ROCHESTER — A three-goal deficit was too much for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to make up.
Rochester jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first period, and after the the Pens knotted it at 4, scored two unanswered in the final nine minutes to pull away for the 6-4 win Friday night at Blue Cross Arena.
It’s the third straight loss for the Penguins heading into Saturday’s home match with Utica at Mohegan Arena. The loss dropped WBS out of first in the Atlantic, now one point behind Providence, while still two points ahead of Lehigh Valley for second.
It definitely wasn’t the start Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was looking for as Rochester scored three goals in the final four minutes of the first period for the 4-1 lead.
The Penguins got it back to 4-3 in the second on Alex Alexeyev’s second goal of the year and Tristan Broz’s score with four minutes. Midway through the third, Sam Poulin knotted it at 4 on his fourth goal of 2025.
But Rochester’s Zach Metsa recorded a power-play goal with nine minutes remaining, and Viktot Neuchev’s empty-netter at 17:56 of the third set the final score.
Filip Larsson got the start in goal, and stopped 7 of 11 shots before being pulled after the first period. Maxim Pavlenko stopped 16 of 17 in the final two periods.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton closes out the week Saturday, and has three games next week, starting in Bridgeport on Wednesday. The Penguins will then host Bridgeport on Friday and Springfield next Saturday. The locals are 1-0 against Bridgeport this season, and haven’t face Springfield.