The Springfield Thunderbirds stared down elimination and lived to see another day again, taking a 2-0 decision from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Game 4 of the best-of-five Atlantic Division finals at MassMutual Center on Thursday night.
The deciding Game 5 will be played Saturday in Wilkes-Barre (6:05 ET, ), with the winner advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Dillon Dube broke a scoreless deadlock with a power-play goal at 16:14 of the second period, his third goal of the series and fifth of the postseason.
Marc-André Gaudet upped the Thunderbirds’ lead to 2-0 with 13:12 left in regulation, scoring his first goal since Mar. 11.
Georgii Romanov (7-3) made 20 saves for his second playoff shutout as Springfield improved to 3-0 when facing elimination this postseason and 4-0 following a playoff loss.
Sergei Murashov (5-3) stopped 30 shots for the Penguins, who suffered their first shutout loss in a postseason game since May 6, 2016, against Hershey.
(Series tied, 2-2)
Game 1 – Tue., May 12 – W-B/SCRANTON 2, Springfield 0
Game 2 – Thu., May 14 – Springfield 4, W-B/SCRANTON 3 (OT)
Game 3 – Tue., May 19 – W-B/Scranton 2, SPRINGFIELD 1
Game 4 – Thu., May 21 – SPRINGFIELD 2, W-B/Scranton 0
Game 5 – Sat., May 23 – Springfield at W-B/Scranton, 6:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern