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WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan felt his team needed a spark as they trailed the winless Springfield Falcons 2-1 entering the third period on Saturday.
Acting on instinct, Sullivan juggled his lines a bit and put Josh Archibald on a line with Tom Kuhnhackl and Dominik Simon, and they responded by scoring the game-tying goal.
In overtime, Sullivan went with his instinct again and put Simon and Kuhnhackl on the ice for the start, and they responded with a win.
Simon’s goal just 36 seconds into overtime led the Penguins to a 3-2 win over the now 0-5 Falcons. The Penguins are now 2-0 in overtime and 5-1-0-0 on the season, winners of their last four.
Simon’s overtime goal came after he set up Kuhnhackl’s tally in the third period to tie the game.
“It’s a coach’s gut instinct,” Sullivan said of his decision to put Simon and Kuhnhackl on the ice to start overtime, along with defenseman David Warsofsky.
“I juggled the lines in the third period to see if I could get a spark. When Kuhnhackl scored, Simon made a great play on it, so I stayed with it. Sometimes it’s one of those things as coaches you stumble on.”
While the finish was fine, the start was tough.
Former Penguins Dustin Jeffrey got Springfield on the board first when he connected from the slot in the first period.
The Penguins thought they evened it up three minutes later when Jean-Sebastien Dea pushed the puck under Falcons goaltender Louis Domingue, but after a review official Ben Moser waived off the goal due to goaltender contact.
The Penguins did get one that counted later in the period when Scott Wilson took a pass from Steve Oleksy on his backhand at the corner of the crease, spun around a lifted a shot into the top corner to send a 1-1 tie into the second period.
Springfield took the lead for a second time on a bad angle shot that Matt Murray never expected to put the Penguins down 2-1.
“It was just a struggle for us from the start,” Sullivan said. “We didn’t have the juice that we normally have, and we were playing a team searching for their first win so they had a level of urgency to their game.”
During the second intermission, Sullivan sent his players a message that they took to heart.
“I said to the guys after the second period this is a gut-check. Good teams find ways to get points out of these kinds of games,” Sullivan said. “It wasn’t pretty by any stretch, but we got some key plays at key times that got us back into the game.”
The Penguins erased Springfield’s lead when Kuhnhackl sniped a shot past Domingue down low to make it 2-2 six minutes into the third period. The goal gave the Penguins renewed hope.
“We needed that goal,” Simon said. “That goal lifted us and we felt we had a chance more than before.”
While the Penguins picked up the pace for the rest of the period, neither team could connect and headed to overtime to settle things. On the first shift, Kuhnhackl went hard on the forecheck and bounced the pucks out from the boards to Simon, who was waiting in front. Simon quickly collected the puck and sent a backhand over Domingue for the 3-2 win.
NOTES
– The Penguins penalty kill was a perfect 6 for 6 on the night. “It’s been a quiet, unsung hero for us every game. The penalty kill has been a strong point of our team so far,” Sullivan said.
– D Reid McNeill was a healthy scratch and F Tom Sestito sat out with a lower body injury. Sullivan said Sestito will be evaluated Monday.
