Pens streak stopped at 8 games with loss to Admirals

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON, Pa – Although the Penguins attacked early, the Norfolk Admirals rallied in the third period to score four goals, including three on the power play, for a 5-3 win over the WBS Penguins on Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena.   The loss ended the Penguins (and goalie Brad Thiessen’s) winning streak at eight games.  
 
This was Thiessen’s first loss since October 15 against the Binghamton Senators.  
 
The first goal of the game was scored at 1:13 in the first period when Jason Williams knocked in a loose pass from Colin McDonald.   The Admirals came back and tied the game when Radko Gudas put a shorthanded goal right by Thiessen with five minutes left in the first.  
 
Ben Street’s slap shot in the second period past Tokarski put the Penguins up 2-1 after only 0:56 in the second period.   Less than a minute later Niko Dimitrakos put another just inside the left post to give the Penguins a two-goal cushion.  
 
One of the most exciting moments in the game was during the second period when Norfolk’s Erik Neilson challenged Steve MacIntyre to a fight.   The fight was impressive, but it was clear that MacIntyre came out on top as he drilled Neilson with a number of hard shots.   The crowd cheered loudly during the minute-long brawl and it seemed to inspire the team to continue playing hard.  
 
After that the team seemed to lose focus and then fall apart.   At the beginning of the third period, Norfolk was trailing 1-3.  
 
Another Penguins victory was a mere 20 minutes away; however, Norfolk’s Cory Conacher and Mark Barberio each scored power play goals to tie the game 3-3.  
 
The Pens were able to hold onto the tie until 11:23 when Norfolk took the lead with Dana Tyrell’s goal, which was a low shot and ended up going right through Thiessen’s pads.   This goal ended up being the deciding factor for victory and Norfolk held onto the lead for the remainder of the game. With 55 seconds left in the game, Coach John Hynes pulled Thiessen to give the Pens a one-man advantage; however, the damage was already done.  
 
With 2.4 seconds left in regulation Conacher scored an empty net goal, his second of the game, giving the Admirals their winning score of 5-3.  
 
The Penguins will be back in action on Tuesday night at 7:05 when they host the Binghamton Senators in what will sure be an exciting game.  
Contact Jami.Cadden@prohockeynews.com Contact the photographer at Matthew.Osterstrom@prohockeynews.com