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BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The last goal Matt Murray allowed was here, though it surely wasn’t Sunday.
Murray earned his third shutout in a row and his team-record eighth this season in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ 7-0 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Webster Bank Arena.
“Murray’s played solid,” coach John Hynes said. “He’s making the saves he needs to make. He’s in a pretty good groove.”
Murray has played 185 minutes, 22 seconds since then without allowing a goal, helping the Penguins go 8-0-1-1 in their past 10.
“I think our team is solidifying what we need to do going into the playoffs,” Murray said. “That’s basically where you want your game to be, at a top level going into the playoffs.”
Brad Thiessen set the Penguins record with seven shutouts in 2010-11. Murray’s eight are one shy of the AHL record for rookies. He has four shutouts in his past five starts, five in his past seven.
Murray’s last goal against was Feb. 8, late in the Penguins’ 3-1 win over Bridgeport. That game snapped a modest Bridgeport two-game winning streak. The Sound Tigers haven’t won since, tying a team record with a nine-game losing streak.
The Penguins scored two in the first Sunday and two in the second. They went 3 for 10 on the power play.
“Fortunately we were able to get a couple of power plays and score,” Hynes said.
The Sound Tigers almost had a chance to get back in the game early in the second, but Scott Wilson slid to break up a Bridgeport two-on-one.
The puck came the other way, and Cory Conacher tried to move the puck back to a Bridgeport defenseman at his own blue line. The puck slid off his stick, and Jayson Megna took it in alone for a breakaway goal.
The Penguins made it 4-0 on a power-play goal by Brian Dumoulin (three points) off Andrew Ebbett’s faceoff win.
Bridgeport handed the Penguins a short five-on-three early in the first period, two penalties that stopped an early Sound Tigers push.
“They had a pretty good push at the start of the game, a pretty good push at the start of each period,” Murray said.
Moments after the first Bridgeport penalty ended, Dumoulin’s wrister from the high slot tipped off Tom Kuhnhackl’s stick and David Leggio’s glove and in at 8:23.
The Penguins tacked on a goal on a four-on-four. Megna beat one defenseman in the right circle, backed the other in, then fed Josh Archibald going to the net for the first of two goals.
Archibald, playing his first AHL game since Jan. 21 after a stint with Wheeling (ECHL), hadn’t scored an AHL goal since Nov. 21. He had 10 points in eight games with the Nailers.
“It was really nice to see him come back,” Hynes said. “One of the reasons we wanted him to go down to Wheeling was to be able to get his confidence.
“He brought some energy, some speed.”
Wilson scored a goal early in the third from the left wing. Ebbett scored with 7:01 left from just a little closer. And Archibald scored again on a five-on-three with 6:04 left.
The Penguins cheered for equipment manager Paul DeFazio in the dressing room afterward for his 1,000th game. They reassembled on the ice for a team photo with him.
“It was a nice little win for him,” Murray said.
Penguins 7, Sound Tigers 0
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2 2 3 — 7
Bridgeport 0 0 0 — 0
First Period — 1, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Kuhnhackl 6 (Dumoulin, Ebbett), 8:23 (pp). 2, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Archibald 3 (Megna, Chorney), 14:34. Penalties — Farnham, WBS, major (fighting), 5:51; Gallant, Bpt, major (fighting), 5:51; Quine, Bpt (slashing), 6:19; Lashoff, Bpt (roughing), 8:01; Kuhnhackl, WBS (tripping), 10:50; McNeill, WBS (delay of game), 12:45; Persson, Bpt (tripping), 13:37; Collberg, Bpt (interference), 16:33.
Second Period — 3, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Megna 16, 2:23. 4, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Dumoulin 3 (Wilson, Ebbett), 10:54 (pp). Penalties — Pulock, Bpt (interference), 10:52.
Third Period — 5, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Wilson 14, 2:22. 6, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Ebbett 14 (Dumoulin), 12:59. 7,
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Archibald 4 (Sheary, D’Agostino), 13:56 (pp). Penalties — Farnham, WBS, minor-misconduct (roughing), 3:44; Leblond, WBS (roughing), 3:44; Lashoff, Bpt, minor-misconduct (roughing), 3:44; Gallant, Bpt, double minor (slashing, roughing), 3:44; Leblond, WBS (unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:39; Zolnierczyk, Bpt (unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:39; Sundstrom, Bpt (boarding), 8:51; Reinhart, Bpt, double minor-misconduct (boarding, roughing), 10:57; Archibald, WBS (hooking), 11:01; Sutter, Bpt (tripping), 13:40.
Shots on goal — Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 16-6-8 — 30. Bridgeport 5-7-6 — 18.
Power play opportunities — Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 3 of 10, Bridgeport 0 of 2.
Goaltenders — Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Murray 16-8-2 (18 shots-18 saves). Bridgeport, Leggio 7-13-0 (30-23).
Attendance — 6,126. Referees — Voss, Binda. Linesmen — Baker, Colby.