Wilkes-Barre/Scranton/Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Sergei Murashov (1) looks on against the Utah Mammoth during their game at PPG Paints Arena. (Source: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins beat the Springfield Thunderbirds 2-0 in Game One of the Atlantic Division Finals.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton shot five of the first seven shots in the opening 10:57 minutes of the game. For the remainder of the frame, Springfield outshot the Penz 7-2 including three shots on a power play yet no team scored into the first intermission.
The Penguins had another strong start in the second frame where they outshot the Thunderbirds 7-2 in the first 11:34, with the sixth shot cashing into a goal off a Springfield turnover forced by Atley Calvert who passed to forward Bill Zonnon who deked passed T-Birds goalie Georgi Romanov for the game-winner and go up 1-0. For the rest of the period, Springfield would outshoot Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 6-2 but could not find the equalizer going into the second intermission.
In the 7:19 mark of the final period, Penguins forward Tanner Howe poked the puck away from Thunderbirds defenseman Adam Jiricek in the Penz' zone before going on a breakaway and successfully scoring the other way for a 2-0 lead for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. But since then, the Penguins limited the T-Birds to only five shots for the remainder of the game, essentially cutting off any quality scoring opportunities for Springfield and giving the win to the Penz in Game One.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goalie and AHL All-Star Sergei Murashov registered a 24-save shutout.
Springfield goalie Romanov made 23 saves off 25 shots for a save percentage of 0.920.