On Friday night, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins secured a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs, but they emphasized that there is still work to be done in the remaining two-plus weeks of the regular season.
Radim Zohorna stated that with seven games remaining, they need to position themselves well for the playoffs after his goal in overtime helped the Penguins defeat the Cleveland Monsters 3-2 on Friday night in front of 4,887 spectators at Mohegan Sun Arena.
The Penguins have officially secured a playoff spot, one year after missing out by finishing last in their division.
The next objective is to secure home-ice advantage in the first round, and the Penguins (34-22-8-1) are making significant progress towards that. Their win on Friday gave them a seven-point lead over the fifth-place Hartford Wolf Pack.
In the meantime, the Penguins have also enhanced their chances of avoiding the Hershey Bears in the first two rounds. The Bears, who are not only the defending Calder Cup champions and this season’s Atlantic Division champions, have a lead of at least 10 points over every other team in the league.
Friday’s victory allowed the Penguins to tie the Charlotte Checkers for third place, which would mean avoiding the Bears in the Atlantic semifinals.
Penguins coach J.D. Forrest expressed satisfaction at earning the playoff spot through hard-fought competition throughout the season.
Forrest also acknowledged the team's struggles in overtime, and emphasized the need for continued hard work as a team beyond celebrating the recent victory.
The final outcome of Friday’s game was determined by a dramatic ending, including controversial goals, but the Penguins had technically secured the playoff spot minutes earlier. They had already earned a point in the standings when they forced overtime, and seventh-place Springfield, the team the Penguins needed to outdo in the race for six spots, had lost 3-0 to Belleville.
The Penguins were leading 2-1 late in regulation as a power play ended.
During this time, Cleveland’s Samuel Knazko fell on Penguins goalie Joel Blomqvist’s left leg just before Stanislav Szovil scored a goal.
Although the nearest referee initially signaled no goal, a lengthy discussion led to the officials ruling the goal as valid and the game being tied.
Forrest stated his disagreement with the decision, expressing that he believed it shouldn't have been a penalty on Cleveland or a goal.
He pointed out that the falling player obstructed the goalie's movement, preventing him from reaching the puck.
Zohorna skillfully maneuvered around the offensive zone, with a possible interference by the Penguins, and successfully made his way past two opponents to reach the front of the net.
Cleveland coach Trent Vogelhuber stayed on the bench after the game, waiting for the officials to leave the ice alongside his team.
Evan Vierling, in only his second game in the AHL, scored the initial Penguins goal and contributed to another for a 2-1 advantage.
Lukas Svejkovsky created the first goal.
Svejkovsky snatched the puck just inside the blue line, then moved to the left circle, evaded Corson Cuelemans with a pause, creating space for himself before passing the puck into a group in front. Jagger Joshua was the first to touch it with a stick for the Penguins, then Vierling pushed it in at 11:16 of the first period.
Cleveland took five of the first six shots in the second period and capitalized with Rohman Ahcan’s goal from an offensive zone faceoff.
Following being stopped on a partial breakaway, Avery Hayes positioned himself about 15 feet farther away and scored from a Vierling pass for a 2-1 lead at 6:09 of the second. Jagger earned his second assist of the game on the play.
NOTES
• Zohorna, Vierling, and Jagger were the first, second, and third stars of the game.
• The Penguins led 32-30 in shots with Blomqvist making 28 saves.
• The Penguins departed directly to Bridgeport after the game. They will be playing in Connecticut on Saturday night, then returning home on Sunday afternoon at 3:05 to face the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
• The Penguins have three home and four road games remaining. They will face first-place Hershey twice, last-place Bridgeport twice, Lehigh Valley twice and Hartford once. Lehigh Valley and Hartford are the most probable first-round playoff opponents.
• The Penguins have a record of 11-3-0-1 in games with Svejkovsky in the lineup.
