Penguins Defeat Bears in Five-Round Shootout, 5-4
March 12, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - One goal in the shootout was all it took for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to defeat the Hershey Bears, 5-4, on Wednesday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Sam Poulin clinched the win for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (32-16-7-1) in the fifth round of the shootout, as Sergei Murashov improved to 8-0-0 in his AHL career by denying all five shootout attempts he faced.
Eight minutes into the game, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tallied the first goal of the night courtesy of a tip-in by Ville Koivunen. One minute and 44 seconds later, Rutger McGroarty jammed a rebound across the goal line for a power-play goal that increased the Penguins' lead to two.
Shortly thereafter, Hershey answered back after a turnover near the Zamboni doors allowed Dalton Smith to snipe a shot past Murashov.
The Bears evened the score 57 seconds into the second period when Ivan Miroshnichenko went bar-down over Murashov's right shoulder.
After a tremendous effort by the Penguins' forecheck, Mathias Laferričre extended his goal streak to three games by lighting the lamp at 15:44 of the middle frame. However, Hershey responded swiftly again, this time with Chase Priskie tying things up, 3-3, 1:27 later.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton wasted no time regaining the lead at the onset of the third period. Jack St. Ivany made an athletic play to keep the puck in the offensive zone, then McGroarty propelled it to a wide-open Avery Hayes who deked out Clay Stevenson and slid the puck past his outstretched left pad.
Hershey's Alex Limoges tied the game at four, deflecting a point shot perfectly to the top corner of the Penguins' net.
Hershey committed a late penalty in the third period, granting the Penguins several opportunities to secure the win in the last 23 seconds of regulation. Stevenson stepped up, turning aside two pristine chances from McGroarty.
The Penguins did not convert on the man-advantage time that carried over into overtime, and strong goaltending from both sides forced the game into a shootout.
Neither team scored in the first four rounds of the shootout, but Poulin snapped one through Stevenson's five-hole in round five, followed by one final kick save from Murashov.
Murashov recorded 31 saves through regulation and overtime. Stevenson made 25 stops in 65 minutes of play and denied four of five shootout bids.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's next game is Friday, Mar. 14, when the Penguins take down the turnpike for a rivalry matchup against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Puck drop from PPL Center is set for 7:05 p.m.
The Penguins return home on Friday, Mar. 21 for a visit from the Providence Bruins. The matchup between the Penguins and Bruins is set for 7:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Season-ticket packages for the Penguins' 2025-26 season are on sale now. Full-Season, 22-game, 12-game, Flexbook and Premium Seating plans are available by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367.
Every minute of Penguins hockey can be watched online with the league's streaming service, AHLTV on FloHockey. AHLTV on FloHockey provides its subscribers access to not just every regular-season and Calder Cup Playoff game for all 32 AHL teams, but also more than 21,000 hockey contests from other professional and junior leagues on FloHockey, as well as access to all other live event streams and replays across FloSports.
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