Adam Johnson scored on a penalty shot at 1:47 of overtime Saturday night, to give the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins a 4-3 win over the Wolf Pack at the XL Center.
The Wolf Pack battled back from 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 deficits in the game, but Johnson cashed in for the first overtime penalty shot goal ever scored against the Wolf Pack, after he was spilled by Vinni Lettieri on a breakaway. Johnson faked Wolf Pack goaltender Adam Huska (16 saves), before slipping a shot through his legs.
“A penalty shot was the right call there,” Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “It was a tough way to end the game.”
“We did a lot of good things tonight,” added Lettieri. “we were just fighting it too much at times.”
Though both teams traded rush chances for the first 10 minutes, the Penguins got on the board 11:16 into the first period, when Cole Cassels deflected a point shot from John Nyberg past Huska for his 14th goal of the season. Kevin Roy also assisted on the goal.
Just 45 seconds into the second period, Danny O’Regan tied the game, scoring his 11th of the season. Vincent LoVerde and Lettieri assisted on the tally.
The tie would not last, however. Ryan Scarfo scored his first goal of the season just 1:36 later, at 2:21, to give Wilkes-Barre Scranton the lead again. Jon Lizzote and Pierre-Olivier Joseph had the assists.
Just when it seemed like Hartford would end the period behind, Lettieri scored from behind the net off of Dustin Tokarski’s (25 Saves) leg with just 37.3 seconds left. “Anything can happen around the net,” said Lettieri of his 23rd goal of the year. “You’re always taught you just have to shoot when the goalie isn’t expecting it.” Darren Raddysh and Vitali Kravtsov assisted on the goal.
The Penguins once again took the lead 3:21 into the third, when Roy scored his 11th goal of the year. Johnson and Cassels assisted on the goal.
With 9:21 left, Vitali Kravtsov scored his fifth goal of the year on a breakaway. Nick Ebert and Steven Fogarty had the assists. “It was a back and forth game,” Lettieri said. “We had some good times, were on our heels at times. We played well defensively, we just need to get more time on offense.
“Obviously we wanted to win, but we just have to leave it behind us and get ready for tomorrow.”
By Micah Collins
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