WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins served up a Halloween treat with their 3-2 takedown of the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Led by a two-goal performance from Sam Poulin, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (8-1-0-0) returned to their winning ways after suffering their first loss of the season on Wednesday.
The Penguins opened the scoring 14:14 into the first period when Poulin bagged his first goal of the night. After accepting a pass from Ryan Graves, Poulin was knocked off balance, but shoveled a backhander off the post and in.
Two-and-a-half minutes later, Bridgeport’s Alex Jefferies evened things up.
Despite the Penguins heavily outshooting the Islanders 17-6, the score remained even at 1-1 going into the first intermission. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton continued to pepper Marcus Högberg throughout the middle frame, but failed to break through. Atley Calvert had a breakaway opportunity to snap the deadlock, but Högberg fought off his high wrist shot.
Poulin finally broke the stalemate at 13:52 of the third period. His second of the night arrived looking for Avery Hayes on the backdoor, but Poulin instead shuffled the puck underneath Högberg for the 2-1 lead.
Danton Heinen notched an empty netter to make it a 3-1 contest with under two minutes left to play. Bridgeport scored on a floater from Cole McWard with 11.9 seconds remaining, but the Penguins locked down defensively in the final moments of the game to clinch the 3-2 victory.
Filip Larsson stopped 22 shots, improving his record to 3-0-0. Högberg denied 31 of the 33 shots he faced for Bridgeport.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 1, against the Utica Comets. Puck drop is set for 6:00 p.m. at Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, N.Y. The Penguins’ next home game is Wednesday, Nov. 5, when they take on the Toronto Marlies. Game time for the Penguins and Marlies is slated for 7:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.