WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins began their weekend with a 5-3 win over the Cleveland Monsters on Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (11-8-3-0) received a pair of goals from Alex Nylander and saw multi-point efforts from four other players en route to victory.
Cleveland got on the board first while shorthanded. Roman Ahcan, shooting from a tough angle, found the back of the net two minutes into the game.
The Penguins fought back in the second period, pulling ahead with two goals. First, Ty Smith unleashed a bomb from the point that blazed past Monsters goalie Daniil Tarasov at 6:16 of the period. Three minutes later, Raivis Ansons took a pass from Matt Filipe and slammed it across the goal line, pulling the Penguins ahead, 2-1.
A fast-paced third period started with over seven minutes of uninterrupted gameplay. None of the end-to-end action resulted in any goals, but Nylander gave Wilkes-Barre/Scranton some insurance shortly thereafter.
Nylander danced around a pair of defenders before sliding the puck through Tarasov’s five hole for a 3-1 lead. Nylander’s masterclass in stickhandling came with 9:21 left in regulation.
The Penguins and Monsters combined for four goals in the final two and a half minutes of the game, starting with an empty-net goal from Corey Andonovski. Fourteen seconds later, James Malatesta popped a shot into the Penguins’ net. Nylander answered with an empty netter on the power play to push the score to 5-2 and render Ahcan’s tally that followed meaningless.
Magnus Hellberg made 34 saves for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, while Tarasov stopped 23 of 26 shots faced.
The Penguins are back at it again on home ice tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 9, as they host the Providence Bruins. Saturday’s showdown with the P-Bruins is also the team’s annual Teddy Bear Toss. Fans are encouraged to bring new, unwrapped stuffed toys to the game and throw them on the ice after the Penguins’ first goal. All of the stuffed toys collected will be donated to children in need this holiday season through Tobyhanna’s Operation Santa Claus.
Puck drop for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Providence is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
Season-ticket packages for the Penguins’ 25th season of hockey 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.
