WILKES-BARRE TWP, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins served up a high-flying victory on Saturday night, defeating the Rochester Americans in the AHL regular season finale. Another strong start, combined with another strong showing on special teams sent the fans home happy ahead of the Calder Cup Playoffs, as the Penguins grabbed an 8-0 victory on Fan Appreciation Night.
With the win, WBS finishes the season with a 46-17-7-2 record, amassing over 100 points for the first time in almost a decade. Rochester falls to 31-31-5-4 ahead of their regular season finale tomorrow against the Hershey Bears.
Rutger McGroarty opened the scoring for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton just 63 seconds in, stuffing in a rebound after Ville Koivunen’s first attempt was denied.
Four minutes later, Atley Calvert pushed the lead to two on the power play. From there the gutsy play began as the two sides began trading blow for blow, literally.
Just over seven minutes in, the fireworks started after Avery Hayes was hit up high, and went after two Rochester players himself. Tanner Howe took a cross-checking penalty on the ensuing play, with Boko Imama landing a huge hit on the boards, picking up an interference call.
Less than two minutes later after Imama’s penalty, Chase Pietila dropped the gloves with Christopher Douglas. In the final minute of play in the opening period, Imama was given a game misconduct before Pietila got into it with Kaleb Lawrence. The two were charged with 10-minute misconducts and offsetting roughing penalties.
In the second period, the Penguins piled it on as McGroarty picked up his second goal. Following that, Tristan Broz, Owen Pickering and Rafael Harvey-Pinard each recorded tallies to make it a 6-0 contest after two periods of play.
While it was a high-scoring period, there were more scrums and more game misconducts as Howe took a second cross-check plus the game misconduct.
After the end of the second period, Finn Harding went at it with former Penguins Isacc Belliveau, who received a game misconduct for his actions as well.
In the third period, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tacked on two more goals as Koivunen and Harvey-Pinard made it a 8-0 game, scoring less than two minutes apart.
Late on, things did settle down until the 17-minute mark when three more players were tossed. Broz was given a 10-minute misconduct for the Penguins, while Lawrence and Noah Laaouan received the same punishment for the Americans.
The game ended 8-0, with the Penguins putting an exclamation mark on what turned out to be one of the best seasons statistically in franchise history.
“I think this weekend is a great example of the group we have in our leadership, like they approach these games,” Head Coach Kirk MacDonald said. “They’ll all enjoy a couple days off, and we’ll get back to work.”
For the goaltenders, Sergei Murashov, who needed a big game after getting roughed up a bit his last handful of games was stellar between the pipes for the Pens.
Making 27 saves in what became his 24th win of the season, the young Russian netminder certainly has made a mark this season, proving that his 2024-25 form was not a fluke.
Between the pipes for Rochester, Scott Ratzloff and Topias Leinonen each gave up four goals, combining for 29 saves.
MacDonald spoke confidently about his goaltending situation ahead of the playoffs during the postgame media availability.
“The puck play [from Murashov] was outstanding, he did a lot of good things,” he said. “So if he continues to do that, like I said, we’re very confident in both goalies, and Sergei stood up today, and made a statement. He did what he does, we’re not surprised.”
As for the Amerks, they have yet to clinch a berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs. They need a win in Hershey tomorrow if they are to be in the postseason. If Rochester loses to the Bears, then that playoff spot will go to the Utica Comets.
The Penguins now sit idle. They’ll get back to work in practice, enjoying the time off before their playoff matchup with an opponent yet to be determined.
