SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Springfield Thunderbirds on Friday night at MassMutual Center.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (8-6-3-1) received an excellent performance from Anthony Peters between the pipes. Peters’ 39 saves were a season high for all Penguins goaltenders this season, but it fell short of the win as Springfield tallied a power play goal in overtime for the victory. Defenseman Ethan Prow also had a strong showing, factoring in on all three Penguins goals (1G-2A).
Springfield’s deadly power play saw Harry Zolnierczyk open the scoring with a tally 5:19 into the game.
The Penguins got on the board early in the second period with Joseph Cramarossa’s first goal of the year. Minutes later, Teddy Blueger potted a man advantage marker at 7:54 and gave Wilkes-Barre/Scranton its first lead of the game. However, Springfield offered a swift response as Paul Thomson evened things up, 2-2, 66 seconds after Blueger’s go-ahead goal.
Blaine Byron put the Penguins in a 3-2 hole going into the final stanza by scoring on a rebound with 1:24 left before the second intermission.
Halfway through the third period, Prow took a shot from the blueline that veered off of Springfield’s Ian McCoshen and into the back of the net for a 3-3 equalizer. The goal marked Prow’s third point on the night, giving him his third three-point game this season.
As time ran short in regulation, Peters conjured two magical glove saves to help the game reach overtime. Peters first denied Henrik Borgström with 1:01 left in the third period, and then came up with an equally spectacular stop on Ludwig Byström when only 1.7 seconds were shown on the clock.
Jacob MacDonald beat Peters 1:16 into the extra period with a one-timer on the power play, sending the Penguins home with their second straight overtime defeat. Samuel Montembeault finished the game with 26 saves in the win.
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