HERSHEY, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins came out on top of an intense, teeter-totter game against the Hershey Bears, taking a 4-3 win in overtime of Game 3 on Tuesday night at GIANT Center.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton now owns a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five, Atlantic Division Semifinals series after its stable of young prospects answered the bell in hostile territory. Tristan Broz logged three assists, Ville Koivunen posted two helpers, while Avery Hayes and Rutger McGroarty delivered clutch goals late in regulation and in overtime, respectively.
The game started strong for the Penguins, as they seized a 2-0 lead early in the first period. First, team captain Phil Kemp wired one to the back of the net at 3:15, followed by Mikhail Ilyin’s first AHL goal three minutes later.
Hershey started to turn the tide when Ivan Miroshnichenko potted his first goal of the postseason at the midway mark of the opening frame. Just before the first intermission, Bogdan Trineyev evened the scales, 2-2.
Brett Leason found twine just 37 seconds into the second period, putting the Bears in the lead.
The scoring subsided for over 36 minutes, putting the Penguins in a position where they had to pull their goalie for an extra attacker with 3:03 remaining in regulation. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton won the face-off, and 10 seconds later, Hayes lit the lamp to force overtime.
Five minutes into OT, McGroarty tipped in a point shot and secured both the first playoff goal of his professional career and the win for his team.
Sergei Murashov posted 26 saves for the Penguins, while Bears netminder Clay Stevenson turned aside 23 shots.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will have the opportunity to advance in Game 4 of the series, Thursday, May 7. Puck drop between the Penguins and Bears is slated for 7:00 p.m. at GIANT Center.
If necessary, Game 5 will be on the Penguins’ home ice on Saturday, May 9 at 6:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Individual playoff game tickets can be purchased by calling the Penguins’ front office at (570) 208-7367 or at wbspenguins.com. Penguins Playoff Packages are also available only by reaching out to the Penguins directly.
Playoff packages, which are billed on a pay-as-we-play basis, include tickets to every confirmed home game during the postseason. Each package also comes with an $8 voucher for every home game, which can be redeemed at Savor concession stands or at the Penguins Igloo Team Store located inside Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza on each designated game date.
Every minute of Penguins playoff hockey can be watched online with the league’s streaming service, AHLTV on FloHockey. AHLTV on FloHockey provides its subscribers access to not just every regular-season and Calder Cup Playoff game for all 32 AHL teams, but also more than 21,000 hockey contests from other professional and junior leagues on FloHockey, as well as access to all other live event streams and replays across FloSports.
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