PROVIDENCE – Rookie Jake Guentzel’s goal at 13:52 of the second overtime lifted the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 5-4 win over the Providence Bruins before 6,201 fans at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Saturday night.
When Providence defenseman Brett Bellemore stumbled, Guentzel took a pass from Tom Kostopoulos, broke in on Providence goalie Jeremy Smith and fired the puck into the net.
Guentzel finished with two goals and two assists. Casey DeSmith stopped 59 shots for the Pens.
The win completed the Penguins’ three games to none sweep of the P-Bruins in the best-of-five Calder Cup series. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton won the first two games in overtime in Pennsylvania.
"Unfortunately, we had a guy fall down. They got a break and made a play. The guy finished. He's a good young player and you've got to give him credit," said Providence coach Bruce Cassidy.
Providence outshot the Penguins, 63-37, in the game.
"Three overtime games. That's a great team over there, very well-coached. We're fortunate," said Penguins coach Clark Donatelli. "It could have gone either way. We were fortunate to get the bounces to get it done."
Down by three goals entering the third period, Providence roared back to tie the score at four on goals by Chris Breen at 2:22, Tommy Cross at 5:30 and Austin Czarnik at 16:01 as the P-Bruins ran up a 20-6 edge in shots in the period.
With their season hanging in the balance, Providence could not have started much slower as they fell behind just 35 seconds into the game.
After taking a pass from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Steve Oleksy, Guentzel whipped a wrist shot past Zane McIntyre, beating him on the stick side. Carter Rowney, who won a draw in the P-Bruins’ end to start the play, also was credited with an assist.
Ninety seconds later, the Penguins nearly doubled their lead, but McIntyre made a fine pad save on Dustin Jeffrey.
Providence got an early power play when Jean Sebastian Dea was called for tripping, but the man advantage was negated when Seth Griffith was whistled for a high stick.
Five minutes into the game, McIntyre made a terrific save on Rowney to keep the Providence deficit at a goal.
But with Max Talbot off for a high stick, Dominik Simon of the Penguins made it 2-0 at 10:42. Standing in the high slot, Simon got a stick on Tim Erixon’s shot, deflecting it past McIntyre. Guentzel was credited with the second assist.
Looking to generate a spark, Providence’s Tommy Cross and Brett Bellemore went after the Pens’ Kael Mouillierat after a whistle in the P-Bruins’ end. Surprisingly, no penalties were called by referees David Banfield and Geno Binda.
Page 2 of 2 - Frank Vatrano, the AHL’s top goal-scorer in the regular season, was missing from the P-Bruins bench for a stretch during the second half of the period, but returned for the end.
Providence and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had eight shots each in the period, but the P-Bruins didn’t have a Grade A scoring opportunity.
Behind by two goals, the P-Bruins pushed back at the start of the second period, but by the end they were three goals down.
DeSmith made a great stop on Noel Acciari two minutes in as the former University of New Hampshire netminder continued to frustrate the P-Bruins.
Providence looked like it might pick up some momentum after a physical shift in the Pens end that featured solid hits by Acciari and Vatrano.
Soon after, however, Acciari was whistled for a trip by referee Banfield on a play where a Penguin appeared to fall over McIntyre’s pads.
Twelve seconds later, the Pens went ahead, 3-0. Sprong fired a shot from the point that caught the corner of the net behind McIntyre at 5:36. Assists were credited to Erixon and Guentzel.
Colby Cave gave the home fans something to cheer about at 7:57, pounding out a decision over O’Neill.
Then Austin Czarnik put Providence on the board at 13:39, snapping a pass from Alex Khokhlachev past DeSmith on the glove side. Cross was credited with the second assist.
Just under five minutes later, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton restored its three-goal lead on a goal by Erixon from Daniel Sprong and Jeffrey at 18:28.
DeSmith finished off the period with a terrific glove save on a blast by Vatrano with 20 seconds left.
Providence outshot the Pens in the second period, 17-5, but things looked grim as the third period started and Jeremy Smith took over for McIntyre in the P-Bruins’ net.
But Providence pressed from the start and Chris Breen brought the P-Bruins within two goals with a long slapper at 2:22 of the third. Assists were credited to Griffith and Casto.
Then, with Oleksy off for a trip early in the third, Cross scored on a long slapper to cut the deficit to one goal. Czarnik and Cave assisted.
And, after the Pens’ O’Neill turned the puck over in his zone, Khokhlachev passed to Czarnik, who blasted the puck past DeSmith and sent the crowd into a frenzy with 3:59 to go. That set the stage for overtime for the third time in the series.
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