WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins erupted for an 8-0 win over the Rochester Americans as an exciting conclusion to the 2025-26 regular season on Saturday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Dominating all facets of the game, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton earned its greatest single-game goal total and widest margin of victory of 2025-26. The Penguins finish with a 46-17-7-2 record, good for 101 points. This marks the seventh 100-point season in franchise history, and its first since 2016-17.
The offense started early, as Rutger McGroarty kickstarted the party by chopping in a rebound 63 seconds into the contest. A power-play tip-in from Atley Calvert at 5:39 extended the Penguins’ lead to two.
The rest of the opening frame was marred by post-whistle scrums, scraps, and misconducts. The Penguins and Amerks combined for 50 penalty minutes in the first period, 42 of which were compiled in the last seven minutes of action.
Undeterred, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton charged out of the gates to rekindle its offense with four goals throughout the second period. McGroarty notched his second of the night with a sneaky, short-side shot at 4:49 of the middle frame.
Tristan Broz had a shot redirect over Scott Ratzlaff’s shoulder for a man-advantage marker at the midway mark of the second. That goal prompted Rochester to pull Ratzlaff and replace him with backup goaltender Topias Leinonen, but that did little to deter the Penguins’ scoring.
Owen Pickering found twine during a five-minute major penalty kill, the first shorthanded goal of his career. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard knifed in his 20th goal of the season four minutes later, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton went into the second intermission with a 6-0 edge.
Broz set up Ville Koivunen for a pretty power-play goal at the seven-minute mark of the third, and Harvey-Pinard logged his second goal of the evening moments later.
Sergei Murashov stopped all 27 shots he faced to lock down his fourth shoutout of his All-Star season.
Nine different Penguins recorded multi-point games. Both Pickering and Calvert posted career-highs with three points (1G-2A). The Penguins were a perfect three-for-three on the penalty kill, and three-for-five on the man advantage.
