The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins turned Saturday afternoon into a special-teams showcase and walked out of Rocket Arena with a 6-3 win over the Cleveland Monsters.
The Penguins cashed in on four of their eight power-play chances, and rookie forward Mikhail Ilyin was at the center of it all. He finished with a career-high four points, putting up one goal and three assists in a game that kept swinging back to the man advantage.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had to kill off a penalty just 10 seconds into the opening period, but once it settled in, the visitors struck first. Hugh McGing ripped a shot from the top of the left circle at 2:54 for his first goal in black and gold.
Avery Hayes added to the cushion midway through the period, burying a power-play goal for his third of the weekend and fifth of the season. Ilyin picked up his second primary assist of the afternoon on the play, helping push the Penguins in front 2-0.
Cleveland answered late in the first. With 6.4 seconds left before intermission, Oiva Keskinen scored on the power play when his wrister from the blueline bounced through traffic and beat Taylor Gauthier.
The Penguins took control again in the second period with back-to-back goals that stretched the lead to 4-1. Melvin Fernström finished off a loose puck at 12:50, and 53 seconds later Rutger McGroarty scored on the power play.
Ilyin then put the finishing touch on his big afternoon just 28 seconds into the third period, scoring on the power play after setting up McGroarty’s earlier goal.
The final frame got choppy fast, with minor penalties piling up and both teams getting repeated chances with the extra skater. Cleveland trimmed the margin with power-play goals from Luca Pinelli and Steven Lorentz, cutting into the Penguins’ lead. But McGroarty answered again on the man advantage, collecting his third point and closing out Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s scoring.
All told, the teams combined for 23 minor penalties. Cleveland finished 3-for-9 on the power play, while the Penguins outdid them at 4-for-8.
Gauthier earned the win with 27 saves. Cleveland’s Evan Gardner took his first loss of the season after stopping 26 shots.
In Other News...
Penguins Suddenly Have A Problem Fans Can't Keep Ignoring
The Penguins came out with some early life at Ball Arena, but it did not take long for the game to turn on them in a way that has become hard to ignore. Pittsburgh had its moments offensively and looked capable of matching Colorado for stretches, yet the defensive structure began to crack as the night wore on, leaving the team chasing the game after a promising start.
What stood out most was how quickly the margin for error disappeared once the Avalanche found their rhythm. Pittsburgh could not make enough of its chances count, and the power play again failed to provide the kind of lift a tight road game often demands. For a team trying to steady itself, the concern is less about one bad result than the pattern underneath it, especially when the defensive breakdowns keep showing up at the worst possible times. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Suddenly Have A New Question On Their Second Line
A practice injury to Egor Chinakhov created an immediate ripple for the Penguins, and it showed up quickly in the lineup against Colorado. With Chinakhov unavailable because of a lower-body issue, Pittsburgh had to reshuffle its second line and power play on the fly, a reminder of how thin the margins can be when a top-six winger goes down without warning.
Ville Koivunen slid into Chinakhovs spot in both roles, while Elmer Sderblom also drew in for just his third game of the season. For a team trying to keep its forward group balanced, the more pressing concern now is how long this adjustment might last, because the Penguins are waiting for clarity on the injury and what it means for the next few games. [Read more 🡒]
Crosby Sees One Fix For The Penguins Early Frustration
The early-season unevenness has already shown up for the Penguins, who have gotten enough offense from Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust to stay dangerous, even if the results have not followed the script. After another setback, the group is still trying to settle in and find the cleaner version of itself that usually gives it a chance to control games rather than chase them.
Crosby, meanwhile, continues to stack milestones even while the team searches for steadier footing, and his view of the problem was as direct as ever: the Penguins have to cut down on mistakes. That is the kind of fix that sounds simple and rarely is, especially this early in a season, but Pittsburgh is still confident its talent can carry it through the slow start if the details sharpen up. [Read more 🡒]