The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins played two games on Friday and Saturday against two Pennsylvania rivals, walking away with a win and an overtime loss.
Heading into their Christmas break, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins secured a 1-0 win over the Hershey Bears.
After five days off, they returned to the ice for a back-to-back against two Pennsylvania rivals: the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and the Bears.
On Saturday night, the Penguins continued their winning ways with a 3-2 victory over the Phantoms. They scored in each period, led by Tristan Broz's two goals.
Filip Larsson was brilliant again between the pipes with 29 saves, while the game's three stars included Broz, Rutger McGroarty (two assists), and Dan Renouf (two assists).
With another home win in the books, the Penguins headed to Hershey, where the Bears, the top team in the Atlantic Division, were looking to avenge their shutout loss from the previous week.
The home team got on the board first, in the final three minutes of the opening period, while the Penguins tied things in the middle period with a goal from Avery Hayes.
Pierrick Dube restored Hershey's lead at the start of the third period before Ville Koivuunen tied things up at 2-2 at 11:38.
No one else scored in regulation, but overtime didn't last long, with Ethen Frank ending the contest at 1:15.
Naturally, the game's first star was the overtime hero, while Dube took home second star honors, followed by Koivunen in third.
The win and loss leaves the Penguins with a 17-8-2 record and 36 points after 27 games. They are in third place in the Atlantic Division behind the Providence Bruins (37 points) and Bears (41 points).
Even though he didn't have any points in the past two games, Emil Bemström remains the Penguins' leading scorer with 25 points in 25 games.
Meanwhile, Boris Katchouk leads the team in goals 12, now tied with Broz, who collected one on Friday night.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will not play again in 2024. They will return to action on Jan. 3, 2025, when they host the Charlotte Checkers on Friday and the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday.
