The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins fell 2-0 in Game 4 to Springfield last night, failing to clinch the series that now moves to a do-or-die deciding Game 5 on Saturday.
The pivotal moment of the whole game happened early in the first period. Harrison Brunicke scored what appeared to be the first goal of the game that was overturned by the officials due to goaltender interference. The decision was questionable at best and unfortunately erased really nice plays made by Avery Hayes and Rutger McGroarty
to setup Brunicke for a nice shot.
Gabe Klassen had his back to Thunderbirds goalie Georgii Romanov, and well, that’s AHL officiating.
While the Penguins got jobbed on that call, a tough break is no excuse for what followed after in terms to their response to the situation. Kirk MacDonald called it after the game, “probably the worst game we’ve played since January. I don’t have any other way to describe it. We were bad tonight.”
The Pens never recovered or put the disallowed goal behind them, and Springfield made good on the momentum shift by heavily outshooting WBS from that point on. Shots in the game ended up 32-20 in favor of Springfield
Dillon Dube scored a power play goal for Springfield in the second period. Amazingly, it marked the first time in 340 minutes of playoff game action where the Thunderbirds held a lead. The sixth place T-birds truly are an annoying gnat that finds a way to hang around, stay alive against all odds and pull out victories. They did it again in Game 4 to force a win-or-go-home situation for both teams in Game 5 on Saturday night back in Pennsylvania.
It’s now time for the Penguins to dig deep and reveal what they are made of. This will be the first time that they face elimination in this playoff year and they’ll have to build some resilience to put a bad call or bad game behind them and step up and win when it counts in order to advance and keep their season alive. Springfield has already pulled off two upsets in previous series and are a very cagey, stingy and difficult opponent. Wilkes will need to raise their game and earn it to move on.
