SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tied their season-best winning streak by capturing their seventh win in a row as a result of a 3-1 victory over the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday night at Onondaga County Oncenter War Memorial Arena.
The Penguins (28-7-3-0) went into the third period without any goals, but still emerged with the win thanks to contributions from their line of Carter Rowney, Dominik Simon and Jake Guentzel.
Syracuse defenseman Jake Dotchin jumped up from his usual position on the blue line and nabbed the game’s first goal at 15:34 of the opening frame.
The second period was a penalty-filled affair, with little time spent at five-on-five. The period began with two full minutes of four-on-four hockey, and the Penguins and Crunch followed that up by combining for 14 penalty minutes in the period.
However, with all the open ice and special team opportunities for both sides, the middle frame ended with no goals and the Crunch still clinging to their 1-0 lead.
Rowney tied it, 1-1, at 5:33 of the third period with his second goal in as many games since returning from injury. Three minutes later, the puck bounced around a web of legs in front of the Syracuse net and ended up sliding between the legs of goalie Kristers Gudļevskis. The goal was ultimately credited to Simon and put the Penguins on top, 2-1.
Another devolution saw Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Syracuse rack up 14 penalty minutes in a 24-second span. The sequence resulted in four players for both teams in their respective penalty boxes at the same time.
Despite all of the penalty time in the game, the Penguins and Crunch both went 0-for-6 on the man advantage in the game until Guentzel sealed the victory for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with an empty net, power play goal at 19:26 of the third.
Casey DeSmith posted 22 saves in net for the Penguins, while Gudļevskis stopped 20 of 22 shots faced.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is Monday afternoon, Jan. 16, when they face off once again with the Syracuse Crunch at 1:00 p.m. at Onondaga County Oncenter War Memorial Arena. The Penguins’ next home showing is Saturday, Jan. 21, and their opponent will be the Hershey Bears.
Individual game tickets for the game on Jan. 21 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.
