ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland and Labrador – A slow start and an overall futile effort did the St. John’s IceCaps in on Wednesday night as they fell 3-1 to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in game two of the clubs’ AHL Eastern Conference semifinal. The best-of-seven series is now tied at one, with game three going Saturday in Wilkes-Barre.
“It’s a team game, and as a team tonight we didn’t play our best. We didn’t come out as strong as we did in game one and it showed,” said IceCaps defenseman Travis Ramsey. “In game one we got pucks to their net frequently and played a lot in their end. Tonight we spent more time in our zone and they generated more chances because of that.”
Game two was a complete reversal from the first game of the series, played on Tuesday. In game one, St. John’s outshot, out hit and out hustled Wilkes-Barre/Scranton en route to a 3-1 victory. Game two was all Penguins, however, as the visiting team dominated the IceCaps from the opening whistle until the final buzzer.
The IceCaps didn’t even register their first shot of the game until the 12-minute mark of the first period and by night’s end had been outshot 38-23.
“I thought they came out with the intensity we expected of them, but we didn’t have much push back. With a few exceptions, they out battled us for almost every loose puck. They won the physical side of the game,” said IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge. “They did a really good job of bogging us down and containing us down low; they didn’t let our forwards move. I thought our forwards didn’t do a good job of getting their feet moving and creating things in the offensive zone.”
The Penguins were first on the scoreboard Wednesday, using a goal from Eric Tangradi at 9:48 of the first to go up 1-0. The IceCaps tied the game when Ben Maxwell redirected a point shot from Derek Meech into the Penguins’ net at 15:42 of the opening period.
Almost the entire second period was played in the IceCaps zone, with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton outshooting St. John’s 17-5 in the middle frame. IceCaps goalie Eddie Pasquale shut the door on every Penguins’ opportunity, however, leaving the game tied at one heading into the third.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton got a shorthanded goal from Joey Mormina only 2:38 into the final period to go up 2-1. Jason Williams then scored a power play goal for the Penguins just over two minutes later to put the lights out on game two.
Brad Thiessen was the winning goalie for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, making 22 saves in the game. Pasquale stopped 35 shots in a losing effort for St. John’s.
Contact the writer at Darcy.MacRae@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at Jeff.Cull@prohockeynews.com
