Americans Skate Around Penguins

"They're one of the better teams we've played," Patrick said. "I don't want to play them."

After four games this season, the teams have proven to be evenly matched. The Penguins took the season series 2-1-1, outscoring the Amerks 15-14. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (19-10-4) leads Rochester (17-10-1-3) by four points in the Mid-Atlantic Division. They could easily run into each other in the Calder Cup playoffs this spring.

"Yeah, I think you're looking at the top two teams in the division," said Rochester coach Randy Cunneyworth. "They're pretty deep teams throughout the four lines. It's unfortunate we don't meet again. Travel and distance and all that is factored in, but you can't foresee who's going to be a top team and who's going to be a bottom-rung team."

After a back-and-forth battle all night Saturday, Rochester took the lead for good when leading scorer Chris Taylor deflected a Joe Murphy shot from the point over Penguins goalie Joel Laing's shoulder at 14:38 of the third period.

"Murphy provided some good support, hammered it back to the net, and Tails had the good foresight to put his stick down," Cunneyworth said.

"He's got good hockey sense that way. He's been doing for it us all year."

When the dust settled, Laing had stopped 19 of 23 shots, halting his personal winning streak at four games.

"He lost his magic tonight, but he

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