Pens’ Atley Calvert (84) looks over his shoulder for a teammate during the season opener in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pens’ Owen Pickering (38) reaches for the puck during the season opener in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pens’ Oliver Okuliar (8) handles the puck during the season opener in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pens goalie Joel Blomqvist (30) tracks the puck during the season opener in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Penguins celebrate after scoring their first goal during the season opener in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pens’ Phil Kemp (52) lunges for the puck during the season opener in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pens’ Finn Harding (50) makes a pass during the season opener in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pens’ Atley Calvert (84) handles the puck during the season opener in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pens’ Finn Harding (50) handles the puck during the season opener in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pens’ Avery Hayes (85) handles the puck during the season opener in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pens’ Jake Livanavage (4) looks to pass the puck during the season opener in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Tux cheers from the stands during the season opener in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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Pens’ Atley Calvert (84) looks over his shoulder for a teammate during the season opener in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
WILKES-BARRE TWP. — A new season started Saturday, but one can forgive the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins if they had flashbacks to last postseason.
Springfield goaltender Georgii Romanov stopped 43 of 45 shots and Calle Rosen scored at 1:50 of overtime to give the Thunderbirds a 3-2 win over the Penguins on opening night Saturday before 5,396 fans at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Atley Calvert had both goals for the Penguins, who get the chance to bounce back right away when they host the Hartford Wolf Pack on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. Goalie Joel Blomqvist made 20 saves.
When these teams met last May in the Atlantic Division Final of the Calder Cup Playoffs, Romanov stopped 112 of 119 shots in the first four games before the Penguins finally solved him in the decisive Game 5, sending him to the bench after a four-goal first period on their way to a series-clinching, 8-1 win.
On Saturday night, Romanov was at it again.
“You’d kind of expect that after we chased him in the last game of their season last year after the first period. He was probably going to come out with an effort like this,” Penguins coach Kirk MacDonald said. “I don’t think it’s surprising. He’s a good goalie. Tip of the cap to him.”
Calvert had 11 of the Penguins shots against Romanov and Rutger McGroarty had seven.
“I made it a point to try to simplify my stickhandling with the puck. I just happened to be in the right spots to shoot it,” Calvert said.
“He played great. There were a lot of chances we had that he made really good saves on.”
Romanov’s effort helped get Springfield to overtime where, after killing the final 34 seconds of a power play that carried over from the third period, the Thunderbirds won it. T.J. Tynan carried the puck into the Penguins zone and passed to Rosen in the high slot. Rosen initially overskated the puck, stopped and collected it and snapped a shot past Blomqvist into the top-right corner of the net.
The Penguins were 0 for 5 on the power play.
“We had our chances. We were in the house, but didn’t want to shoot,” MacDonald said. “We’ve got to make the goalie make a save. We probably should have had 60 shots based on the stuff we passed up. We’ve got to be harder.
“But we didn’t play a bad game by any means. We did a lot of good things. It’s frustrating. We’ve got to continue to build on the things we didn’t do well. There’s lots of room to grow, but there are some positives from tonight.”
Springfield struck first 3:11 into the game. A loose puck bounced in front and Justin Carbonneau skated out from behind the net and backhanded it past Blomqvist. It was the first professional goal for Carbonneau, who was the St. Louis’ Blues first-round pick (19th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft.
It didn’t take long for the Penguins to tie it. Tristan Broz from the right faceoff circle centered a pass to Calvert in front. Calvert’s initial shot was stopped by Romanov, but Calvert was able to gather in the rebound and put it past the Springfield goalie at 5:05.
“I came around the net and saw Brozer,” Calvert said. “He made a good pass to the back post and I just stuck with it.”
A turnover by the Penguins at the offensive blue line enabled the Thunderbirds to reclaim the lead later in the first. Aleksanteri Kaskimaki head-manned the puck to Carbonneau at the Penguins blue line. He slid a pass to Tynan breaking in alone down the slot and Tynan beat Blomqvist to make it 2-1 at 16:32.
“We gave them six shots in the first period, three scoring chances and two ended up in the back of the net,” MacDonald said. “They all were a result of us not taking care of the puck. We want to execute better offensively and also do a better job taking care of pucks.”
It stayed a 2-1 game until midway through the second. With Hugh McGing in the box for goaltender interference, the Penguins went on a 3-on-2 shorthanded rush. Harrison Brunicke sent a cross-ice pass from the left wing boards to Avery Hayes, who fed Calvert in the slot. Calvert one-timed the puck and Romanov made the initial save. But the rebound dropped next to him and Calvert dove and poked it in to knot it at 12:32.
“We’d been out there for a while and I recognized that their guys were kind of tired,” Calvert said. “So I just thought maybe there was a chance to try to get a little offense.”
Not only did the Penguins score a shorthanded goal, but they killed off four Springfield power plays, including two in the third period to keep the game tied.
“The PK was great. Big one late in the third, Calvie’s second goal,” MacDonald said. “I thought we were really aggressive, on our toes, took a lot of things away. Didn’t give up a ton in that respect.”