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You knew that the trade for Dustin Jeffrey on Monday would have immediate implications on the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins going forward.

Two assists for the former now current Penguin, two goals by Dominik Simon, a 35 save shutout by Tristan Jarry, his fourth of the season and second against Lehigh Valley and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins roll to a methodical 3-0 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Friday night.

Jarry snapped an eight game losing streak.

He opposed Anthony Stolarz.

Lines were…

Kael Mouillierat – Dustin Jeffrey – Dominik Simon
Mattias Plachta – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Sestito – J-S Dea – Ty Loney
Anton Zlobin – Jarrett Burton – Patrick McGrath

Reid McNeill – Niclas Andersen
Tim Erixon – Steve Oleksy
Reid O’Neill – Barry Goers

Tristan Jarry – Brian Foster

Lineup Notes: Josh Archibald was recalled to Pittsburgh with the injury to Kevin Porter. Porter had ankle surgery today and will be out till mid-June. Both Beau Bennett and Eric Fehr are close, so Archibald may be back sooner rather than later…Patrick McGrath was back in the lineup for the first time since February 13…Mattias Plachta, Barry Goers and Dustin Jeffrey all made their Wilkes-Barre debuts…Conor Sheary is day to day with an upper body injury.

First Period: Pens couldn’t do anything with an early power play. A line of Dustin Jeffrey, Carter Rowney, Tom Kostopoulos, Kael Mouillierat and Will O’Neill came out first. Then the Phantoms took over and outshot Wilkes-Barre 10-3 at one point. Then the Penguins after a media timeout got their sea legs. The line of Jeffery, Mouillierat and Simon had a dangerous shift…

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But Stolarz was up to the challenge.

But Stolarz later had a puck handling gaffe and never really touched the puck when Jeffrey bore down, took it off of him and passed to Simon who scored.

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This note from Russ Hryvnak:

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And one from Seth:

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The Penguins were faced with a challenge going forward. That was playing with a and protecting a lead.

Second Period: The Dustin Jeffrey Effect was nearly immediate, as he threaded a pass directly through Phantoms defenders and straight to the tape of Kael Mouillierat who had defenders draping him and backhanded a shot on Stolarz. The Phantoms net minder made the save but the chemistry with Jeffrey and his line mates was boiling.

Pens killed two consecutive penalties. Jarry was under fire and made a save in the splits. You could feel Wilkes-Barre biting at a second goal. But Jarry was pressed into another save in a mass of Phantoms defenders with a fluttering, bouncing puck:

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Game was settling into a goaltender duel. With the mass of shots being presented at Tristan Jarry, you had a feeling that one goal would not do it for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

The Penguins third line came through.

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That was J-S Dea, scoring his second goal in three games, providing the insurance heading into the…

Third Period: 1:28 into the period, Simon tacked on his second of the game. Just watch where Simon lets go of that backhand shot…

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It was Simon’s ninth multipoint game for the Penguins.

Phantoms outshoot the Penguins 10-8 in the period but Wilkes-Barre just methodically closed off all serious threats at Phantoms potential scoring chances and made it easy on Jarry.

Three Stars: 3) J-S Dea (goal, +1) 2) Tristan Jarry (35 save shutout) 1) Dominik Simon (two goals, +2)

Around the Division: The Hershey Bears maintain their lead on the Penguins in the division with a 3-1 win up in Binghamton…Springfield loses 7-3 to Rochester in Western New York. Ex-Penguin Matia Marcantuoni was a -2 in that affair…Providence gives up two goals late to have Bridgeport tie it then Bracken Kearns scores on a penalty shot and the Sound Tigers stun the P-Bruins in Rhode Island by a score of 4-3 in overtime…Syracuse beats Portland 3-1 up in Maine. Hartford was off.

Standings: Hershey (.655 percentage points) — Penguins (.640) — Portland (.591) — Providence (.580) — Bridgeport (.568) — Hartford (.526) — Lehigh Valley (.500) — Springfield (.438)

Wheeling Update: Cody Wydo had a hat trick, Tyler Biggs scored a goal as did James Melinda acquired in the Jeffrey trade and the Wheeling Nailers roll the Reading Royals by a score of 7-4. The two teams rematch tomorrow in Reading.

Here is the postgame infographic from Coal Street:

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Pens are in Hershey tomorrow. A regulation win by Wilkes-Barre puts them on top of the Atlantic Division again. Have to think that Brain Foster gets that game in goal though. Who knows. Gameday setup for that will be on the blog Saturday at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!