WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – A month ago Dustin Jeffrey was the leading scorer on the Springfield Falcons’ roster.
Tonight he led the charge against his former team.
Jeffrey, taking the ice against the Falcons for the first time since a trade deadline deal that returned him to northeastern Pennsylvania, picked up three points (1G-2A) in a 4-3 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins victory on Tuesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
“Any time you’re going against your former team, you want to have a good performance,” said Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli, whose team raised its record to 41-22-4-1. “I thought he was skating really well, and I’m really happy for him.”
It didn’t take long for Jeffrey to offer a warm welcome to his old mates, as he broke free for a breakaway goal at 5:11 of the first period, putting the Penguins up 1-0.
Domenic Monardo answered by swiping in a rebound at 8:14 of the first, tying the score, 1-1.
The Penguins pulled back ahead, 2-1, on a poetic passing play between Will O’Neill, Jeffrey, and Dominik Simon with the Czech rookie acting as the finisher at 10:53 of the opening frame.
Just 58 seconds into the second period, Craig Cunningham snuck a shot past Tristan Jarry, once again tying the score. However, that tie wouldn’t last long.
After back-to-back puck-swarming shifts, Niclas Andersén netted his fourth goal of the season 1:48 after Cunningham’s equalizer, lifting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton back into a 3-2 advantage on the scoreboard.
Tom Sestito tipped in a power play goal at 10:52 of the third period, extending the Penguins’ lead to 4-2.
Springfield made things interesting when Greg Carey scored with the goalie pulled in favor of an extra attacker when only 54.4 seconds were left in the game, but the Falcons could not find another tying goal by the sound of the final buzzer.
Sestito’s goal ultimately stood as the game-winner, as well as the Penguins’ lone man advantage goal on five opportunities. Springfield was unsuccessful on all four of its power plays, as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has now killed off 10-straight penalties over the course of its last three games.
The contest wrapped up in a dead heat in shots on goal, with both teams turning 31 pucks at the opposing netminder. Jarry completed the night with 28 saves, while Marek Langhamer made 27 stops.
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