ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins came out on the losing end of a back-and-forth affair against the Rochester Americans, 6-4, on Friday night at Blue Cross Arena.
In a game full of momentum swings, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (8-3-1-0) erased a three-goal deficit to tie the game, 4-4, in the third period. However, Rochester’s eighth power-play opportunity of the night put the Americans back on top for good.
The Americans took a 1-0 lead on a tip-in goal from Trevor Kuntar 12-and-a-half minutes into the game. However, Mathieu De St. Phalle pulled the Penguins even 35 seconds later.
Rochester then proceeded to rattle off three-straight goals in the last four minutes of the first period, to capture a commanding, 4-1 advantage. Jake Leschyshyn muscled in a power-play goal at 16:13, followed by Matteo Costantini scoring in his AHL debut one minute later. Kuntar snagged his second of the night with 27.4 seconds left in the opening frame, rounding out Rochester’s surge.
Alex Alexeyev breathed life into Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by driving a shot from the blue line past Devon Levi at 2:40 of the second period. Tristan Broz pulled off a snipe from a seemingly impossible angle at 15:29 of the middle frame, cutting the Penguins’ deficit to one shortly after the expiration of a four-on-three power play.
Maxim Pavlenko came into the game at the start of the second period, replacing Penguins starting goalie Filip Larsson. In his first period of AHL action, Pavlenko denied all eight shots he faced, including a flurry of bids during a late, Rochester power play.
Pavlenko continued to hold down the fort until Sam Poulin found a 4-4 equalizer at the seven-minute mark of the third period.
Pavlenko was finally fooled when Rochester’s Zach Metsa floated a wrist shot through heavy traffic during a power play, giving the Amerks back a 5-4 lead at 11:57 of the final frame. An empty-net goal by Viktor Neuchev ultimately sealed the victory for Rochester.
Levi posted 22 saves while manning the Amerks’ crease. Pavlenko became the goaltender of record for the Penguins, taking the loss with 16 saves on 17 shots faced in relief. Larsson left the game after making seven saves on 11 shots.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 8, when the Penguins host the Utica Comets for their Veteran’s Day game presented by Workers For Warriors. Puck drop between the Penguins and Comets is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.