Picard’s hattrick leads Baby Pens over Worcester

WILKES-BARRE, Pa – A hat trick by defenseman Alexandre Picard, four fights,

including three in a four-second span in the first period highlighted the Pens win over the Sharks Saturday night.
The effort came in a decisive 4-1 win over the Worcester Sharks.
Worcester actually got off to a decent start in the first period, taking eight of the game’s first nine shots, but that stat was soon forgotten when Alexandre Picard and Ryan Craig scored less than two minutes apart to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead and a short night for goalie Tyson Sexsmith
At 6:28, Picard floated a shot from the left point that sailed past a Cal O’Reilly screen and into the net.
At 8:10, on a power play, Sexsmith stopped a Simon Despres shot from the left point, but Craig backhanded the rebound in at the left post to make it 2-0.
The Penguins added to their lead with another power-play goal late in the period.
Picard took a pass from O’Reilly at the top of the right faceoff circle and scored past a Geoff Walker screen 1:22 before intermission.
The Penguins went 2-for-9 on the power play in the game. Worcester went 0-for-4.
Picard completed his hat trick with a power-play goal in the third period, scoring again from the top of the right faceoff circle through traffic.
Contact Rob.Neyhard@prohockeynews.com