Wednesday, February 7, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - Marc-Antoine Pouliot recorded a hat trick to lead the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Phantoms on Wednesday night at the Wachovia Spectrum. Darren Reid and Denis Tolpeko scored for the Phantoms.

Daniel Carcillo started the scoring 4:38 into the game as he swept in a kick save rebound off the pads of Phantoms backstop Martin Houle.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took a 2-0 lead at 9:25 of the period. A slapshot by Noah Welch from the left side was stopped by Houle, but the rebound came right to Kurtis McLean, who buried it in a vacant net for the two-goal advantage.

Philadelphia jumped on the board with 4:31 left in the first period while on a power play. Ryan Potulny sent a puck down low to Stefan Ruzicka on the left post, who in turn relayed the puck to Reid on the right post. Reid finished it off to make it a 2-1 game at the first intermission. For Reid, it was his team-leading seventh power play goal.

The Penguins regained their two-goal lead with 3:01 left in the second period. McLean fired a shot on net from the right boards that Houle stopped, but again the rebound was an issue. It slid straight to Marc-Antoine Pouliot. He put the loose puck home for the 3-1 lead.

With 1:53 remaining, Kurtis McLean was hauled down on a breakaway, and Houle stopped the subsequent penalty shot. But less than a minute later, with 57 seconds remaining, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pushed the lead out to 4-1 on another Pouliot goal, this one on a deflected slapshot from the left side that beat a partially-screened Houle.

Philadelphia notched another tally at 15:11 of the third. Matt Ellison played a puck down a seam at the slot to Tolpeko, who tucked it past Devan Dubnyk to pull his club within 4-2.

Pouliot completed the hat trick into an empty net for the 5-2 final.

The Phantoms now hit the road for a three-game trip that begins Friday night in Rochester against the Americans. The game will be broadcast live on 610wip.com and on the B2 Network via phantomshockey.com. Philadelphia returns home on Friday, Feb. 16 when they host the Portland Pirates on Country Craze Night, with national recording duo Rushlow Harris performing on the ice after the game. Individual tickets for all Phantoms games, including $8 tickets for children 14 and under anywhere in the building, are on sale now at phantomshockey.com or by calling 800-298-4200.

BOXSCORE

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5 at Philadelphia Phantoms 2 - Status: Final
Feb 7, 2007 - Wachovia Spectrum

1st Period

Scoring - 1. W-B/Scranton, D. Carcillo (18) (T. Gilbert, R. Schremp) 4:38
2. W-B/Scranton, K. McLean (8) (N. Welch, R. Lannon) 9:25
3. Philadelphia, D. Reid (12) (S. Ruzicka, R. Potulny) 15:29 PP
Penalties - D. Bonvie Wbs (fighting) 0:02, T. Grant Phi (fighting) 0:02, S. Ruzicka Phi (boarding) 7:19, T. Gilbert Wbs (tripping) 14:20, E. Meloche Phi (hooking) 18:41

2nd Period

Scoring - 4. W-B/Scranton, M. Pouliot (11) (K. McLean, J. Jacques) 16:59
5. W-B/Scranton, N. Welch (6) (M. Pouliot, K. McLean) 19:03 PP
Penalties - M. DuPont Wbs (holding) 1:24, N. Baumgartner Phi (closing hand on puck) 7:23, N. Welch Wbs (hooking) 10:01, P. Thoresen Wbs (hooking) 12:55, D. Carcillo Wbs (slashing) 13:46, D. Tolpeko Phi (hooking) 17:29

3rd Period

Scoring - 6. Philadelphia, D. Tolpeko (7) (M. Ellison) 15:11
7. W-B/Scranton, M. Pouliot (12) (J. Jacques, N. Welch) 18:57 EN
Penalties - M. Ellison Phi (hooking) 12:09

WBS Shots: 12 5 10 TOTAL: 27
PHI Shots: 5 5 5 TOTAL: 15

Power Play Conversion
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 1-5. Philadelphia Phantoms 1-5.

Goaltenders

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Dubnyk 2-0-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 13 GA: 2 [W]

Philadelphia Phantoms
Houle 6-13-2 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 59:50 SV: 22 GA: 4 [L]

Start : 7:04 PM
End : 9:14 PM

Attendance : 4136

Referee I: Frederic L'Ecuyer (48)
Referee II:

LINESMAN I: Matt McNulty (26)
LINESMAN II: Leo Boylan (97)