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WILKES-BARRE TWP. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins combined continued production from their recent offensive leader with a boost from a missing piece of the attack Saturday night into their third win in five days.
Alex Nylander and Sam Poulin scored the goals as the Penguins matched their longest winning streak of the season by defeating the Rochester Americans, 2-1, in an American Hockey League game at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Nylander connected on the game-winner with 3:03 remaining after assisting on Poulin’s goal early in the game. He has scored four times in the last five games and seven times in the last 10 to give him a team-high nine on the season.
“I’m just trying to keep it the same,” Nylander said in the post-game, on-ice interview after being selected as the game’s number-one star, “every day working hard, making sure I’m ready each game.”
Nylander won control of the puck before each of the Penguins’ two goals.
His first effort helped make sure Poulin did not need long to settle in after returning to the Penguins’ lineup for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury in Hershey in October.
Poulin scored the game’s first goal at 6:28 of the first period.
Nylander gained control of the puck in the left corner and sent a pass into the middle to Poulin, who had the time and space necessary to beat former Penguins goalie Dustin Tokarski with a wrist shot.
The goal was Poulin’s second in just six games this season.
Rochester’s Jiri Kulich tied the game on the power play 5:06 later, beating a Penguins penalty killing unit that entered the night leading the AHL by stopping 87.9 percent of opponent’s attempts.
Kulich, a 19-year-old from Czechia who was a first-round pick by the parent Buffalo Sabres in the 2022 National Hockey League Draft, leads the AHL with 16 goals in 22 games.
Penguins goalie Magnus Hellberg, who already had one outstanding stop from close range in the first period, went post to post to glove a Graham Slaggert shot on a 2-on-1, short-handed attempt for Rochester with 9:46 left in the second period.
The Penguins outshot the Amerks 14-9 in the period, but could not convert on four power-play chances, including 1:04 of a 5-on-3 advantage.
Kulich hit the crossbar on a rush up the left side with 6:57 remaining.
The Penguins took control from there, resulting in Nylander’s game-winner.
Nylander won a one-on-one battle at the right point to keep the puck in the offensive zone, glided into the middle of the right circle and beat Tokarski to the short side.
An outstanding shift from Corey Andonovski helped close out the win.
Andonovski made two rushes up ice, one nearly producing an insurance goal, then did some extra work in the corner to keep Rochester from being able to pull Tokarski until 46 seconds remained.
The Amerks wasted their last chance in the offensive zone when Jeremy Davies was assessed a major cross checking penalty and game misconduct, leaving them shorthanded and moving the faceoff to the opposite end. Although Rochester won the faceoff and created a quick breakout, the 5.6 seconds were not enough to finish off the play.
The winning streak improved the Penguins to 14-9-3-0 and moved them past the Providence Bruins into third place in the Atlantic Division.
Rochester, the third-place team in the North, dropped to 12-8-2-1.
NOTES: Poulin was selected as the game’s second star. Hellberg made 23 saves and was named third star. … Tokarski played 54 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the past two seasons. … The Penguins, who have played five of their last six at home, are away for the next three games and don’t return until playing the Charlotte Checkers on consecutive nights Dec. 29-30.