CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins emerged victorious at the end of special-teams-filled affair against the Cleveland Monsters, 6-3, on Saturday afternoon at Rocket Arena.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (3-2-1-0) scored on four of its eight man-advantage opportunities in the game. Rookie forward Mikhail Ilyin led the team’s offense with a career-best four-point outing, earning one goal and three assists.
The Penguins were dealt their first penalty kill of the day 10 seconds into the contest, but after calmly cleaning up that early kill, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took the lead. Hugh McGing unleashed a sniper’s shot from the top of the left circle for his first goal in Black and Gold at 2:54.
Avery Hayes secured his third tally of the weekend and fifth goal of the season with a power-play marker midway through the opening frame. Ilyin picked up his second primary assist of the game on the goal that put Wilkes-Barre/Scranton ahead 2-0.
The Monsters notched a power-play goal of their own with 6.4 seconds left before the first intermission, when Oiva Keskinen’s wrister from the blueline pinballed through traffic and fooled Taylor Gauthier.
The Penguins scored twice in quick succession in the second period, running their lead to 4-1. First, Melvin Fernström swept in a loose puck at 12:50 of the middle frame, followed by a power-play goal by Rutger McGroarty 53 seconds later.
After assisting on McGroarty’s man-advantage marker, Ilyin tucked in his own power-play goal 28 seconds into the third period, completing his four-point day.
A neverending deluge of minor penalties ensued throughout the final frame, granting both clubs more and more cracks at the power play. Luca Pinelli and Steven Lorentz both scored power-play goals for Cleveland, pulling the Monsters within two. However, another strike on the man advantage by McGroarty earned him his third point of the game and rounded out Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s six-goal output.
By the end of regulation, the Penguins and Monsters combined for 23 minor penalties. The Monsters went three-for-nine on power play, but were out-paced by the Penguins’ four-for-eight performance.
Gauthier earned the win with 27 saves. Cleveland goalie Evan Gardner suffered his first loss of the season, turning aside 26 shots.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is back on home ice on Friday, Oct. 23 against the Belleville Senators and is its first 28/22 News Fan Control Friday of the season. Select draft beers will be on sale for $2 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. courtesy of Coors Light, and there will be postgame player autographs presented by Northeast Music Center. It is also a Kids Free Friday, where children ages 12 and under can enter the game for free with the purchase of an adult ticket.
Game time for the Penguins’ return home will be 7:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Season-ticket packages for the Penguins’ 2026-27 regular season, including Full-Season, 22-game, 12-game, Flexbook and Premium Seating plans, as well as Corporate Partnership opportunities are also available by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367. Individual-game tickets can also be purchased at wbspenguins.com, at the Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza box office or by calling the Penguins’ front office at (570) 208-7367.
Every minute of Penguins 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.
By providing a telephone number, e-mail address, and submitting this form, you are consenting to be contacted by e-mail & SMS text message. Message & data rates may apply. You can reply STOP to opt-out of further messaging. See our privacy policy for more information.
