Rutger McGroarty took advantage of a Marlies turnover with 2:59 left in regulation to send Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a 4-3 win over Toronto in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Coca-Cola Coliseum on Wednesday night.
The best-of-seven series is tied at two games apiece. Game 5 is Friday night in Toronto (7 ET, ) before the teams head back to Wilkes-Barre for Game 6 on Sunday.
With the Marlies trying to move out of their own zone, Easton Cowan attempted a pass from the half-wall that was intercepted by McGroarty. The Penguins forward took two strides and snapped a shot between the legs of Artur Akhtyamov for what would be his second game-winning goal of the postseason.
Toronto had tied the game at 3-3 on a power play with 6:56 left in the third when Luke Haymes fired a shot through traffic from the bottom of the right-wing circle following wild goal-mouth scramble.
That came after the Penguins’ lineup showed its depth in erasing a two-goal deficit by scoring three times in the second period. Scooter Brickey scored his first career AHL goal, fellow defenseman Chase Pietila notched his first of the playoffs after scoring twice in 66 regular-season games, and Gabe Klassen gave Wilkes-Barre/Scranton its first lead of the night with 51 seconds left in the stanza.
The Marlies got on the board first for the third game in a row when Sergei Murashov misplayed a dump-in and Bo Groulx tucked in a shorthanded goal 4:19 into the game. Vinni Lettieri upped the Toronto lead to 2-0 with a power-play tally at the 14:14 mark.
Murashov (8-5) finished with 32 saves for the Penguins, while Akhtyamov (9-6) stopped 23 shots for the Marlies.
(Series tied, 2-2)
Game 1 – Wed., May 27 – Toronto 4, W-B/SCRANTON 2
Game 2 – Fri., May 29 – Toronto 2, W-B/SCRANTON 1 (OT)
Game 3 – Mon., June 1 – W-B/Scranton 5, TORONTO 3
Game 4 – Wed., June 3 – W-B/Scranton 4, TORONTO 3
Game 5 – Fri., June 5 – W-B/Scranton at Toronto, 7:00
Game 6 – Sun., June 7 – Toronto at W-B/Scranton, 6:05
*Game 7 – Tue., June 9 – Toronto at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern