Game Story: Springfield - 1 at W-B/Scranton - 2 (1/21/24)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Post-Game EXTRA!

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach JD Forrest

On Owen Headrick's game-tying goal late in 1st period, the momentum it brought and winning despite not playing their best after two straight losses in which they played pretty well

"Yeah, it was a big goal by Heady there. He has been good for us when we've put him in the lineup. That was a turning point for us. And we got our game kind of back on track after that for portions of it. It's funny how it works. You know, I didn't think we had our best tonight as far as our discipline and kind of structure and style of play, but we ended up coming out on top. Hellberg was great for us. That was the big difference."

Forward Vinnie Hinostroza

On his play to set up Owen Headrick for his 1st period goal

"I heard him yelling when he came over the blue line, and I was actually looking for Nyls or Abby as a third guy high, and they were covered. And you know that fourth wave - Heady coming in - he yelled and if he doesn't yell, I don't see him. So it was an easy play when he's talking to me."

Defenseman Owen Headrick

On his first period goal shifting the momentum after slow start

"Yeah, we definitely were fighting it a little bit there in the first but, you know, Vinnie made a great pass to me there finding me high, and I was able to sneak one in through there, five hole."

On scoring his first career AHL goal.

"Yeah, I was super excited. Honestly, it feels like having scored in a while. But, I mean, it was great to get that first one."

GAME STORY

It was a bit of a sluggish start to the first period for the Penguins, as they were out-shot 11-5 in the opening half of the period and surrendered the game's opening goal after mishandling the puck at the offensive zone blue line.

There were a few unforced turnovers by the Penguins in the opening period, but when Vrana picked up the loose puck in the neutral zone you could sense it was big trouble as the forward zoomed down the other way on a breakaway and fired a laser low to the blocker side to beat Hellberg.

It marked Vrana's fifth goal of the season and 11th point in his 11th game with Springfield this season, and the unassisted tally gave the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton seemingly got to their game toward the latter stages of the first frame, getting a big game-tying goal off the rush when Hinostroza pulled up along the right wing all and fed a trailing Headrick for a blast that zipped past Subban.

Headrick's first goal as a member of the Penguins also marked his first career AHL goal, and with 3:27 left before the first intermission it couldn't have come at a more opportune time for the black and gold.

The Pens carried the momentum from that late first period goal into the middle frame, as they took the 2-1 lead 1:34 into the period after Peter Abbandonato entered the offensive zone with speed.

His initial centering feed was blocked by the Springfield defense, but Hinostroza was like a hawk on the puck - working the puck loose in the left wing circle before quickly taking it toward the net and zipping a shot past Subban for his fourth goal in the AHL this season.

The middle period was full of momentum swings.

After Hinostroza's early period goal, the Thunderbirds fired the next six shots of the hockey game toward Hellberg's net. Thankfully the Penguins' goalie was equal to the task to preserve the one-goal lead.

Then, the Penguins got back on the gas - generating consistent offensive pressure and generating 10 straight shots on net through the middle part of the period and not allowing Springfield a shot on goal in nearly 10 minutes in the process.

Still, the game remained 2-1 in favor of the Penguins as the two teams headed off for the second intermission.

An interesting start to the third, as Hinostroza was whistled for a high-sticking minor that quite frankly was a slash across the shin pads. Springfield forward Zachary Bolduc grabbed at his mouth and drew the call, sending the Penguins to the penalty kill just 1:10 into the final frame.

Springfield thought they tied the game up 30 seconds into the man advantage as a puck darted onto the goal line before Hellberg pounced on it. They reviewed the play and the call on the ice of no goal stood.

Then, on the next shift, Sam Poulin raced up the ice and drew an even-up penalty on a shorthanded rush to negate the rest of the Thunderbirds' power play.

From there, the Penguins didn't cling to their one-goal lead and play prevent defense. In fact, they ended up out-shooting Springfield 9-4 in the final frame - getting the necessary stops from Hellberg in the waning moments to preserve the win, including with Subban pulled for the extra attacker in the closing seconds.

A bit of a scary moment with 1:00 left in the game as, after a collision at the Penguins' defensive zone blue line, Springfield defenseman Dylan Coghlan was down in a heap and appeared to be in serious pain.

Play was eventually stopped, and Coghlan ended up being helped off the ice via the WBS Penguins tunnel to their locker room because it was a closer exit than heading down to the Springfield bench.

EMS on hand at the arena appeared to take the stretcher into the WBS tunnel while Springfield medical staff were tending to Coghlan, though after the game the EMS crew and stretcher were still at the rink - hopefully signaling that Coghlan didn't need to be transported to the hospital and was able to travel back to Springfield with his Thunderbirds' teammates.

Springfield Thunderbirds Lineup Notes

Malcolm Subban got the start in net for the Thunderbirds Sunday afternoon.

Goalie Vadim Zherenko left Saturday's game in Rochester with an apparent injury, necessitating Springfield to add goalie Colten Ellis from ECHL-Orlando to serve as the team's backup.

Thunderbirds Scratches: Vadim Zherenko, Austin Osmanski, Leo Loof, Hugh McGing and Zach Dean

Lines/Pairings

Zachary Bolduc - Matthew Peca - Will Bitten Mackenzie MacEachern - Drew Callin - Mathias Laferriere Jakub Vrana - Ryan Suzuki - Mikhail Abramov Keean Washkurak - Tanner Dickinson - Jamison Rees

Tyler Tucker - Dylan Coghlan Calle Rosen - Joseph Duszak Wyatt Kaylnuk - Hunter Skinner

Malcolm Subban (Backup: Colten Ellis)

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

Magnus Hellberg got the start in net for the Penguins Sunday afternoon, with Joel Blomqvist serving as the team's backup goaltender.

The only other lineup change for the Penguins Sunday was up front, with Dillon Hamaliuk making his WBS Penguins debut and Matt Filipe the odd man out.

Penguins Scratches: Garret Sparks, Taylor Fedun (veteran), Will Butcher (veteran), Jordan Frasca, Matt Filipe, Jonathan Gruden, Sam Houde (lower body), Raivis Ansons (lower body) and Avery Hayes

Lines/Pairings

Alex Nylander - Peter Abbandonato - Vinnie Hinostroza Sam Poulin - Radim Zohorna - Jesse Puljujarvi Jagger Joshua - Joona Koppanen - Austin Rueschhoff Dillon Hamliuk - Marc Johnstone - Corey Andonovski

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

Magnus Hellberg (Backup: Joel Blomqvist)

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

9:02: SPR - Vrana (5) - unassisted 16:27: WBS - Headrick (1) - Hinostroza, Nylander

2nd Period

1:34: WBS - Hinostroza (4) - Nylander, Abbandonato 10:16: SPR - (PP) Coghlan, minor (hooking)

3rd Period

1:10: WBS - (PP) Hinostroza, minor (high-sticking) 2:12: SPR - (PP) Coghlan, minor (hooking) 11:42: WBS - (PP) Rueschhoff, minor (interference) 13:27: SPR - (PP) Suzuki, minor (tripping)

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

Springfield  11 - 8 - 4 = 23 W-B/Scranton  11 - 13 - 9 = 33

Goalies

SPR: Malcolm Subban (31 saves - 33 shots) WBS: Magnus Hellberg (22 saves - 23 shots)

Power Play

SPR: 0-for-2 WBS: 0-for-3

Penalty Kill

SPR: 3-for-3 WBS: 2-for-2