Pens pull it together in third, down Griffins 5-3

Chris Minard set a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins record when he scored his 32nd goal of the season on Wednesday night, but his stay in the record book might be short lived.

Winger Janne Pesonen continued his torrid scoring pace, registering two third-period goals in a span of four minutes to propel the Penguins to a 5-3 victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.

Pesonen’s pair of scores gave him 29 on the season, which is second to Minard’s team-leading amount.

But after registering 26 goals in his first 28 games of the season, Minard has been held to just six tallies since January 1. Meanwhile, Pesonen has been red-hot. He has 13 goals and 24 points in his last 13 contests.

“Janne’s coming on hard,” Penguins interim head coach Todd Reirden said. “Janne’s playing extremely well right now, just continues to find a way to add big goals to our team at the right time.”

The Penguins had raced out to a 3-0 lead by early in the middle frame. Luca Caputi and Jeff Taffe scored first period goals for the Penguins, and Minard’s record-breaking goal capped their offensive outburst at 6:31 of the second.

Apart from being his record-setting 32nd goal of the season, it was also Minard’s 32nd career power play goal, which is also a team record. Although Minard was camped out in his usual spot in front of the net on the power play, the goal wasn’t exactly one of the top-corner snipes that he is known for.

Minard and linemate Jeff Taffe both swatted at the puck during a goalmouth scramble, with Minard receiving credit for the goal.

“You guys might have to check who scored,” Minard said. “It might have been Taffe’s, it might have been mine. We were both banging away, it hit the post a couple of times. One of us put it in, he just told me to take it.”

The lead was gone by the 0:52 mark of the third period, as Grand Rapids rattled off three goals in a span of six minutes to tie the game at three. Darren Haydar and Aaron Gagnon got the ball rolling in the middle frame before Cory Emmerton netted the equalizer early in the third.

Then, Pesonen took over.

He collected a pass from Ben Lovejoy and beat Grand Rapids goaltender Daniel Larsson for the eventual game-winner at the 12:33 mark. Less than four minutes later, he scored on a backhanded wraparound to extend Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s lead to 5-3.

“It was a real big time goal that we needed at that point because they’re a very dangerous offensive team,” Reirden said. “They’re definitely one of the best teams we’ve seen this year.”

“That’s what you want from your leading scorer, to step up like that,” Minard said. “He did a great job tonight.”

Minard also praised the announcement that Connor James will serve as captain for the remainder of the 2008-2009 season. James takes over the reigns from Dave Gove, who has been sidelined since November with an injury.

“When he talks, everyone listens,” Minard said of James. “It’s great for him.”

“It was a little nerve-racking, I haven’t done it since midget, but we’ve got a great bunch of leaders on this team,” James said of his first game as the team’s appointed leader. “Everyone does a great job. Not really anything changed, except for the sweater. Govey’s still around and if he comes back he’ll obviously wear it again. But for the time being it’s a big honor.”

BOXSCORE

Grand Rapids    0 2 1 – 3
W-B/Scranton  2 1 2– 5

First Period: 1, WBS, Caputi 17 (James) 7:24. 2, WBS, Taffe 23 (Johnson, Goligoski) 17:01 (PP). Penalties: WBS, Mormina (cross checking) 11:29; GR, McGrath (tripping) 16:21.

Second Period: 3, WBS, Minard 32 (James, Letestu) 6:31 (PP). 4, GR, Haydar 29 (Pare, McGrath) 14:59 (PP). 5, GR, Gagnon 8 (Lemieux) 18:04. Penalties: WBS, Engelland (cross checking) 0:17; GR, Abdelkader (hooking) 5:54; WBS, Mormina (hooking) 13:00.

Third Period: 6, GR, Emmerton 8 (Haydar, Kolosov) 0:28. 7, WBS, Pesonen 28 (Lovejoy, Mormina) 12:33. 8, WBS, Pesonen 29 (Taffe, Johnson) 16:24. Penalties: WBS, Boogaard (hooking) 10:02.

Shots on Goal: Grand Rapids 6-10-18--34. W-B/Scranton 9-10-11--30.

Power-play opportunities: Grand Rapids 1 of 4; W-B/Scranton 2 of 2.

Goalies: Grand Rapids, Larsson (30 shots, 25 saves). W-B/Scranton, Curry (34 shots, 32 saves).

Three Stars: 3, WBS, James (two assists). 2, WBS, Taffe (goal, two assists). 1, WBS, Pesonen (two goals).

Attendance: 6,432. Time: 2:16.

Referee: Francois Charron. Linesmen: Jameel Chaudry, Bob Fyrer.