HUGLEN HAT TRICK HIGHLIGHTS PENS’ DOMINANT 6-2 WIN
ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins blew past the Lehigh Valley Phantoms with a 6-2 win on Saturday night at PPL Center.
A natural hat trick and four-point outing by Aaron Huglen allowed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (43-16-6-2) to stand tall in its final meeting of the season against its turnpike rival, wrapping up a lopsided season series. The Penguins went 10-0-1-1 in their 12 matchups with the Phantoms, outscoring Lehigh Valley 53-24 along the way.
Aidan McDonough started the Saturday-night party with a wicked shot that beat Aleksei Kolosov 2:17 into the game. Huglen tallied 18 seconds later, putting the Penguins up by a pair early.
When the teams were skating at four-on-four, Huglen undressed a defender before breaking towards Kolosov and burying his second goal of the night at 3:59. In total, the Penguins notched their first three goals in 102 seconds of game time before the four-minute mark of the first period.
Things stayed quiet until the seven-minute mark of the middle frame, when Huglen completed his hatty. A wrister from the blue line glanced off of the rookie’s back and knuckled across the goal line, creating a 4-0 Penguins lead.
Atley Calvert banked in a pinpoint feed from Ville Koivunen for a power-play goal and 5-0 edge at 11:07 of the second.
The Phantoms answered back one minute later with a man-advantage marker by leading scorer Lane Pedersen.
Huglen notched an assist on Rutger McGroarty’s one-time snipe 2:29 into the third period, making it a 6-1 game.
Another power-play goal by the Phantoms arrived with 5:10 remaining in regulation, as Cole Knuble picked the corner for his first pro goal.
Joel Blomqvist finished with 22 saves, as the Penguins improved to 25-7-2-1 on the road, thus securing the best away record in franchise history. Kolosov logged just 16 saves in the loss.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is on Thursday, Apr. 9 against the Bridgeport Islanders. Game time for the Penguins’ last away game of the season is set for 7:00 p.m. at Total Mortgage Arena.
The Penguins’ next home game is Saturday, Apr. 11, when the team adopts the one-night moniker of the Steamtown Gandy Dancers for the latest installment of its Community Night Series presented by Visit Luzerne County. The Gandy Dancers will take on the Cleveland Monsters with a 6:05 p.m. departure at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
The Penguins have five games left in their regular season before starting their run in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Postseason opponents and schedules are yet to be determined, but fans can cheer on the team throughout its entire playoff run by purchasing a Penguins Playoff Package.
Playoff packages, which are billed on a pay-as-we-play basis, include tickets to every confirmed home game during the postseason. Each package also comes with an $8 voucher for every home game, which can be redeemed at Savor concession stands or at the Penguins Igloo Team Store located inside Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza on each designated game date.
Penguins Playoff Packages, as well as individual-game tickets for the remaining regular-season home games are available by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367 or at wbspenguins.com.
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.
The post HUGLEN HAT TRICK HIGHLIGHTS PENS’ DOMINANT 6-2 WIN appeared first on WBS Penguins.