PENGUINS RECLAIM FIRST PLACE WITH 4-1 WIN OVER BRUINS
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated the Providence Bruins, 4-1, on Wednesday night at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
With the victory, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (24-10-1-2) snatched back first place in both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference standings from Providence. Tristan Broz lit the lamp twice in front of an outstanding, 36-save showing by Sergei Murashov.
The Penguins seized an early lead when Joona Koppanen’s display of hand-eye coordination victimized his old team. After Michael DiPietro denied Atley Calvert’s shot on the rush, Koppanen swatted the rebound out of midair and dribbled the puck across the goal line 1:51 into the game.
At the seven-minute mark of the first period, Murashov robbed Bruins forward Dans Ločmelis of a tying tally by stretching his right leg as far as he could across the goal line.
Murashov continued to be tested during a pressing second period by Providence, but the 21-year-old refused to yield. He turned aside 19 shots in the middle frame alone and thwarted a pair of Bruins power plays in the process.
Broz unleashed a ripper from the high slot to extend Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s edge to 2-0 late in period two. Valtteri Puustinen delivered the puck to Broz prior to his wicked release, giving Puustinen the 100th assist of his AHL career.
The Penguins held the Bruins at bay for most of the third period, prompting Providence to aggressively pull DiPietro for an extra attacker with five minutes left in regulation. The gamble resulted in in empty-net goals for both Broz and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard.
With the result already at hand, Providence finally solved Murashov with 84 seconds left in regulation. Michael Callahan’s seeing-eye shot from the blue line bounced off of net-front traffic and ended up in the cage, busting up Murashov’s shutout bid.
DiPietro denied 20 of the 22 shots he faced.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is Friday, Jan. 16 against the Hartford Wolf Pack. As part of the Penguins’ Winter Beach Weekend, it will be Margaritaville Night and another 28/22 News Fan Control Friday. Select draft beers will be on sale for $2 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. courtesy of Coors Light and two Penguins players will be available for postgame autographs presented by Northeast Music Center.
Puck drop between the Penguins and Wolf Pack is slated for 7:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Season-ticket packages for the Penguins’ 2025-26 season, including Full-Season, 12-game, Flexbook and Premium Seating plans, as well as Corporate Partnership opportunities 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 Arena at Casey Plaza Box Office or 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.
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