Tristan Broz scored twice in a four-goal first period, setting the table for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to eliminate Springfield with a resounding 8-1 win in Game 5 of the Atlantic Division finals at Mohegan Arena on Saturday evening.
The Penguins will take on the winner of Sunday’s Game 5 in the North Division between Cleveland and Toronto. The Eastern Conference Finals will begin in Wilkes-Barre next week, the Pens’ first appearance in the conference finals since 2014.
Broz opened the scoring 3:56 into the contest, driving through the Springfield defense and backhanding a shot past Georgii Romanov.
He then assisted on Harrison Brunicke’s goal at 7:43 off a two-on-one rush to make it 2-0, prompting Thunderbirds head coach Steve Ott to use his timeout.
Broz netted his second goal on a power play as he found himself alone between the circles with time to put a wrister past the blocker of Romanov with 3:43 to go in the opening frame.
Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, back in the Penguins’ lineup after missing the previous five games due to injury, scored his first goal of the postseason with 20.4 seconds left before the first intermission.
Atley Calvert extended the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton lead to 5-0 when he put a rebound past backup goaltender Vadim Zherenko at 17:21 of the second period, and Ville Koivunen’s power-play tally at 2:52 of the third made it 6-0. Broz picked up an assist on that goal for his fourth point of the night.
Akil Thomas finally got Springfield on the board at 4:30, but Harvey-Pinard hit an empty net from 170 feet out and Koivunen tacked on an eighth goal with 9:18 remaining.
Sergei Murashov stopped 26 of 27 shots for the Penguins, finishing the series with a 1.55 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage in the five games.
The seven-goal margin of victory matched the largest ever in a winner-take-all Calder Cup Playoff game, joining Grand Rapids’ 7-0 win over Houston in 2013 and Quebec’s 8-1 victory over Providence in 1969.
The Thunderbirds began and ended their Calder Cup Playoffs with 8-1 losses; in the 10 games in between, they went 7-3, allowed 16 goals and eliminated two of the top five teams in the AHL.
(W-B/Scranton wins series, 3-2)
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 – W-B/SCRANTON 8, Springfield 1