The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have advanced to the Atlantic Division Final.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has officially advanced to the Atlantic Division Final after eliminating Hershey on Thursday.
WBS entered Thursday needing one more win to win the series and accomplished its goal, winning 4-1.
Joona Koppanen opened the scoring for WBS in the first period with a nice backhand shot past Clay Stevenson. Tanner Howe made that goal happen, forechecking really well behind the goal and putting the pressure on before getting the puck to Koppanen.
Hershey tied the game with 5.1 seconds left in the first frame, thanks to a power play goal from Ivan Miroschnichenko. However, WBS bounced back in the second period with a shorthanded goal from Harrison Brunicke.
It looked like Hershey was about to score on the power play after having a wide-open net, but it wasn't meant to be. It led to a shorthanded rush the other way and Brunicke scored on the rebound.
WBS took a 2-1 lead into the third period before getting a massive insurance goal from Ville Koivunen to extend the lead to 3-1.
Koivunen started the play in his own zone by winning a board battle before leading the rush up the ice. Koivunen got the puck to Tristan Broz, who passed it to Mikhail Ilyin before Ilyin had a great pass back to Koivunen, who made no mistake.
Gabe Klassen added an empty net goal with 31 seconds left to seal the win for WBS.
WBS goaltender Sergei Murashov was sensational in this game, finishing with 37 saves on 38 shots for a .974 save percentage. He finished the series with a .937 save percentage.
WBS will take on Springfield in the Atlantic Division Final, which is set to start on Tuesday in WBS. The first two games of the best-of-five series will be held in WBS before the series shifts to Springfield.
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