The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are back in first place in the Atlantic Division.
The Pens jumped out to a two-goal lead and added two empty-net goals in a 4-1 win over the Providence Bruins on Wednesday night in a battle of the top two teams in the division.
The locals now own a 3-1 edge in the season series with the Bruins.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton outshot Providence, 37-24, and got a 36-save performance from Sergei Murashov for the victory.
The Penguins wasted little time getting on the board as Joona Koppanen scored his sixth goal of the year just 1 minute, 52 seconds into the contest.
It stood 1-0 until early in the second period where Tristian Broz’s 12th goal, off assists from Valtteri Puustinen and Ville Koivunen, gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead after two.
Broz and Rafael Harvey-Pinard both hit empty-netters late in the third period before Providence spoiled Murashov’s shutout bid with less than two minutes remaining on Michael Callahan’s first goal of the season.
The Penguins (24-10-1-2) return to home ice Friday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza for back-to-back games with the Hartford Wolf Pack. Friday’s game starts at 7:05 p.m. while the pucks drops Saturday at 6:05 p.m.
They have a four-game week coming up, starting Monday afternoon in Springfield.