Deslauriers (15-9-2) stopped 31 of 32 shots, including all 13 Phantoms shots in the third period to preserve the win for the Pens.
Jason Akeson tied the game up at 1-1 in the 2nd, extending his point scoring streak to five games for the Phantoms. Brandon Manning had a game-high nine shots on net as the Phantoms out shot the Pens 13-4 in the final frame but were not able to overcome the two goal deficit.
The Penguins return home for a Saturday night match up with the Hartford Wolfpack, while the Phantoms travel to Binghamton to take on the Senators.
The Penguins and Phantoms played a very physical first period, which saw 46 penalty minutes handed out by the officials, including a pair of fights between Reid McNeill and Steven Delisle and Harrison Ruopp and Kris Newbury.
The Phantoms got the game's first real offensive chance 8:08 into the game with a full two-minute, two-man advantage after separate scrums saw Ruopp (unsportsmanlike minor) and Bobby Farnham (10-minute misconduct) is the box. Pens head coach John Hynes was upset that Brandon Manning, who engaged Farnham and dropped his gloves, was not penalized. The bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct gave the Phantoms a chance to open the scoring, but the Pens penalty kill prevailed.
Amidst all the penalties, Tom Kostopoulos gave the Pens a 1-0 lead 13:32 in after Nick Drazenovic got control of a puck behind the Phantoms net. Drazenovic fed it to Kostopoulos, who came out from the corner with the puck and caught Phantoms goaltender Cal Heeter off guard. Heeter's shutout streak ended at 123:16.
The penalties continued to pile on in the 2nd period. Jason Akeson tied the game at 1-1 with a quick shot from the slot off a face-off win by Newbury 6:57 into the period, but the Phantoms got into penalty trouble near the halfway point of the hockey game.
This time it was the Pens with a full two-minute, five-on-three after a double minor for roughing on Phantoms' Zack Fitzgerald and a goaltender interference minor on Matt Mangene.
On the two-man advantage, Drazenovic found Kostopoulos again, this time on the doorstep, for the captain's 2nd goal of the night to regain the Pens lead at 2-1 with 9:40 left in the middle frame. Mikkelson added a secondary assist on Kostopoulos' team-leading 14th goal of the season.
Just 52 seconds later, the Pens, still on a two-man advantage, cashed in on the power play to extend the lead to 3-1. Kostopoulos took the puck low to the far corner and found a trailing Brian Dumoulin in the slot for Dumoulin's second goal of the season.
Just moments before Dumoulin's goal, Phantoms penalty killer Rob Bordson blocked a point shot and sprung himself on a breakaway. Deslauriers made the save, leading to the Pens odd-man rush the other way. Instead of a 2-2 tied game, it went the Pens way and gave them a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
ROSTER NOTES
Jeff Deslauriers vs. Cal Heeter in net.
Carter Rowney replaced Denver Manderson on the 4th line. Barry Goers was the healthy scratch on defense.
Lines
Zolnierczyk - Drazenovic - Kostopoulos
Kuhnhackl - Torquato - Zlobin
Uher - Carman - Thompson
Leblond - Rowney - Farnham
Dumoulin - Samuelsosn
Harrington - Mikkelson
McNeill - Ruopp
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