CLEVELAND, Ohio – Radim Zohorna dominated the scoresheet in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ 5-2 win over the Cleveland Monsters on Monday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Zohorna scored a hat trick and added an assist to propel Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (31-20-8-1) to a bounceback victory after losing in overtime to Cleveland the day before.
The 6-foot-7 forward casts a big shadow, but Jack St. Ivany and Jagger Joshua managed to shine through as well. St. Ivany racked up three assists after being reassigned from the NHL four hours before game time, and Jagger Joshua notched a “Gordie Howe hat trick” by gathering a goal, an assist and a fight.
The Penguins seized an early lead on a double deflection at 5:45 of the first period. St. Ivany launched a shot towards the net that was then tipped by Zohorna and Joshua on its way across the goal line. Joshua was ultimately credited with the opening tally.
Cleveland clapped back with a power-play goal by Jake Gaudet, but Zohorna put Wilkes-Barre/Scranton back on top 91 seconds later. Zohorna unleashed a slap shot from the blue line that blazed through traffic and past Monsters goalie Malcolm Subban.
Vasily Ponomarev increased the Penguins’ lead to 3-1 on redirection of a rocket from Jack Rathbone at 5:36 of the second period. That goal occurred during an 18-shot barrage by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the second period, but Subban did his part to keep his team from falling too far behind.
The Monsters pulled back within one on a snipe by James Malatesta with 1:49 left before the second intermission.
Zohorna’s second of the game came on a redirect four minutes into the third period. The tip-in was initially waved off by the referee, but after a discussion by all four on-ice officials, the call was reversed to a good goal.
Zohorna completed the hat trick with a slick tip on the power play with 1:57 left in regulation.
Joel Blomqvist secured his 20th win of his rookie season by making 25 saves. Subban, who was making his Monsters debut, posted 35 saves on 40 shots faced.
The Penguins’ next game is the start of a three-in-three weekend, as they visit the Syracuse Crunch on Friday, Mar. 22 Opening faceoff for the Penguins and Crunch from Upstate Medical University Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next home game is also its annual Star Wars Night, as they take things into hyperdrive against the Utica Comets. Star Wars Night is Saturday, Mar. 23 with a 6:05 p.m. puck drop at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Individual-game tickets for the remaining contests in the Penguins’ 25th season as well as season-ticket packages for the 2024-25 campaign 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. Individual-game tickets are also available by visiting Ticketmaster.com, the Mohegan Sun Arena Box Office or calling the Penguins’ front office at (570) 208-7367.
