PENGUINS FALL SHORT IN CLEVELAND, 4-2

BOXSCORE

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins suffered a 4-2 setback to the Cleveland Monsters on Friday night at Rocket Arena.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (2-2-1-0) jumped out to an early lead and received two goals from Avery Hayes, who now leads the club with eight points (4G-4A) on the season. Hayes’ offense was matched by a pair of goals by Cleveland’s Mikael Pyyhtiä, and the Monsters pulled away in the third period to secure their fourth win in a row.

It didn’t take long for the Penguins to get on the board, with Hayes rifling a top-corner shot behind Pheonix Copley just 54 seconds into the game. But the Monsters’ response came in a flash. Pyyhtiä buried a power-play goal fewer than two minutes later.

Hayes put the Penguins back in the lead midway through the second period, albeit thanks to a bizarre bounce. Hayes’ dump-in from the neutral zone rattled off the glass, but the puck made an unexpected trajectory towards the net. Copley had left his crease, expecting the puck to harmlessly roll behind his net. However, it skittered right between his vacated posts and put Wilkes-Barre/Scranton ahead, 2-1.

Pyyhtiä polished off a two-on-one rush with 1:53 left before the second intermission, once again tying the score.

Steven Lorentz also converted on a two-on-one 1:50 into the third, putting Cleveland in the lead for the first time, 3-2.

An empty-net goal by James Malatesta tidied things up for the Monsters.

Joel Blomqvist finished with 23 saves on 26 shots against. Copley took home the win with 18 saves.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Cleveland will do battle again tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 17. The rematch is slated for 3:00 p.m. at Rocket Arena.

The Penguins’ next home game is their first 28/22 News Fan Control Friday of the season on Friday, Oct. 23 against the Belleville Senators. 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.