Pens blast Wolves, send series back to Chicago

SCRANTON, Pa – If the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins will just supposed to roll over and die in their own arena, and allow the Chicago Wolves to win the Calder Cup on their ice, someone forgot to tell the Penguins.
 
After being blown out in Game 3 the ‘Pens turned the tables on Chicago

and blew out the Wolves 5-1 to creep back into the best-of-seven series. With the win the Penguins sent the series back to Chicago to extend the hockey season at least a couple more days. After the Wolves and ‘Pens played to a scoreless first period, no one in the building could have thought that Scranton would win so convincingly, but it happened.
 
In the second period, the Wolves’ Bryan Little tucked home a backhand shot past Penguins goaltender John Curry after a mad scramble in front of the net to give Chicago a 1-0 lead at 11:20. For the rest of the second period, it was all Penguins as Scranton scored the game’s next three goals, the first one coming off of the stick of Dave Gove who also tucked home a rebound in front of Wolves goaltender Ondrej Pavelec to tie the game.
 
Connor James gave Scranton the lead when he went down the right wing and blew a shot by Pavelec for a 2-1 lead at 14:46. Then, with just 31 seconds left in the period, Mark Ardelan broke down the left wing and took advantage of a line change by Chicago while the Penguins were on the power play. Ardelan fought off a defender, cut in front of Pavelec, and lifted a backhand shot past him for a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
 
The fun didn’t end there for the Penguins as Luca Caputi broke in on a two-on-one and snapped a shot past Pavelec for a 4-1 lead. Than Ben Lovejoy joined in on the power play and floated a shot in on net that just got the left corner for a 5-1 lead.
 
As the game wore on, tensions grew and grew as both teams took jabs at one another towards the end of the game, no doubt from Scranton’s end to let Chicago know the series is long from over.
 
After the game, Penguins Head Coach Todd Richards talked about the team’s turnaround in the second period after the Pens went down 1-0.
 
“(Chicago’s Darren) Haydar, (Jason) Krog, and (Jesse) Schultz had thepuck for about 40 seconds, and John (Curry) made a few big saves on them. The response on the bench was much different than in Game 3. I don’t think there was any panic on our part. Our leaders said the right things, and did the right things. They were the guys that took over the team at that point.”
 
The real turning point in Richard’s eyes was the goal by James.
 
“James just makes a great individual play, bringing the puck down the ice, and scoring a great goal, it really got the crowd involved.”
 
After James’s goal and the Penguins took over the game, Richards knew the rest of the night would be tough sledding for Chicago.
 
“In our building, we play a physical style of play, a tight checking style of play, and when you’re down it can be demoralizing for any team coming into our building.”
 
Wolves Head Coach John Anderson knew that his team did not play well defensively, especially on James’s goal.
 
“We made two horrible defensive mistakes. We got caught on the one-on-one break. James made a great play on it going high over Pavelec. We had some opportunities, but just couldn’t score,” said Anderson. “It was a see-saw battle until they poured it on. It was probably the best game of the series up until the end there.”
 
The thought of still having to win the series after blowing Games 4 and 5 is not getting to Anderson, especially at the thought that it might be a historic comeback on Scranton’s part.
 
“I haven’t thought about it really,” said Anderson. “Who cares? I just want to win the series.”
 
Coming home to a raucous crowd in Chicago is music to Anderson, and the rest of the Wolves ears.
 
“We expect our fans to be great. They always are. Both buildings bring a lot of passion,” said Anderson “I think it’s wonderful. Both cities deserve a championship team.”
 
Amen.
 
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com