The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins had their hands full on Wednesday night, as the Atlantic Division-leading Hershey Bears were in town. Naturally, the game went to a five-round shootout, and the Penguins emerged with a 5-4 victory.

The win closes the gap for the top spot in the division down to just four points, 76-72, with each team skating in 16 more games.

After the Bears and Penguins fought to a 4-4 tie in regulation, neither team scored in overtime, leading to a shootout.

Hershey failed to score on five attempts, as Sergei Murashov was solid. No one from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scored until the fifth round, when Sam Poulin scored the game-winner. 

Besides being perfect in the shootout, Murashov improved to 17-7-1 thanks to a 31-save win, while Clay Stevenson made 25 stops in regulation, to drop to 14-6-5 on the year.

Trading Goals All Night Long

Ville Koivunen opened the scoring at 8:08 of the first period with his 20th of the year, while Rutger McGroarty scored less than two minutes later at 9:52 with his 13th. 

However, the two-goal lead disappeared at 11:19 when the Bears got on the board with a Dalton Smith tally. Then, in the second Ivan Miroshnichenko tied things up just 57 seconds into the next period. 

The teams traded goals, with Mathias Laferriere putting the Penguins ahead at 15:44 with his fifth, before Chase Priskie tied the contest at 17:12.

To open the third period, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton returned the favor on fresh ice with Avery Hayes burying his 17th of the year just 41 seconds in, putting the home team up 4-3.

That lead evaporated at 12:24, when Alex Limoges scored the final goal in regulation to tie the game for the Bears for the third time. 

POSTGAME HIGHLIGHTS: March 12, 2025 Sam Poulin scored in the fifth round of the shootout, and Sergei Murashov stopped all five attempts thrown his way, as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins def...

Thanks to the shootout winner, Poulin was named the first star of the game, followed by Koivunen (two points) and McGroarty (two points). Meanwhile, Jack St. Ivany and Valtteri Puustinen each had two assists in the win. 

The Penguins improved to 32-16-7-1 and remain second in the Atlantic Division. They hit the road to play the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday and Sunday.