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Three goals in the first 13 minutes had the Penguins flying high on Friday night. They needed one more in the final 13 minutes just to salvage a point.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s early lead evaporated as Springfield scored four straight goals, and defenseman Cam Lee needed to score just to get the game to overtime, where the host Thunderbirds prevailed 5-4 in a shootout.

The start of a four-game road trip couldn’t have gotten off to a better start when Radim Zohorna scored just 63 seconds into Friday’s contest.

Drew O’Connor and Filip Hallander added power-play markers to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead with 7:33 still left in the first period.

By the end of the night, they had to fight just to save one point from reaching overtime.

Alexey Toropchenko scored against Penguins goalie Louis Domingue with 2:30 left in the opening period to get the comeback started. Michael Peca pulled Springfield with 3-2 midway through the second.

By the early third, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was suddenly reeling as Toropchenko and Tanner Kaspick scored 42 seconds apart to give the Thunderbirds the lead.

It was up to Lee to stop the bleeding with a long-range wrister that beat Springfield goalie Joel Hofer to tie the game back up at 4-4 with 11:47 left in regulation.

But it took an inspired effort from the penalty kill unit to preserve a point for the Penguins from there. Sam Poulin and Pierre-Olivier Joseph each took penalties midway through the third.

Springfield ended up with a brief two-man advantage out of the situation but couldn’t get the winning goal, as the Penguins killed all four penalties they took on the night.

The Thunderbirds controlled play down the stretch, outshooting the Penguins 12-6 in the third period. Domingue had to come up with five saves in three-on-three overtime to keep things tied. He finished with 35 saves on 39 shots.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton couldn’t solve Hofer in the shootout, though, as O’Connor, Zohorna and Valtteri Puustinen all couldn’t convert. Domingue stopped two Springfield shooters, but Hugh McGing’s tally proved to be the game-winner.

Defenseman Juuso Riikola picked up assists on all three first-period goals to lead the team. Zohorna, Hallander and Felix Robert (two assists) both had two points.

Lee and O’Connor both scored their first AHL goal of the season, with O’Connor having spent much of the year so far in the NHL with Pittsburgh.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will be right back on the ice in New England on Saturday, taking on Providence at 7:05 p.m.