Wilkes-Barre, Pa. — Paul Szczechura scored with 7.6 seconds remaining in the second period and Dustin Tokarski made 27 saves as Norfolk shut down Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the second straight night, taking a 2-0 win over the host Penguins on Saturday. Norfolk heads home with a 2-0 series lead and the next three games scheduled for Scope Arena, beginning with Game 3 on Tuesday night. Tokarski, the first star in both Game 1 and Game 2, has allowed one goal on 60 shots in the series. Norfolk’s defense stifled Wilkes-Barre/Scranton as they bid for the equalizer late, and former Penguin Marc-Antoine Pouliot sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 5.3 seconds left in the game. Brad Thiessen made 25 saves, but has now suffered back-to-back losses for the first time all season. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, which set franchise records with 58 wins and 117 points in 2010-11, becomes the first AHL regular-season points champion since Buffalo in 1968-69 to fall behind 0-2 in its first playoff series. Seven teams in AHL history have won a best-of-seven playoff series after losing the first two games at home, including the Penguins vs. Bridgeport in 2006.
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