WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Providence Bruins defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 4-2, in Game Four of the Atlantic Division Semifinal on Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. The win allowed the Bruins to remain alive in the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs, and forced a decisive Game Five on Sunday afternoon in Wilkes-Barre.
The Bruins jumped out to a 4-0 lead that the Penguins eventually cut in half with a third period surge, but the comeback bid by the home team fell short against a Providence squad that was facing elimination.
Wayne Simpson buried his first goal of the playoffs just 1:15 into the game, and Colton Hargrove extended the lead eight minutes later with a power play goal.
Providence tacked on another goal with just 44.4 seconds remaining in the opening frame. Jake DeBrusk uncorked a short-side snipe on a three-on-one rush after taking a feed from Austin Czarnik.
DeBrusk added his second of the game by tipping in a slap shot from Bruins captain Tommy Cross at 14:09 of the second period.
The Penguins got on the board as Dominik Simon picked the pocket of Bruins defenseman Alex Grant and then flipped the puck over to Teddy Blueger, who wired a one-timer to the top corner with under three minutes left before the second intermission.
Simon earned another assist by helping to set up an Ethan Prow goal, making it 4-2 at 9:10 of the third period.
Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith posted 38 saves on the night, including a whopping 20 stops in the second period. Those 20 saves tied Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s franchise playoff record for saves in one period, set five years ago by Brad Thiessen against the St. John’s IceCaps.
Zane McIntyre halted 27 shots for his second win of this postseason.
The final game in the best-of-five series is Sunday, Apr. 30, at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. Puck drop for Game Five of the Atlantic Division Semifinal is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. Individual tickets for Sunday afternoon’s game are available at the Mohegan Sun Arena box office, online at TicketMaster.com, or by calling 570-208-7367.
Penguins postseason ticket packages, which include tickets to every home contest during the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs, are on sale now. With the purchase of a postseason ticket package, fans will receive a $6 food/merchandise voucher for every home game in the playoffs, as well as their same seat guaranteed. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton fans can secure their seats for every home game on the Cup run by contacting the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367.
"*" indicates required fields
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.