WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins ended their weekend by defeating the Bridgeport Islanders, 4-1, on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Taking to the ice on Military Appreciation Night presented by MetLife, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (27-18-7-1) raced out of the gates with two early goals from Jonathan Gruden and Jagger Joshua. Stellar goaltending from Magnus Hellberg paved the rest of the way to a Penguins win.
Gruden and Joshua scored 48 seconds apart in the opening three minutes of the game, setting up the Penguins up with a 2-0 lead. Gruden batted a puck out of mid-air at the side of Jakub Škarek’s net 2:03 into the game. Joshua’s work around the net-mouth allowed him to snag a greasy goal shortly after.
The Islanders appeared to earn a power-play goal right before the buzzer at the end of the first, but a video review proved otherwise. The clock had run down to 0.0 before the puck crossed the goal line, keeping the Penguins’ 2-0 lead intact.
Hellberg thwarted a second-period penalty shot attempt by Julien Gauthier, catching a piece of the puck off his blocker before Gauthier’s bid struck the post.
Karson Kuhlman cut the Penguins’ lead to one four minutes into the third, but Wilkes-Barre/Scranton reestablished its two-goal edge 27 seconds later. Dmitri Samorukov banked a shot off an Islanders’ defender and into the net, making it 2-1.
After two successful penalty kills by the Penguins, an empty netter from Matt Filipe sealed the victory.
Hellberg totaled 31 saves on 32 shots. Škarek stopped 26 of the 29 bids thrown his way.
The Penguins will be back in action on Friday, Mar. 1, when they host the Charlotte Checkers for the first of back-to-back games at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. Friday’s game will begin at 7:05 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.
