WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON, Pa – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins faced elimination square in the eye on Tuesday night, but lived to fight another day thanks to an overtime goal from Simon Despres in game five of their AHL Eastern Conference semifinal with the St. John’s IceCaps.
Despres’ OT marker gave the Penguins a 3-1 win over St. John’s, cutting the IceCaps lead in the series to three games to two. The series now moves to St. John’s for game six on Friday, and if necessary, game seven on Saturday.
“This was very big because we were on the brink of elimination,” Despres said to the Canadian Press. “It’s the biggest goal of my career.”
Despres scored the game-winner at 12:08 of the second overtime period,
Paul Postma scored the game-tying goal at 4:00 of the third period. File photo by Jeff Cull
“The first shot hit my pad and I didn’t see where it went. I guess it was rolling and he just knocked it in the far side,” Pasquale told the St. John’s Telegram about Despres’ goal.
Despite failing to wrap up the series on Tuesday night, IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge took a glass-half-full approach when discussing the game with reporters. While he was disappointed to come up short in game five, he said his team is still in a good position to win the best-of-seven series with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
“At the end of the day, we came here and won two of three in their building. Now, we have to win one of two in our building,” McCambridge told the Canadian Press. “These are two very good teams that match up very well and are trying to do their best to capitalize on chances.”
St. John’s was the first team to get on the scoreboard Tuesday, using a Jason King goal at 5:21 of the opening period to go up 1-0. The Penguins tied the game at one when Paul Thompson found the back of the net at 8:12 of the second period. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton then took a 2-1 lead with a with goal from Alex Grant just 2:18 into the third, only to watch St. John’s tie the game with a power play marker from Paul Postma at the four-minute mark of the period. Despres’ goal in the second overtime period was his first of the playoffs.
Pasquale was solid once again in the IceCaps net, making 42 saves. Brad Thiessen picked up the win in goal for the Penguins, making 26 stops along the way. Scott Munroe also saw action in net for the Penguins, playing just over four minutes in the third period when Thiessen had to leave the game to receive a few stitches after being cut from an accidental high stick.
Contact the writer at Darcy.MacRae@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at Jeff.Cull@prohockeynews.com
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