The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are back in their Eastern Conference Final series against the Toronto Marlies after Monday’s 5-3 win in Game 3.
WBS needed to win to avoid being in a 0-3 hole and did exactly that, getting goals from five different players.
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The Marlies opened the scoring in the first period before Aidan McDonough tied the game for the Penguins with 5:23 remaining in the first frame. Gabe Klassen corralled the loose puck after his original shot was blocked and was able to find McDonough, who tipped the puck into the net.
WBS took a 2-1 lead early in the second period when McDonough got a shot off from the left wing, and Bill Zonnon was right there to clean up the loose change. It’s Zonnon’s fourth goal of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Marlies tied the game late in the middle frame after a puck deflected off Penguins defenseman Owen Pickering’s skate and into the net. It was another crazy bounce for a Marlies squad that has gotten all of the bounces to start this series.
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WBS rebounded from that bad break in the third period when Ville Koivunen made it a 3-2 game with 12:12 left in the final frame.
Tristan Broz accelerated through the neutral zone and dropped the puck to Koivunen after entering the offensive zone. Koivunen then gave the puck back to Broz, who was below the left circle, before he sent it back to Koivunen, who made no mistake. Koivunen even taunted the Marlies Crowd a little bit during his celebration.
Atley Calvert made it a 4-2 game off a slick feed from McDonough shortly after Koivunen’s goal before the Marlies cut it to 4-3 with 51 seconds left. However, Tanner Howe iced the game with an empty-net goal just 15 seconds later to ice the game for the Penguins.
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Penguins goaltender Sergei Murashov finished the game with 35 saves
It was a well-earned win for the Penguins, and they’ll now have a chance to even up the series on Wednesday in Game 4. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET.
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