CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins raced past the Charlotte Checkers with a 5-1 victory on Friday night at Bojangles’ Coliseum.
Tristan Broz energized the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (23-9-1-2) offense with a goal and three assists, the first four-point game of his career. Broz’s linemates Atley Calvert and Valtteri Puustinen both chipped in with a goal and an assist as the Penguins decisively snapped their losing streak at three games.
Broz put the Penguins on the board with a ludicrous snipe six-and-a-half minutes into the first period. Shortly after the end of a man advantage, Broz stripped a Checkers skater of the puck, turned around, and whipped a pinpoint shot under the crossbar for his team-leading 11th tally of the season.
The Penguins appeared to extend their lead to two when Matt Dumba rifled a shot through traffic midway through the second period, but the goal was disallowed due to a crease violation. Undeterred, Dumba later set up Boko Imama for an irrefutable insurance marker at 17:03 of the middle frame.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton went up by three and four goals on a pair of quick, third-period strikes created by Broz. First, Gabe Klassen caught a perfect pass from Broz as he was streaking into the offensive zone, and Klassen beat Cooper Black through his five-hole at 8:13 of the final frame. Three minutes later, Broz feathered a feed to Puustinen, who slickly delivered a backhand finish for a 4-0 lead.
Ben Steeves broke Sergei Murashov’s shutout bid at 11:46 of the third, but Calvert reestablished the Penguins’ four-goal advantage at 14:15 with assists from Puustinen and Broz.
Murashov finished with 21 saves, while Black stopped 27 of 32 shots faced.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Charlotte go head-to-head for a rematch tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 10. Game time from Bojangles’ Coliseum is set for 6:00 p.m.
The Penguins’ next home game is Friday, Jan. 16, when the Hartford Wolf Pack come to town for a back-to-back set. Puck drop for the Penguins and Wolf Pack is set for 7:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
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