WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – “Puck luck” is often an unquantifiable yet essential element to hockey. Sometimes, you can just never get a bounce to go your way. That was the case for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday night, as several split second miscues saw them fall to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4-1.
The most memorable tough breaks for the Penguins led directly to Sound Tiger goals. A jumping puck mishandled by David Warsofsky on the power play lead to a shorthanded goal, and a fumbled biscuit by Bryan Rust on a routine play was snagged in the slot and ended up as an insurance marker for Bridgeport in its win.
Bracken Kearns netted a shorthanded goal at 10:48 of the first to put the Sound Tigers up 1-0. The goal was the sixth career shorty for Kearns, now in his ninth AHL season.
Will O’Neill picked up his first goal as a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin as well as his team’s first power play goal of the season to tie the game 1-1 at of the second period. Bridgeport quickly reestablished its one-goal lead just 61 seconds later when AlanQuine fed an unchecked Jesse Graham to make it 2-1.
The Sound Tigers looked to add to their lead with a flurry of opportunities following Graham’s go-ahead goal, including back-to-back rebound chances for Mike Halmo at the top of the Penguins crease, but Matt Murray stood tall and kept the Penguins within striking distance.
Bridgeport’s last line of defense, Christopher Gibson, was just as strong between the pipes, holding back the Penguins’ comeback efforts, making 26 saves in the game to Murray’s 24.
With just 3:22 remaining in the third period and the Penguins trailing by one, Rust saw the puck slide off the end of his blade after making a sharp turn, and it ended up right on the tape of Joe Whitney. Without hesitation, Whitney threw the puck towards the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton net and beat Murray five-hole to put the Sound Tigers up 3-1 withjust over three minutes left in regulation.
Both Whitney and Kearns addedan assist on an empty net goal (Taylor Beck) at 17:59 of the third to make the score 4-1 and put the forwards in a tie for a game-high with two points.
The Penguins penalty kill remainedunscathed so far in the young season after neutralizing both of their opponent’s man advantages, putting them a perfect eight-for-eight on the kill in 2015-16.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has a week to put the funny bounces that led to its first loss behind them, as the team won’t play again until its home opener against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday, Oct. 17. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:05 at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
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