The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins turned Friday night into a full-blown rescue mission, erasing a three-goal hole in the third period and walking out of Bojangles’ Coliseum with a 4-3 overtime win over the Charlotte Checkers.
It looked ugly for a long stretch. Charlotte had built a 3-0 lead midway through the third, and the Penguins were still chasing the game when the comeback finally started to crack open. Then, in a burst that lasted less than four minutes of game time, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton flipped everything.
Rookie defenseman Jake Livanavage was right in the middle of it all. He picked up two assists during the rally and then finished the job himself in overtime.
After a successful penalty kill in sudden-death, Livanavage jumped into a three-on-one rush with Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Rutger McGroarty. The puck moved quickly, the finish came even faster, and Livanavage’s one-timer slipped under the arm of Cooper Black at 2:59 of OT.
Harvey-Pinard and McGroarty also scored in the third-period surge, helping the Penguins claw all the way back after Charlotte had looked firmly in control.
The Checkers struck first on the power play, with Jack Devine finishing a back-post feed from former Penguin Sam Lafferty at 16:10 of the opening period. Charlotte then spent much of the second period pressing the action, but Taylor Gauthier kept Wilkes-Barre/Scranton within reach. He stopped all 16 shots he faced in the middle frame, and that work mattered when the Penguins were still stuck down by one.
Charlotte pushed the margin to 3-0 in the third with goals from Mikuláš Hovorka and John Beecher, separated by four minutes. That’s when the Penguins finally found their opening.
Daniel Russell got the first response at 10:22 with a breakaway goal. Then Harvey-Pinard made it a one-goal game at 13:14, slipping around a Checkers defender and beating Black on the glove side. A short time later, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton earned a four-on-three power play, and McGroarty buried a one-timer under the crossbar from the bottom of the right circle to tie it 3-3 at 14:02.
Three of the game’s goals came at four-on-four: Beecher’s third-period tally, Harvey-Pinard’s third-period goal, and Livanavage’s overtime winner.
Gauthier finished with 29 saves and extended his personal win streak to five games. Black made 27 saves for Charlotte.
The Penguins and Checkers are back at it Saturday, Nov. 7, with puck drop set for 6:00 p.m. at Bojangles’ Coliseum.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next home game comes Tuesday, Nov. 10, against the Utica Comets. It will be the Penguins’ first Winning Weekday of the season.
If the Penguins beat the Comets, fans in attendance will receive a free ticket to the team’s next mid-week home game. That one is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Season-ticket packages for the Penguins’ 2026-27 regular season are also available, including Full-Season, 22-game, 12-game, Flexbook and Premium Seating plans, along with Corporate Partnership opportunities, by calling (570) 208-7367. Individual-game tickets can be purchased at wbspenguins.com, at the Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza box office or by calling the Penguins’ front office at (570) 208-7367.
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