WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – After 50 years without contact, the Carbondale UFOs returned to Northeast Pennsylvania and zapped the Springfield Thunderbirds, 4-1, on Saturday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
In the third installment of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ Community Night presented by Visit Luzerne County, Carbondale (38-22-7-1) had its offense kick into hyperdrive after surrendering the first goal. Four different players lit the lamp as they peppered Springfield with 44 shots on goal.
The UFOs were steered off course early, allowing the opening tally 1:47 into the contest. Jacob Hudson snatched a turnover in Carbondale’s zone, walked in and beat Joel Blomqvist over his glove for the first strike.
The game’s gravitational pull quickly shifted in the UFOs’ favor, spending more and more time in the offensive zone. Eventually, Carbondale tied things up as the culmination of a starry passing display. Filip Král launched a pass from the UFOs’ zone to the far blue line, followed by a pair of drop passes by Atley Calvert and Sam Poulin for Tristan Broz to bury the puck into an open cage at 13:32.
Twenty seconds later, Nolan Renwick jammed in his first pro goal to give the UFOs a 2-1 lead.
Just as a Carbondale man advantage expired late in the second period, Calvert stuffed a loose puck across the goal line for a two-goal lead.
The UFOs kept up the pace in the third period, but heroics from Springfield goalie Colten Ellis kept the T-Birds within striking distance. One of Ellis’ 40 stops in the game was a post-to-post, lunging glove stop that robbed Boris Katchouk midway through the final frame.
However, when Springfield pulled Ellis for an extra attacker, Emil Bemström capped off the night by snapping his team-leading 22nd goal into the empty net with 91 seconds remaining.
Blomqvist made 22 saves, earning the win in his first game since suiting up for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Mar. 2.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is tomorrow, Sunday, Apr. 13, as it closes out a three-in-three weekend against the Bridgeport Islanders. Puck drop between the Penguins and Islanders is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Total Mortgage Arena.
The Penguins return home on Wednesday, Apr. 16 for a date with the Providence Bruins. Two teams jockeying for playoff position in the Atlantic Division will face off at 7:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Individual-game tickets for the two remaining home games in the Penguins’ 2024-25 regular season can be purchased by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367, by visiting Ticketmaster.com or at the Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza box office.
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.
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