Another game tied in the third period. Another chance for the Penguins to stake their claim as a contender for the Calder Cup.
After coming up short in two games at home, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton delivered on Monday.
Ville Koivunen and Atley Calvert scored 2:12 apart to break a third-period tie as the Penguins prevailed 5-3 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Toronto. Aidan McDonough and rookie Bill Zonnon each added a goal and an assist.
Goalie Sergei Murashov was named No. 1 star of the game, making 36 saves on 39 shots.
The win enabled the Penguins to crawl back into contention in the series, still trailing 2-1 in the best-of-seven. Game 4 is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday and Game 5 will be 7 p.m. Friday, with both contests north of the border. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will need to win at least one to bring the series back home for a Game 6 on Sunday at Mohegan Arena.
The road team has won all three games to open the series, but it hasn’t been easy. All three were also tied in the third period before being decided.
This time it was a 2-2 game with seven minutes gone in the third. Koivunen played a give-and-go with Tristan Broz after gaining the Toronto zone. As Broz drove to the net, all three Marlies set their attention to him, leaving Koivunen all alone in the slot. Broz delivered a sharp pass back to him and Koivunen snapped one far side on Artur Akhtyamov for the go-ahead goal.
With three goals, the Penguins at that point had matched their combined total from the first two games against Akhtyamov, who had stopped 67 of 70 shots in those wins.
They would need more.
The fourth line stepped up soon after as McDonough made an excellent pass from the left side to hit a streaking Calvert at the right post to make it a 4-2 lead.
Former Penguin Marc Johnstone — who was at the center of Toronto’s controversial overtime winner in Game 2 — made things interesting with his first goal of the postseason, scoring with 52 seconds left and the goalie pulled.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, which lost a late two-goal lead in the previous round against Springfield, didn’t allow a repeat as rookie Tanner Howe scored in consecutive games by getting the empty-netter with 36 seconds remaining.
Toronto opened the scoring midway through the first period on a Vinni Lettieri goal, but McDonough answered just 2:23 later to tie it at the first intermission.
Zonnon scored his fourth goal in his eighth career AHL game early in the second, knocking in a loose puck in the crease. Luke Haymes tied it back up for the Marlies late in the period.
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