Wild Season Finale Ends with Penguins' Overtime Loss
April 15, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins ended their 2022-23 season with a rollicking contest against the Charlotte Checkers. Unfortunately, the Checkers emerged with the win in overtime, 5-4, on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (26-32-8-6) couldn't slow down Charlotte's power play in the third period, as the Checkers rallied from multiple deficits to force OT. The chippy, high-octane game saw Penguins Valtteri Puustinen and Ty Smith pace all players with three-point nights.
The Penguins opened the scoring at 16:28 of the first period. Jamie Devane rifled a shot off the helmet of Checkers goalie Jean-François Bérubé, and the puck rolled its way to Ty Glover, who was there to stuff it in for the game's first goal.
Puustinen extended the Penguins' lead to 2-0 at 4:01 of the second period, scoring one second after the expiration of a Checkers penalty.
Anthony Bitetto put Charlotte on the board at 8:54 of the middle frame, but Wilkes-Barre/Scranton reestablished its two-goal edge on a power-play goal by Smith with 1:34 left before the second intermission.
Charlotte started the third period on the man advantage and saw a strike from Santtu Kinnunen pull the team within one 72 seconds into the frame. Another power-play goal by Connor Bunnaman tied the game, 3-3, 78 seconds later.
The run one power-play scoring continued with Jonathan Gruden tipping in a slap shot by Smith at 3:52 of the third, but the Checkers equalized again on the man advantage less than three minutes later.
The offense calmed down for the rest of regulation, giving way to sudden-death overtime. The Penguins possessed the puck for the first 1:54 of OT, but Bitetto's second of the night spoiled Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's season finale at 2:21 of the extra frame.
Dustin Tokarski logged 29 saves for the Penguins, while Bérubé emerged victorious with 33 stops.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will be back on the ice in the fall for the start of the 2023-24 campaign. Season-ticket packages for the 2023-24 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.
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