Wilkes-Barre/Scranton/Pittsburgh Penguins forward Tristan Broz (26) was designated Player of the Game for his two goals and two assists in Game Five of the Atlantic Division Finals. (Source: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images)The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton beat the Springfield Thunderbirds 8-1 to qualify for the Eastern Conference Finals.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had a dream start, having the first five shots 5:17 minutes into the game. During this time, Penguins forward and AHL All-Star Tristan Broz stickhandled the puck past Springfield defenseman Calle Rosen on the left side of the offensive zone before beating T-Birds goalie Georgi Romanov with a backhander for the 1-0 lead. A short time later, Broz would find himself once again on a scoring play, this time assisting defenseman Harrison Brunicke on a 2-on-1 chance for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's second goal to double the lead just 7:43 minutes into the first frame. After the Pens would be put on the power play for the first time, Broz would snipe the puck from the slot for his second goal and third point of the game to put the Penguins up 3-0 with 3:43 minutes left in the opening period. Just when it looked like Springfield thought they would exit the first frame with a clear head, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard scored off a rebound shot of defenseman Phil Kemp with just 20 seconds to go, putting the Pens up 4-0 after 20 minutes and getting Romanov pulled (8 saves off 12 shots for a save percentage of 0.667) in favor of Vadim Zherenko in the second period.
In a penalty-less but competitive second period where the Penguins just barely the outshot the Thunderbirds 11-10, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forward Atley Calvert provided the highlight of the frame with the Pens' fifth straight goal with less than three minutes to go in the middle period.
After being put on just their second man-advantage situation of the game, Broz registered his fourth point of the game by assisting a Ville Koivunen goal to help the Penguins put up half a dozen unanswered scores at the 2:52 mark of the third period. 98 seconds later, Springfield forward Akil Thomas would score from the slot to deny Pens goalie and AHL All-Star Sergei Murashov the shutout. Still after an empty-netter and another Koivunen goal, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton all but booked their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Penguins goalie Murashov made 26 saves off 27 shots for a save percentage of 0.929.
Fill-in T-Birds goalie Zherenko made 13 saves off 16 shots for a save percentage of 0.813