WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins earned a 4-1 win over the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
A three-goal second period propelled Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (12-9-3-0) past the visitors. Furthermore, the Penguins went four-for-four on the penalty kill, including a shorthanded goal from Matt Filipe.
The Penguins took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission thanks to a late goal from Rem Pitlick. Pitlick tipped a point shot by Xavier Ouellet past Crunch goalie Matt Tomkins with 38.8 seconds remaining in the opening frame.
Jack Rathbone doubled the Penguins’ lead at 7:21 of the second period. After a lengthy board battle resulted in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton chiseling the puck to Rathbone, the defender launched a shot past a screened Tomkins.
Syracuse got on the board when Shawn Element scored on an offensive-zone faceoff win, but Wilkes-Barre/Scranton answered back 20 seconds later. Austin Rueschhoff restored the Penguins’ two-goal on a redirection of Dmitri Samorukov’s drive from the blue line with 4:39 left in the middle frame.
Two minutes after Reuschhoff’s goal, Filipe rushed up ice for a shorthanded breakaway and beat Tompkins to round out the scoring.
Magnus Hellberg made 24 saves in the win for the Penguins, while Tomkins turned away 22 shots at the other end.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton travels to Upstate New York for a Friday-night matchup with the Utica Comets on Dec. 15. Game time for the Penguins and Comets is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Adirondack Bank Center.
The Penguins quickly return to Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza on Saturday, Dec. 16 to host the Rochester Americans. Saturday night’s tilt between the Penguins and Amerks will begin at 6:05 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.
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