It Feels Like The First Time - Pens Take Care Of Sound Tigers

Tristan Jarry was stellar in his regular season pro debut in Bridgeport Sunday. Photo from Jarry's preseason appearance in Lehigh Valley, courtesy Nina Weiss.

It was a night of firsts for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (3-1-0-0) tonight in a 5-1 win against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

The Penguins handed the Sound Tigers (5-1-0-0) their first loss of the season, while Tristan Jarry picked up the win in his 1st start of the season. The Pens got goals from five different players - Kael Mouillierat, Oskar Sundqvist, Tom Sestito, Conor Sheary and Carter Rowney - with all five of those players picking up their first tallies of the season, respectively.

Tristan Jarry was very sharp in his pro debut, stopping all but one of the 36 shots he faced. The only goal he allowed was a 4-on-3 power play goal that was deflected past him off a teammate's stick by mistake.



RECAP

The Penguins got off to a much better start this evening in Bridgeport than they did at home against Lehigh Valley yesterday. If not for some nice early saves by Sound Tigers' rookie goaltender Stephon Williams, the game would have been blown wide open.

The Pens' power play picked up right where it left off Saturday, as WBS grabbed a 1-0 lead 11:11 into the period on the game's first power play. Conor Sheary started a series of tic-tac-toe passes that went from him in the left-wing circle, to Tom Kostopoulos down low and back into the slot for Kael Mouillierat who's one-timer beat Williams to put the Penguins in front.

Tristan Jarry, making his regular season AHL pro debut, quietly stopped all nine shots he faced in the opening period - including two separate flurries of pressure from Bridgeport. After a crucial early-game stop, the Pens made it 2-0 shortly after at the other end.

Dominik Uher got a puck to Will O'Neill at the point, and O'Neill's shot through traffic was tipped past Williams by Oskar Sundqvist for Sundqvist's 1st pro goal in North America. The goal gave the Pens a 2-0 lead heading into the middle frame.

The Penguins had a bit of a sloppy start to the middle frame with an early penalty, but a great play by Sundqvist and Uher on a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush drew a Sound Tigers penalty and the Penguins continued to be in control.

After the Penguins killed off their 2nd penalty of the period, Tom Sestito tallied his first of the season to give the Pens a 3-0 lead. Williams made the initial stop on Steve Oleksy's point shot, but Matia Marcantuoni nudged the rebound over to Sestito who finished the play with 11:03 left in the 2nd.

Ryan Pulock ended Jarry's shutout bid at the 12:36 mark of the middle frame with the Sound Tigers on a brief 4-on-3 power play. Pulock's blast from the point banked in off a Penguins' penalty killer to bring the Sound Tigers within two at 3-1.

The Penguins' power play ended whatever life the Sound Tigers had left late in the 2nd period as Conor Sheary used a penalty killer as a screen as he beat Williams with a quick wrister from the left-wing circle to extend the Pens' lead to 4-1 with 2:50 before the 2nd intermission.

The Sound Tigers outshot the Penguins 13-8 in the third period aided by three power plays and an obvious deficit, but it was the Penguins adding to their lead courtesy Carter Rowney's first goal of the season 6:38 into the final frame. Sheary made a nice play behind the Sound Tigers' net on a fore-check, getting to a loose puck and feeding Rowney out in front to the left of Williams to cap the scoring at 5-1.

ROSTER NOTES - Penguins

Tristan Jarry (35 saves - 36 shots) got the start in net, making his pro debut. Matt Murray served as backup after picking up the win over Lehigh Valley on Saturday in the Pens' home opener.

No lineup changes for the Penguins. The lines and defense pairings all remained the same.

Penguins Scratches: Harrison Ruopp (healthy), Tyler Biggs (injured) and Barry Goers (injured)

Lines

Penguins Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)

Scott Wilson - Kael Mouillierat - Conor Sheary (A)
Dominik Simon - Carter Rowney - Josh Archibald
Dominik Uher - Oskar Sundqvist - Tom Kostopoulos (C)
Tom Sestito - Jean-Sebastien Dea - Matia Marcantuoni

Derrick Pouliot - Steve Oleksy (A)
Reid McNeill - David Warsofsky
Nicklas Andersen - Will O'Neill

Tristan Jarry - Matt Murray

GAME SUMMARY 

1st Period

10:09: BST - (PP) Graham, minor (interference)

11:11: WBS - PPG Mouillierat (1) - Kostopoulos, Sheary

13:08: BST - (PP) Mayfield, minor (roughing)

17:47: WBS - Sundqvist (1) - O'Neill, Uher

2nd Period

0:30: WBS - (PP) Kostopoulos, minor (tripping)

1:51: BST - (PP) Verhaeghe, minor (slashing)

5:03: WBS - (PP) Oleksy, minor (roughing)

8:57: WBS - Sestito (1) - Marcantuoni, Oleksy

11:29: WBS - Oleksy, minor (roughing)

11:29: BST - Halmo, minor (roughing)

12:19: WBS - (PP) Simon, minor (hooking)

12:36: BST - PPG Pulock (2) - Quine, Whitney

16:17: BST - (PP) Whitney, minor (hooking)

17:10: WBS - PPG Sheary (1) - Pouliot, Wilson

17:43: WBS - (PP) McNeill, minor (slashing)

3rd Period

2:55: WBS - (PP) Rowney, minor (interference)

6:38: WBS - Rowney (1) - Sheary, Wilson

7:37: WBS - (PP) Sestito, minor (hooking)

10:38: WBS - (PP) Mouillierat, minor (roughing)

11:00: BST - (PP) Petrov, minor (tripping)