PENGUINS DROP 5-2 DECISION TO PROVIDENCE

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins couldn’t break through the Providence Bruins’ top-ranked road penalty kill in a 5-2 loss Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

The Penguins (21-6-3-0, first in Atlantic Division) broke through for one power play goal, but left seven other man advantage opportunities on the table and saw their season-best seven-game with streak come to an end.

Providence opened the scoring at the 5:41 mark of the first period with a rebound goal from Justin Hickman. The Bruins struck again with a power play from Colby Cave at 7:11 of the opening frame, making it 2-0.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton answered with a sharp-angle snipe by Josh Archibald off a beautiful feed from Oskar Sundqvist at 11:45 of the opening frame. The goal was Archibald’s sixth goal of the season, and made it 2-1.

Just 19 seconds into the second period, Rob O’Gara scored on an odd-man break and extended Providence’s lead to 3-1.

The Bruins scored twice more before the middle frame ended with a short-handed breakaway goal from Zac Rinaldo at 12:39 and another man advantage marker from Peter Cehlárik at 16:44.

Oskar Sundqvist ripped a wicked slap shot past Providence’s goaltender on the power play at the 8:51 mark of the third period for his 14^th goal of the season. Sundqvist’s brought the game to its eventual final score, 5-2.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goalie Casey DeSmith was replaced by Doug Carr for the entire final frame of the contest. DeSmith made 17 saves on 22 shots. Carr stopped the only two shots he faced in net. Providence’s Zane McIntyre made 29 stops and improved his season record to 10-0-0.

The Penguins’ next game is tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 31, against the Binghamton Senators in a New Year’s Eve clash at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next home game is Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017 against the Hartford Wolf Pack, a team the Penguins are 3-0-0-0 against this season.

Individual game tickets for Tuesday night’s game and all Penguins home games, are available at the Mohegan Sun Arena box office, online at TicketMaster.com, or by calling 800-745-3000.

Penguins ticket packages, including 22-game, 12-game, and 10-voucher flex packs, are available directly through the Penguins offices by calling (570) 208-7367.