vs.      

 5                                       2

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Here is a tweet from Seth that sums up the night well.

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That’s your ballgame right there, as the Penguins fall 5-2 to the hands of a very good St. John’s IceCaps team who is playing some great hockey as of late. Wilkes-Barre sees their five game winning streak at home come to an end and suffer just their tenth loss in regulation in the first weekend of February.

Tristan Jarry opposed Charlie Lindgren

Lines were…

Tom Sestito – Kevin Porter – Tom Kostopoulos
Garrett Wilson – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Dominik Simon – Teddy Blueger – Ryan Haggerty
Danny Kristo – Sahir Gill – Patrick McGrath

Derrick Pouliot – Steve Oleksy
Stuart Percy – David Warsofsky
Cameron Gaunce – Ethan Prow

Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith

Lineup Notes: J-S Dea was out tonight battling an illness. He skated the extra in warmups. Steve Oleksy was back in the lineup for the Penguins for the first time since November and this was his 500th game as a professional.

First Period: Both teams would score on their first shots of the game. Ryan Johnston would score for the IceCaps at 1:02 to give St. John’s the lead and 1:45 later Ethan Prow scores his first as a professional that made it a tie game at one.

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Oh, yes. The Penguins are playing on pink ice this weekend. Do not adjust your computer screens.

St. John’s hit three posts in the period. Derrick Pouliot scored this goal on the power play that made it a 2-1 Penguins lead.

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Its would be the last power play that the Penguins would score for the remainder of the game.

Second Period: The St. John’s IceCaps were playing a song and lulling the Penguins monster to sleep. Wilkes-Barre registered its first shot on goal 6:06 into the period. The game was getting almost boring, with both teams transitioning back and forth up and down the ice. I don’t think I have seen another team counterpunch as well as St. John’s does.

Finally, the IceCaps tied it on a Daniel Carr shot through a screen that beat Jarry that made it 2-2.

The Penguins were then gift wrapped a 4:00 double minor and were not able to score on it.

Third Period: Penguins think that they score on a puck that goes in the net through a scrum but referee Terry Koharski, right on top of the play and standing on the net loses sight of the puck. In the mass of bodies crashing the net, Koharski has to maintain his balance to keep from falling down and washes out the goal which would have tied the game. Koharski invoked the intent to blow rule which means that if the referee loses sight of the puck but can’t get whistle to mouth in time before the puck crosses the line and goes in the goal is disallowed. Fairweather fans don’t undertstand that rule and neither do some of the fans that come to every game. I, personally, thought it was the right call under the circumstances.

Michael McCarron, who seemingly always scores big goals against the Penguins, scored to give St. John’s the lead at 3-2 when he scored on a bad Jarry rebound.

All of a sudden after, the Penguins found themselves on a 1:35 of two man advantage. St. John’s killed it, but not for lack of puck movement by Wilkes-Barre.

Dan Carr scored on a laser beam shot that extended the IceCaps lead to two.

Wilkes-Barre had yet another power play come and go after that goal. Since the Pouliot first period goal, the Penguins went 0-for-6 on the man advantage.

Old buddy Bobby Farnahm, who was up to his old antics again tonight, scored an empty net goal that made it 5-2 St. John’s.

Three Stars: Daniel Carr (two goals, +2) 2) Tom Kostopoulos (two assists, +1) and 1) Michael McCarron (goal, two assists, +2)

Around the Division: Lehigh Valley continues to score third period goals, getting three tonight in Almaty and winning 4-3….Bridgeport has won its eighth straight game with a 3-2 win against the Rochester Americans at home….Hershey wins in Binghamton 5-3. Stan Galiev had a hat trick for the Bears in the win….Providence beats Springfield 3-1 and Hartford beats Utica 4-3.

Standings: Penguins (.750 percentage points) — Lehigh Valley (.705) — Providence (.652) — Bridgeport (.628) — Hershey (.600) — Springfield (.455) — Hartford (.424)

Wheeling Update: Jordan Kwas, Darryl Lloyd and Gage Quinney score goals, Doug Carr stops 26 of 28 and the Wheeling Nailers beat the Kalamazoo Wings tonight in Michigan by a 3-2 score.

Video highlights….

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Penguins are back on home ice again Saturday night against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the first time all season. Gameday setup hits the blog Saturday afternoon at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!