WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins scored four unanswered goals to erase a three-goal deficit and defeat the Cleveland Monsters in overtime, 5-4, on Saturday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Owen Pickering scored the decisive goal late in overtime after Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (26-11-4-0) tied things up with 18.3 seconds left in regulation. Down 4-1 after the first period, Sam Poulin collected three points (1G-2A) during the Penguins’ comeback, giving way to Pickering’s heroics.
After a successful penalty kill by the Penguins to start the sudden death session, the two teams traded rushes up and down the ice to no avail. As time was winding down, Avery Hayes found Pickering open atop the Monsters crease, thread a pass through traffic for Pickering to snap off the post and in with only 23.1 seconds left in OT.
Cleveland scored the first goal of the night 3:21 in off a slick move across the slot by Joseph LaBate.
Jack St. Ivany threw a seeing-eye shot to the top corner of the Monsters’ net to briefly tie the game, but Rocco Grimaldi clapped back for Cleveland a mere 36 seconds later. A flurry of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton penalties followed, leading to two different five-on-three power plays for the Monsters. Cleveland cashed in on both, first with Trey Fix-Wolansky finding twice followed by Labate’s second of the night.
The Penguins had a two-man advantage of their own late in the first frame, but were hit the post twice. Thus, the Monsters maintained their 4-1 lead going into the first intermission.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton shrunk Cleveland’s lead to two when Valtteri Puustinen’s wrist shot redirected off of Joona Koppanen and to the back of the net at 5:32 of the second stanza.
Midway through the third, Poulin feathered a pass from below the goal line towards the net-front for Jonathan Gruden, who utilized quick hands to beat Monsters goalie Jet Greaves and make it a one-goal game.
In the dying seconds of regulation with the goalie pulled, Poulin shoveled the puck past Greaves for the game-tying marker, sending Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza into a frenzy.
Sergei Murashov stopped 29 of the 33 shots that he faced, improving to 6-0-0 to start his AHL career. Greaves turned aside 37 bids in defeat.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is down in Chocolatetown on Tuesday, Feb. 11 against the Hershey Bears. Puck drop between the Penguins and Bears is slated for 7:00 p.m. at Giant Center.
The Penguins return home on Friday, Feb. 14 to take on another Keystone State rival, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Valentine’s Day bout marks another WBRE 28 / WYOU 22 Fan Friday, with select draft beers on sale for $2 from 6:00-7:30 courtesy of Coors Light and postgame player autographs presented by Northeast Music Center. Game time for the Penguins and Phantoms will be 7:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Season-ticket packages for the Penguins’ 2024-25 season are on sale now. Full-Season, 22-game, 12-game, Flexbook and Premium Seating plans are available by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367.
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