St. John's loses home finale as Kolarik hat trick lifts Penguins over IceCaps

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Chad Kolarik completed his hat trick with a goal in overtime and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins handed St. John's a 5-4 loss on Sunday in the IceCaps' home finale.

Jason Jaffray led the IceCaps (31-35-7) with three assists, while Will O'Neill, Ray Sawada, Josh Lunden and Julian Melchiori each scored a goal. Goaltender Ed Pasquale made 29 saves for St. John's.

Warren Peter had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (42-28-4), while Dominik Uher and Trevor Smith added singles.

The Penguins got on the board first at 17:49 with Kolarik's first of the night. All alone in front of the net with plenty of time, Kolarik patiently waited and then picked the top right corner of the net.

Lunden equalized two minutes later when he converting a short-handed 2-on-1 with Jaffray, thanks to an outlet pass from Arsene.

The Penguins added to their lead at 2:53 on a goal from Uher, who put in a rebound over a sprawling Pasquale.

The IceCaps fought back for the tie at 4:07 when Arsene took a shot from the point and Sawada tipped it high over goalie Brad Thiessen.

St. John's took their first lead of the game at 9:04 on Melchiori's first goal of the season. He unleashed a heavy shot from the point that found the top shelf during 4-on-4 play.

The lead was short-lived as Smith levelled the teams at 3-3 less than 30 seconds after the last goal at 9:27. Smith stole the puck in the neutral zone and scored a breakaway goal five-hole.

The IceCaps reclaimed the lead in the third period on a goal from O'Neill at 11:54. Jaffray made a neat pass through traffic over to O'Neill who wristed the puck over Thiessen's shoulder.

Kolarik levelled the game at four when he put home a loose puck at 14:43.

Kolarik added the overtime winner at 2:09 when he gained the zone and put a low wrist shot past Pasquale.