HARTFORD, Conn. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins completed a rare eight-game season sweep of the Hartford Wolf Pack with a 2-1 win on Saturday night.
The Penguins (49-19-3-1) moved within one point of clinching the Atlantic Division title with their narrow win over the Wolf Pack. Casey DeSmith led the way for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, turning aside 34 shots for his sixth-straight victory and 20th win on the season.
In the first period, the Penguins were tasked with killing off four different power plays awarded to the Wolf Pack. DeSmith and his teammates were successful on all four attempts, and entered the first intermission in a scoreless tie.
Patrick McGrath opened the scoring at 3:06 of the second period with his first career AHL goal. Five minutes later, Jean-Sébastien Dea got free in the high slot and wired a shot past Magnus Hellberg to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead.
In the third period, the Wolf Pack quickly found something to lift their spirits when Adam Tambellini scored just 15 seconds into the fame. After a breakout feed went awry, Dan Catenacci conjured a nifty pass from the corner right to Tambellini who notched his 13th goal of the season from a sharp angle, making it 2-1.
The penalty kill remained stout for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, going a perfect six-for-six on the night, including a six-on-four kill in the final two minutes of regulation as Hartford desperately tried to tie the score. DeSmith denied the Wolf Pack their equalizer with an exclamation mark by flashing a blocker save on Hartford’s leading scorer, Nicklas Jensen, with less than 20 seconds left in the game.
Hellberg made 25 stops on 27 shots faced while manning the crease for Hartford.
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