WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – In a battle of the Eastern Conference’s top two clubs, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins downed the Providence Bruins in overtime, 2-1, on Saturday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Avery Hayes scored the Penguins’ Teddy Bear Toss goal midway through the second period before Valtteri Puustinen cashed in for the overtime winner. With the victory, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (19-5-1-0) reclaimed first place in the conference from its New England rival.
In a high-flying start for the Penguins, they outshot the Bruins 20-9 in the first period. The opening frame ended in a 0-0 deadlock, but an early plot twist presented itself when Providence’s starting goalie, Michael DiPietro, left the game. DiPietro seemingly pulled himself from the action after thwarting the first 14 shots, and he was replaced by backup Šimon Zajíček.
The fluff flew at 12:45 of the second period when Hayes lit the lamp, bringing fuzz-filled chaos all over the ice after the Penguins took the game’s initial lead. Every new, unwrapped stuffed animal thrown onto the ice during the Teddy Bear Toss will be donated to children in need for the holidays thanks to Operation Santa Claus, a charitable organization operating out of the Tobyhanna Army Depot.
However, Providence answered back less than three minutes after the teddy bear clean-up. Riley Tufte tipped in a pinpoint feed from Matthew Poitras, notching the first power-play goal between the two sides in their season series.
Finn Harding had a glorious opportunity to break the tie seven-and-a-half minutes into the final frame on a one-timer from the high slot, but Zajíček conjured a huge save. Several minutes later, the Bruins had a go-ahead goal waved off due to goaltender interference, and the game stayed tied, 1-1.
Both Joel Blomqvist and Zajíček made a series of last-gasp saves before the buzzer sounded to end regulation.
Providence possessed the puck exclusively through the first 1:48 of overtime, but after Blomqvist came up with a clutch stop on Georgii Merkulov, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton rushed up ice for the game-winner.
Phil Tomasino pulled off a brilliant toe-drag move to his backhand, then feathered a pass to Puustinen on the backdoor. Puustinen slammed in the final blow at 2:08 of overtime, the fourth overtime goal of his career. With the highlight-reel assist, Tomasino secured a point for the seventh-straight game, tying the longest point streak of his career.
Blomqvist made 24 saves, improving his record on the season to 5-1-0. Zajíček performed admirably in defeat, stopping 34 out of 36 shots in his relief appearance for Providence.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is tomorrow, Dec. 14, a Sunday matinée with the Charlotte Checkers. Puck drop for the first of two matchups in three days between the Penguins and Checkers is slated for 3:05 p.m.
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