gery next week and will be placed on injured reserve. "

[blueberryjerry]

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. . -- At the risk of jinxing his red-hot teammate between the pipes, St. Johns IceCaps forward Patrice Cormier kept his comments about the play of goaltender Michael Hutchinson understated Wednesday night. "Hutchinson was again pretty good," Cormier said. "Knock on wood." Only superstition stopped Cormier from handing out more effusive praise. Hutchinson made 30 saves to record his second shutout of the playoffs as the IceCaps routed the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5-0 on Wednesday in Game 3 of the American Hockey Leagues Eastern Conference final. The IceCaps lead the series 2-1. Game 4 will be played Thursday night in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. "We had a couple early power plays that sort of got us going," said winger Andrew Gordon, who had three assists. "Maybe they didnt execute quite to the level that theyre used to in this building, but we had a real good effort. Sometimes you get rewarded." Eric ODell had a goal and an assist. Jason Jaffray, Kael Mouillierat, Zach Redmond and Cormier all scored as well. Hutchinson raised his post-season record to 9-4 with a .945 save percentage. The IceCaps scored on consecutive shots less than two minutes apart in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. Josh Morrissey, on his 19th birthday, took a cross-ice pass from Gordon in the right face-off dot and put a puck on the stick of Cormier in the slot for a re-direction goal on the power play at 11:24. Gordon intercepted a pass by Penguins winger Spencer Machacek behind the net and fed Jaffray in front for a goal at 13:15. "They outplayed us all over the ice," Penguins winger Tom Kostopoulos said. "They capitalized on their chances. They were clearly the better team." After killing a 65-second five-on-three Penguins power play late in the first period, the IceCaps forced another turnover on the forecheck early in the second, and ODell buried at loose puck at the left post to make the score 3-0. "If they score (on the five-on-three power play), youre like, Uh oh, its a game," Cormier said. "Kill that and I dont want to say weve got momentum, but we go into the second feeling good." Mouillerat scored from the goal-line on a five-on-three advantage at 6:24 and Redmond sent a slapshot on net from the blue-line that hit the glove of goalie Peter Mannino and trickled over the goal-line with a second left in the period to give the IceCaps a 5-0 edge going into the third. "I think there were a couple goals today that were backbreakers," Gordon said. "That one with a second left, that hurts. Ive been on the other end of those a few times and that hurts. Timely goals today were probably a momentum killer for them." Mannino, who played every minute of the Penguins first 13 playoff games, was pulled after stopping 19-of-24 shots in the first two periods. The Penguins are 0 for 13 on the power play in the series. Matt Murray stopped all eight shots he faced in relief. . Watch all the action unfold live on TSN and TSN Mobile TV at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. You can also watch the game live with the debut of Wednesday Night Hockey on TSN.ca and chat throughout the game with TSN. . 1 status and was unable to prevent a late season collapse, James Reimer said he wants to put the past behind him and is looking forward to spending the next two years in a Maple Leaf uniform. . On paper, it looks a little like Andre the Giant taking on a midget wrestler. It has all the makings of a rout with the Americans adding an eighth win in nine outings of this biennial event. The Yanks have eight players in the top 15 in the world while the Internationals have just one.SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Carolina Panthers rookie running back Tyler Gaffney will have season-ending surgery after tearing the lateral meniscus in his left knee. Gaffney was Carolinas sixth-round draft pick out of Stanford and was expected to provide some depth in the backfield. Panthers coach Ron Rivera said Saturday night after practice that Gaffney will have surgery next week and will be placed on injured reserve. "Were disappointed for him and were disappointed for us because he certainly fit what we do," Rivera said. Gaffney started 14 games last season for Stanford and led the team with 1,709 yards rushing on 330 carries. Rivera said Gaffney injured his knee in Friday nights Fan Fest while attempting to make a cut. Gaffney left practice early, but didnt appear to be seriously hurt at the time. An MRI showed differently. "It was on a running play," Rivera said. "He ran a sweep coming out to our offfensive left (side). . He made a really nice cut. It was a bump and a little bit of a turn on the knee and he said he felt it pop." Gaffney had 486 carries last season, second-most in Stanford history. He ranked first in the Pac-12 and fifth in the nation with 21 touchdowns rushing. He compiled nine 100-yard rushing performances, the second most in Stanford history. The 6-foot, 220-pound Gaffney stood a good chance to make Carolinas roster even with a crowded backfield that includes veterans DeAngelo Williams, Stewart and fullback Mike Tolbert. Rivera said the Panther plan to sign another running back, particularly with Stewart hobbled by a hamstring injury. Rivera said the team will miss Gaffneys toughness, calling him a "workhorse style of back. Hes similar in stature to Jonathan Stewart. He runs like Jonathan and he would have been a good (insurance) policy for us." ' ' '

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