Game Story: Hartford - 1 at W-B/Scranton - 2 (1/7/24)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins finished off their first three-in-three of the season with a gritty 2-1 win over Atlantic Division foe Hartford Wolf Pack Sunday afternoon, earning five out of six points on the weekend and improving their overall record to 18-12-4.

Similar to Saturday night's game against Lehigh Valley, the Penguins had a two-goal lead in the third period for the second straight game. Unlike last night, when the Penguins allowed the Phantoms to score two quick goals to tie the game before completing the comeback in overtime, the Penguins dug deep when Hartford made it a one-goal game with 12:01 left to play - preserving the 2-1 lead to victory.

Sam Poulin opened the scoring for the Penguins, and Jonathan Gruden added an unassisted shorthanded goal in the middle frame to extend the Penguins' lead to 2-0 before Hartford's Brandon Scanlin made things interesting in the third.

Joel Blomqvist picked up the win for the Penguins, facing only eight shots on goal in the opening 40 minutes before being under seige in the third period when 13 shots came his way - making it five straight games for Blomqvist now that he's only surrendered one goal against.

Dylan Garand stopped 25 of 27 in the loss for the Wolf Pack.

Post-Game EXTRA!

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach JD Forrest

On being able to close it out in regulation, and not let game slip away like Saturday night's game less than 24 hours before.

"I think really, the main thing is that, last night we let one slip away there and let it go to overtime. Tonight, you had a very similar situation, we were able to kind of learn on the fly, if you will, just from one experience. I think that those types of games, Saturday, and then being able to kind of flip it today, pay off in the end. The smooth sailing seasons where you go wire to wire, sometimes you don't get enough bumps, speed bumps along the way. So these kinds of help, and it's good to see the guys pick it up and learn immediately."

Penguins forward Jonathan Gruden

On his mindset entering the penalty kill, and probably not expecting to score shorthanded just eight seconds into the PK.

"No, you're just trying to get the puck out. Honestly - kill the penalty and kill the play. And I think it's a bonus when you get some short handed goals. It's obviously a huge momentum swing."

On the play, how quick did he know there was a chance to push for offense.

"Once I poked it by I kind of knew there might be something. Then I heard Whitey (Colin White) talking to me that there's a 2-on-1. I think he took their defenseman away - I haven't watched it yet - so I just tried to get it on net and luckily it went in."

On being able to preserve the 3rd period lead after not being able to the night before.

"Yeah, obviously, we put ourselves in the same situation as last night - up two in the third and they scored. And we didn't back down. We kept at it, played our game and we stuck it out there. So it's obviously a big win and huge for our team confidence."

GAME STORY

The Penguins didn't look like a team playing their third game in three days in the opening period Sunday.

They got right to it from the opening puck drop, spending large amounts of time in the offensive zone - racking up a 6-1 edge in shots on goal in the opening six minutes of the contest.

They got rewarded for their hard work moments later after a nice toe-drag move by Colin White opened up a shooting lane for the Penguins forward in the right-wing circle.

Garand made the save on White's shot, but the rebound kicked out onto the stick of Poulin for the quick rebound strike for Poulin's fifth goal of the season to put the Penguins ahead 1-0 with 12:33 left to play.

The Penguins got the game's first power play just over a minute after Poulin's goal, but were unable to extend their lead.

An interesting sequence occurred with just over four minutes left in the first period, as Jesse Puljujarvi was whistled for a delayed penalty for roughing by one referee while Jack St. Ivany took out a Wolf Pack forward in the neutral zone and appeared to take a penalty as the other referee motioned to St. Ivany after a whistle stopped play that he was being called for interference.

With St. Ivany heading into the box behind Puljujarvi it looked like the Penguins were going to be shorthanded 5-on-3 for a full two minutes.

Instead, after the officiating crew gathered center ice to discuss, St. Ivany exited the box and it ended up just being a minor penalty to Puljujarvi.

Moments later, on that Hartford power play, Wolf Pack forward Alex Belzile took a late jab into Blomqvist's pads looking for a rebound and was subsequently cross-checked hard as he fell straight onto his back and Matt Filipe landed on top of him. The referee behind the net motioned to Filipe to head off for what appeared to be an obvious over-aggressive cross-check at the net, which caused Filipe to throw his arms up in the air in disagreement.

That play wasn't called a penalty, and shortly after that Anton Blidh took down St. Ivany behind the Penguins net - ending Hartford's power play and giving the Penguins a brief power play.

Hartford's interim head coach Steve Smith was visibly upset with how things transpired with the officiating in the final minutes of the period, staying behind his bench long after the horn sounded for the end of the first period and having a lengthy conversation with the officiating crew before exiting the ice for the first intermission.

Things slowed down considerably in the middle frame for both teams, as passes were less crisp and decision making with the puck was so-so - creating a lot of circling back and backtracking for the first half of the period.

Corey Andonovski put the Penguins shorthanded with 8:24 left in the period, but the penalty killers came through with a big shorthanded goal to extend the lead to 2-0.

Gruden broke the other way with a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush with White, and elected to shoot - sniping one past Garand for his seventh of the season just eight seconds into the penalty kill.

For the second straight night, the Penguins had a two-goal lead in the third period and appeared to be in the driver's seat to two points.

Hartford had quite a push in the final frame, out-shooting the Penguins by a 13-5 margin and generating some quality scoring chances.

The Wolf Pack were able to get one past Blomqvist on a seeing-eye point shot through traffic by Scanlin that found the back of the net - making it a one-goal game with 12:01 left to play and giving themselves plenty of time to find a game-tying goal.

From there, Blomqvist shut the door - making several keys saves in the waning moments including when Hartford pulled Garand for the extra attacker - to preserve the 2-1 lead into two points in the standings.

Hartford Wolf Pack Lineup Notes

Dylan Garand got the start in net for Hartford Sunday, with Louis Domingue serving as the Wolf Pack's backup goalie.

Wolf Pack Scratches: Ben Harpur, Zach Berzolla, Riley Nash, Grant Gabriele, Adam Edstrom and Cristiano DiGiacinto

Lines/Pairings:

Brett Berard - Jake Leschyshyn - Alex Belzile Anton Blidh - Karl Henriksson - Adam Sykora Bobby Trivigno - Artem Anisimov - Turner Elson Ryder Korczak - Matej Pekar - Matt Rempe

Brandon Scanlin - Mac Hollowell Connor Mackey - Blake Hillman Matthew Robertson - Nikolas Brouillard

Dylan Garand (Backup: Louis Domingue)

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

Joel Blomqvist got the start in net for the Penguins Sunday against Hartford. Magnus Hellberg served as the team's backup.

Plenty of line shuffling and three changes to the skaters portion of the lineup from last night's game.

Jesse Puljujarvi was back in the Penguins lineup this afternoon. Alex Nylander out up front to make room for Puljujarvi as the Penguins have an abundance of AHL 'veteran' players.

Xavier Ouellet and Owen Headrick checked in on defense together on the third pairing. Meanwhile Will Butcher (veteran) and Jack Rathbone were scratched.

Penguins Scratches: Garret Sparks Will Butcher, Alex Nylander, Sam Houde, Jack Rathbone, Dillon Hamaliuk, Raivis Ansons and Avery Hayes

Lines/Pairings:

Sam Poulin - Colin White - Vinnie Hinostroza Matt Filipe - Joona Koppanen - Jesse Puljujarvi Jonathan Gruden - Peter Abbandonato - Austin Rueschhoff Jagger Joshua - Marc Johnstone - Corey Andonovski

Ty Smith - Taylor Fedun Dmitri Samorukov - Jack St. Ivany Xavier Ouellet - Owen Headrick

Joel Blomqvist (Backup: Magnus Hellberg)

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

7:27: WBS - Poulin (5) - White 8:33: HFD - (PP) Trivigno, minor (slashing) 15:58: WBS - (PP) Puljujarvi, minor (roughing) 17:50: HFD - (PP) Blidh, minor (tripping)

2nd Period

11:36: WBS - (PP) Andonovski, minor (slashing) 11:44: WBS - SHG Gruden (7) - unassisted 13:32: HFD - (PP) Korczak, minor (interference) 13:49: HFD - (PP) Belzile, minor (tripping)

3rd Period

2:58: WBS - (PP) Samorukov, minor (hooking) 7:58: HFD - Scanlin (4) - Hollowell, Sykora 9:36: WBS - Gruden, minor (roughing) 9:36: HFD - Mackey, minor (roughing)

BOXSCORE

Hartford   0 - 0 - 1 = 1 W-B/Scranton 1 - 1 - 0 = 2

Shots

Hartford   5 - 3 - 13 = 21 W-B/Scranton  9 - 13 - 5 = 27

Goalies

HFD: Dylan Garand (25 saves - 27 shots) WBS: Joel Blomqvist (20 saves - 21 shots)

Power Play

HFD: 0-for-3 WBS: 0-for-5

Penalty Kill

HFD: 5-for-5 WBS: 3-for-3