Penguins Blanked by Crunch in Rough Return from All-Star Break
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins came out of the All-Star break looking to extend their momentum. Instead, they ran headfirst into a red-hot Syracuse Crunch squad that had other plans.
In front of the home crowd at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza, the Penguins were handed a 5-0 loss by the Crunch on Saturday night, snapping a five-game winning streak and marking just their second shutout loss of the season - both at the hands of Syracuse.
Let’s start with the obvious: this one got away early, and it never really came back.
The Penguins, who entered the night with a 32-13-2-2 record, were held to a season-low 16 shots on goal. That’s not a typo.
Sixteen. And every single one of them was turned away by Syracuse netminder Brandon Halverson, who was locked in from puck drop to final horn.
It was the kind of performance that makes a goaltender’s crease feel like a fortress - and the Penguins simply couldn’t find a way in.
Syracuse struck first midway through the opening period. Cooper Flinton pounced on a loose puck in the slot and snapped it home, giving the Crunch a 1-0 lead and setting the tone for the night.
But it was the goal in the final seconds of the first that really stung. With just 8.4 ticks left on the clock, Matteo Pietroniro followed up his own rebound, worked the puck behind the net, and banked it in off Penguins goaltender Sergei Murashov.
A tough-angle shot, a tough break, and suddenly the Penguins were heading into the first intermission down two.
From there, the Crunch didn’t let up.
Dylan Duke added a power-play goal in the second period, tipping one past Murashov to stretch the lead to three. Then, just under two minutes into the third, Mitchell Chaffee cashed in on another man-advantage opportunity. And if that wasn’t enough, Flinton capped off his night with a second goal at the six-minute mark of the final frame.
By the time the dust settled, the Crunch had scored five unanswered - two of them coming on the power play - and handed Murashov his first loss in six starts. The young netminder stopped 24 of the 29 shots he faced, but the lack of offensive support left little room for error.
The Penguins just couldn’t generate much of anything offensively. Whether it was fatigue from the break, tight checking by Syracuse, or simply an off night, the team never found its rhythm. The puck movement wasn’t sharp, zone entries were often one-and-done, and second-chance opportunities were few and far between.
Still, there’s no time to dwell. The Penguins are back on the ice Sunday afternoon when they host the Cleveland Monsters - a chance to shake off the rust, regroup, and get back to the brand of hockey that’s carried them to the top tier of the AHL standings.
This one hurts, no doubt. But in a long season, it’s about how you respond. And with another game less than 24 hours away, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton won’t have to wait long to show what they’re made of.