Sens vs. Penguins 2/25/04 Articles: Cook's first AHL goal gives Penguins win
February 26, 2004

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Jonathan Bombulie of Citizen Voice.com Scranton Times Tribune

Cook's first AHL goal gives Penguins win

By: Jonathan Bombulie , Sports Staff 02/26/2004

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - Having played in just four American Hockey League games, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defenseman Jesse Cook is still feeling his way around at this level of pro hockey.

His sense of timing, however, does not need any work at all.
Cook scored his first AHL goal at a critical juncture of the third period as the Penguins defeated the Binghamton Senators 4-3 Wednesday night.

With 10 minutes left in the game, Alexandre Giroux took advantage of a miscommunication between Eric Meloche and David Koci at the Penguins blue line and swooped in all alone on net. Giroux flipped a shot between the pads of goaltender Sebastien Caron to tie the score 3-3.
It could have been a back-breaker for the Penguins, who dominated the first half of the game only to see a two-goal lead evaporate late.
But on the very next shift, Cook made his way up the right-wing boards, picked up a loose puck and took a wrist shot.

"Good things happen when you put it on net," Cook said.
Indeed. The puck took a deflection off the shin pad of Wyoming Seminary graduate Arpad Mihaly and skipped past goalie Ray Emery to put the Penguins up 4-3.

"It feels good," Cook said. "Everyone worked hard. The team's on a little bit of a roll and you can see it's all due to hard work. It's fun to be here right now."

Cook's goal would not have held up as the game-winner if the Penguins did not get a favorable call from referee Gord Dwyer in the game's waning moments.

With 2:58 left, Guillaume Lefebvre was sent off for cross-checking. With the puck loose in the crease on the ensuing power play, Binghamton's David Hymovitz stood at the post to Caron's left and whacked away.

The Senators contended that Caron pulled the puck out of the net. Their fans agreed. So did the goal judge, who turned the red light on.
Dwyer had the final say, though, and he said the puck never crossed the line.

Was the referee's call correct?

"I'm not sure, but I think so," Caron said with a guilty grin. "I think so."

Dwyer's decision represents a bit of poetic justice for the Penguins, who had a game-winning goal nullified with 4.1 seconds due to a phantom goalie interference call on Matt Murley last Friday in Albany.

"I didn't see it, so I guess it was a good call," coach Michel Therrien said. "I'm not sure (Binghamton coach John Paddock) is going to say it's a good call, but I've been on the other side of that so many times."

The Penguins extended their unbeaten streak to five games (3-0-2) and moved to within two points of Binghamton for the fifth and final playoff spot in the East Division. The Penguins have played three fewer games.

"We were ready to play tonight. That's what we talked about before the game, the importance of being ready to play at this time of year," Therrien said. "It feels good to get this win. Most of the times this season, those type of games have gone against us."

The Penguins pressed the action in the first half of the game, taking a 24-9 advantage on the shot clock and scoring three times in the last six minutes of the first period.

First, Eric Meloche took a hit in the defensive zone to get the puck ahead to Michel Ouellet on the right wing. Ouellet found Toby Petersen, who streaked down the slot and beat Emery with a backhand move to tie the score 1-1 with 5:55 left.

Marquis Mathieu and Colby Armstrong picked up greasy goals around the net in the final three minutes of the period to put the Penguins ahead 3-1.

Binghamton stayed in the game thanks to superior special teams. The Senators went 2-for-3 on the power play in the first two periods, getting goals from Giroux and Denis Hamel. The Penguins, meanwhile, went 0-for-5 without offensive defenseman Patrick Boileau, who missed the game with back spasms.

"We were playing well 5-on-5," Therrien said. "Where we were in trouble was on special teams. This is where you could see we were missing Patrick Boileau."