Game Story: Bridgeport - 1 at W-B/Scranton - 4 (2/24/24)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins had a good response Saturday against Bridgeport, defeating the Islanders 4-1 and finishing the week - and the month of February - on a positive note.

Jonathan Gruden continues to lead the way, as he extended his points scoring streak to six games (four goals, five assists) with a goal and an assist Saturday - including opening the scoring 2:03 into the contest to get the Penguins off and running.

The Penguins jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals from Gruden and Jagger Joshua, and never really looked back.

Karson Kuhlman gave Bridgeport life when his early third period tally brought the Islanders back within a goal, but that's as close as they would get.

Dmitri Samorukov (goal, assist) tallied an insurance marker in the third period before Matt Filipe completed the scoring with an empty net tally to seal the deal on the Penguins' bounce back win.

Penguins goaltender Magnus Hellberg put together one of his strongest performances of the season, stopping all but one of the 32 shots that came his way.

Islanders goaltender Jakub Skarek stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced in the loss.

Post-Game EXTRA!

Penguins head coach JD Forrest

On Saturday being a bounceback win to end the week

"Yes it was. I thought we played hard, we came out fast, you know, and held on to it. It was a good game."

"I think of all the guys in there knew we wanted a response, and it was a big game for us. So they definitely came through with that."

Penguins goaltender Magnus Hellberg

On when he knew that tonight was going to be his night, and the 2nd period penalty shot save

"Obviously, some nights you feel better than others. But no, I've been feeling good the entire day. I felt really good in warm ups. But you know, I just try to focus on one puck at a time, sometimes you get the bounces with you. Sometimes it doesn't go your way. So you got to stay humble then, and see it for what it is. But no, I felt good. I think I had good positioning. And obviously, when they hit the post [on the penalty shot], like that to, I felt like I was in a pretty good spot to force him to try to shoot it [there]. It hit the post and out, so I'll take that. Thank you very much."

Penguins forward Jagger Joshua

On Saturday's game, and especially the start of the game, being a back-to-their-roots kind of performance.

"100%. I mean, I think that's something that we emphasized in practice this week was getting to the hard areas and getting to the net. And, you know, thankfully, it paid off for us early and we got to play with a lead."

On his fight with tough customer Seth Helgeson

"I mean, there's definitely a little thought process there for sure. But no, I mean, he asked me to go. I'm not too scared to shy away from a challenge, so I don't know. Yeah, it happens pretty fast. And, you know, it's part of hockey and something that I have to do and it's fine and, you know, it worked out well."

GAME STORY

The Penguins were men on a mission for the opening faceoff of Saturday night's game. If you were running a little late for the 6 p.m. start time, you probably got to your seat to see the Pens had already taken a 2-0 lead.

That's because Gruden continues to drive the bus.

Credit Dmitri Samorukov for keeping a play alive in the offensive zone by keeping a puck in at the right point, before two Islanders defenders collided into each other - giving Samorukov an open lane to take the puck to the net.

Samorukov's initial shot was stopped by Skarek, but Gruden was in position at the top of the crease - batting the puck into the back of the net out of mid-air on the rebound to put the Penguins ahead 1-0.

On the next shift, after Max Cajkovic gained possession of the puck following an offensive faceoff win from Justin Addamo, it was Joshua going hard to the net and getting rewarded - slipping a rebound past the right pad to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead on goals 48 seconds apart in the opening 2:51 of the contest.

The active first period continued for the Penguins, and in particular Joshua as he was challenged to a fight with Islanders captain Seth Helgeson. The Penguins' rookie obliged, completing two-thirds of the Gordie Howe Hat Trick in the process less than five minutes into the game.

Despite being down 2-0 and outshot 5-1 early in the period, Bridgeport didn't pack it in and call it a night.

As the period progressed, the Islanders began to generate some scoring chances - getting the game's first power play 1:39 before the first intermission and appearing to score a buzzer beater as Hudson Fasching found an opening in the Penguins' penalty kill setup and beat Hellberg with a quick shot from inside the left-wing circle.

The goal was reviewed and later determined by the referees to have not gone in before the first period ended, so a bit of a break for the Penguins as they retained their 2-0 lead heading into the middle frame.

The two teams settled in during the middle frame, as there weren't many whistles in the opening half of the period.

The Penguins had opportunities to extend their lead in the middle frame, most notably on back-to-back power play chances near the midway mark of the period, but were unable to do so.

Late in the second period, Samorukov hooked Julien Gauthier to prevent a breakaway chance and Gauthier was awarded a penalty shot with 3:20 left before the second intermission.

Gauthier appeared to beat Hellberg on the penalty shot attempt, only to have the puck ring off the post and stay out of the net - preserving the Penguins' 2-0 lead to the third period.

Bridgeport came out with purpose in the third, generating some momentum in the opening minutes of the period before Kuhlman made it a one goal game with 15:43 left to play.

Linemates Otto Koivula and Julien Gauthier entered the offensive zone with speed, executing back-to-back cross-ice passes to open up Kuhlman at the net for Kuhlman's ninth of the season.

Credit the Penguins with a huge response, restoring their two-goal lead on the following shift just 27 seconds after Kuhlman's tally on a quick shot from the left point by Samorukov after Gruden and Rueschhoff teamed up in the Penguins offensive zone to set up the play.

The Penguins tightened up defensively from there, killing off two penalties in the later stages of the game to preserve the lead into two points.

Matt Filipe was the latter of those back-to-back Penguins' penalties, and while he certainly doesn't want to make a habit of heading to the box he more than made up for it when he exited the box after the successful penalty kill - hitting the empty net and sealing the deal on the Penguins' 4-1 win.

Bridgeport Islanders Lineup Notes

Jakub Skarek got the start in net for the Islanders Saturday, while Ken Appleby served as Bridgeport's backup.

Hudson Fasching and Samuel Bolduc made their Bridgeport Islanders season debuts, with both on a conditioning loan from New York Islanders.

Islanders Scratches: Henrik Tikkanen, Robin Salo, Paul LaDue, Samuel Asselin, Travis Mitchell, Daylan Kuefler, Eetu Liukas and Reece Newkirk

Lines/Pairings

Karson Kuhlman - Otto Koivula - Julien Gauthier Matthew Maggio - Ruslan Iskhakov - Hudson Fasching Carsen Twarynski - Brian Pinho - William Dufour Cole Bardreau - Jeff Kubiak - Tyce Thompson

Seth Helgeson - Aidan Fulp Samuel Bolduc - Grant Hutton Vincent Sevigny - Dennis Cholowski

Jakub Skarek (Backup: Ken Appleby)

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

Magnus Hellberg got the start in net for the Penguins Saturday night, while Joel Blomqvist served as the team's backup.

With Hellberg back from Pittsburgh, Taylor Gauthier was reassigned to ECHL-Wheeling.

It was the same 11-forward, seven-defensemen lineup for the Penguins as Friday night in Hershey, albeit with some line shuffling amongst the forward line combinations.

Penguins Scratches: Marc Johnstone, Sam Poulin, Peter Abbandonato, Sam Houde, Radim Zohorna, Lukas Svejkovsky, Owen Headrick and Avery Hayes

Lines/Pairings:

Vinnie Hinostroza - Jonathan Gruden - Corey Andonovski Matt Filipe - Joona Koppanen - Austin Rueschhoff Dillon Hamaliuk - Raivis Ansons - Jagger Joshua xxxxxxxxx - Justin Addamo - Max Cajkovic

Ty Smith - Xavier Ouellet Ryan Shea - Jack St. Ivany Jack Rathbone - Dmitri Samorukov Taylor Fedun

Magnus Hellberg (Backup: Joel Blomqvist)

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

2:03: WBS - Gruden (13) - Samorukov 2:51: WBS - Joshua (6) - Cajkovic, Addamo 4:54: WBS - Joshua, major (fighting) 4:54: BRI - Helgeson, major (fighting) 18:21: WBS - (PP) Joshua, minor (hooking)

2nd Period

7:16: BRI - (PP) Hutton, minor (high-sticking) 9:47: BRI - (PP) Twarynski, minor (slashing) 17:36: BRI - Maggio, minor (holding) 17:36: WBS - St. Ivany, minor (roughing)

3rd Period

4:17: BRI - Kuhlman (9) - Gauthier, Koivula 4:44: WBS - Samorukov (4) - Rueschhoff, Gruden 11:24: WBS - (PP) Samorukov, minor (hooking) 15:59: WBS - (PP) Filipe, minor (tripping) 18:06: WBS - ENG Filipe (5) - Fedun

BOXSCORE

Bridgeport  0 - 0 - 1 = 1 W-B/Scranton  2 - 0 - 2 = 4

Shots

Bridgeport  8 - 11 - 13 = 32 W-B/Scranton  8 - 13 - 9 = 30

Goalies

BRI: Jakub Skarek (26 saves - 29 shots) WBS: Magnus Hellberg (31 saves - 32 shots)

Power Play

BRI: 0-for-3 WBS: 0-for-2

Penalty Kill

BRI: 2-for-2 WBS: 3-for-3