PHN’s Best Shots of the Game: Jeffrey’s return sparks 3-0 Penguins win

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Dustin Jeffrey’s return to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins was a homecoming worth celebrating as the Penguins downed the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 3-0, on Friday night at PPL Center.

Jeffrey, who was traded by the Arizona Coyotes organization to the Penguins at the NHL trade deadline on Monday, recorded two assists in his first game back in black in gold since Nov. 11, 2011.

“[Jeffrey] is a really good player, and you could see that tonight,” said Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli. “He’s happy to be here. He wanted to be in Wilkes-Barre and we’re fortunate to have him.”

Phantoms goalie Anthony Stolarz stepped out of his net to settle a play for his defense, but the puck eluded his stick and came right to Jeffrey who fed Dominik Simon for the game’s opening goal at 15:12 of the first period.

Jean-Sébastien Dea unleashed a lethal wrister under the crossbar for the Penguins’ second goal, making it 2-0 with 15.7 seconds left in the middle frame.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton wasted no time extending their lead to 3-0 when Simon scored once again with another assist from Jeffrey just 1:17 into the third.

While Simon and Jeffrey proved to be the thrilling combination on offense, at the other end of the ice was Tristan Jarry, who put forth a 36-save performance for his fourth shutout of the season.

Jarry, who was coming off of a career-high 47 stops on Sunday at Providence, ended an eight-game winless streak and moved the rookie goalie back into the league’s top five in save percentage (.927) and goals against average (2.22).

“[Jarry] has played really well for us, and in a couple of those games, we just didn’t get the win,” Donatelli said. “He was dynamic when there were some breakdowns, and he made some big saves.”
With Penguins game report