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WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Finding separation between the Springfield Thunderbirds and host Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins was not an easy task Saturday night.
The teams entered the game with identical records and were tied on the scoreboard after each of the three periods.
Matthew Kessel’s goal with 23.9 seconds left in overtime settled a game that had been tied for more than 55 of its 64-plus minutes, lifting the Thunderbirds to a 4-3 victory and into sole possession of third place in the Atlantic Division.
The teams shared third in the eight-team Atlantic Division with 10-8-2-0 records when the game started before a crowd of 5,682 at Mohegan Sun Arena. Three more teams were within one standings point of the Thunderbirds and Penguins, who played into overtime Friday night in Massachusetts with the Penguins coming out on top, 3-2.
The overtime loss meant the Penguins had to settle for three of a possible four standings points from the weekend home-and-home series.
“It was decent,” Penguins coach J.D. Forrest said. “We wanted to take four. The division is clogged there with us and Springfield and Lehigh (Valley) and Charlotte all around the same points and win percentages.
“It would have been nice to come out with some separation, but three out of four is OK.”
When the Penguins took their only lead in the second period, the Thunderbirds tied the game 6:35 later.
Springfield’s first lead lasted just 1:05 of the third period. The Thunderbirds scored again with time winding down, but the Penguins answered 1:43 later.
Peter Abbandonato, who came in with just one goal in 14 games, scored his second of the night with 1:39 remaining to force overtime. He scored as goalie Joel Blomqvist was coming to the bench to be replaced by an extra skater.
“I don’t really know if that played a factor,” Forrest said. “We needed a goal, so we went for it.”
Rem Pitlick, who had two assists, weaved through several Springfield players. As he skated toward the left corner, he dropped a pass to Alexander Nylander, who found Abbandonato in the slot with room to shoot.
The teams went end-to-end in the open ice of 3v3, sudden-death overtime and were coming to the end of that five minutes and headed toward a possible shootout when Kessel, a defenseman, charged to the net to score the winner.
Special teams were a factor in regulation.
Springfield went 2-for-8 while Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was 1-for-5 and scored another goal after controlling the puck for a lengthy stretch with Blomqvist out and a delayed penalty call coming.
Sam Houde was tied up by a defenseman and could not get much on a shot from just to the right of the goal. He did manage to get the puck to the crease where Abbandonato got enough of a stick on it for his first goal of the night.
The score came at 1:14 of the second period in the continuation of a power play that began in the first period.
Springfield tied the game just 16 seconds into what could have been a 44-second, 5-on-3 advantage. Zachary Bolduc scored the goal.
Drew Callin scored from close range to put Springfield ahead early in the third.
The Penguins had five players within 15 feet of the net with the delayed penalty coming and it paid off in four straight shots off a wild scramble. Valtteri Puustinen scored the tying goal.
Springfield’s eight power plays included a second 5-on-3, as part of a late third-period stretch that began with a too many men on the ice penalty and gave the Thunderbirds 3:48 of a continuous power play.
Late in that advantage, Matthew Peca’s wrist shot from high in the circle created a 3-2 lead.
“We were out there a ton,” Forrest said. “They had eight power plays, a couple of 5-on-3s, some real interesting stuff happening there.
“ … It’s hard when you kill that many. You wear guys out. You’re asking a lot of them.”
The Penguins entered the game third in the 32-team league, killing off more than 87 percent of opponent’s chances.
The flurry of third-period penalties included a five-minute major and match penalty for a hit to the head called against Springfield’s Hunter Skinner for his high, open-ice hit on Sam Houde, the only Penguin averaging a point per game.
Austin Rueschhoff immediately jumped Skinner and was called for an instigating penalty offsetting two of the five minutes of the power play the resulted.
“You never want to see that,” Forrest said. “It was right to the head. It’s exactly what hockey is trying to get out of the game. It’s tough to watch.”
Houde was down for several minutes and needed to be helped off the ice.
Without adding details, Forrest said postgame that “Houde is going to be out.”