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WILKES-BARRE TWP. — In the second period of Wednesday’s Game 1 of the Atlantic Division Semifinals against the Providence Bruins, Carter Rowney took a high-stick to the mouth and lost a tooth.
In overtime, he caused the Bruins to lose the game.
Rowney’s one-timer early in the overtime period gave the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins a 3-2 win and a 1-0 series lead. Rookie Casey DeSmith stopped 31 of 33 shots in his first playoff game, and Jake Guentzel scored his first AHL postseason goal.
It was a sound effort from a Penguins team that had lost the last four to Providence in the regular season.
Rowney said the difference on Wednesday was the Penguins’ ability to not let the Bruins play to their strength.
“We kept getting pucks deep and kept trying to frustrate them,” he said. “We weren’t giving them turnovers, and that’s what they thrive on.”
Rowney’s overtime goal was generated by an aggressive play from Tom Kostopoulos to gain possession of the puck behind the Providence net. Rowney saw the play developing, so he snuck into the low slot and one-timed Kostopoulos’ pass into the net.
The goal was sweet retribution for a play in the second period when Rowney was hit.
“Lose a tooth for a game-winning goal feels pretty good I guess,” Rowney said. “To get that win, anyone in this locker room would make that trade – a tooth for a goal.”
After a tight opening 10 minutes that saw neither team give an inch, the Penguins broke through first when Guentzel tipped a Will O’Neill shot past Jeremy Smith for a 1-0 lead.
The Penguins made it 2-0 just 18 seconds into the second period when Dustin Jeffrey shoveled in a loose puck from the corner.
After that, DeSmith upped his already stellar play when he sprawled to make a pad save on Max Talbot, and kept the pad out there to stuff Talbot again on the rebound.
“That was huge. I heard the crowd get into it there,” DeSmith said. “That set the tone for the period.”
The Bruins did get on the board late in the period when Seth Griffith completed a tic-tac-toe play to cut the Penguins lead to 2-1 heading into the third period.
After two periods DeSmith stopped 24 of 25 shots and the Penguins were confident in their young goaltender.
“I was happy to be in the game the whole time and not have big pauses where I wasn’t getting shots,” DeSmith said.
DeSmith’s solid play continued into the third and the Penguins had an opportunity to extend their lead with a power play at the midway point.
But it was Providence who benefited when Colby Cave picked up a loose puck in the high slot and rushed to the other end on a two-on-one. Cave elected to shoot rather than pass and the puck went into the top corner for a 2-2 tie that held for overtime.
“We felt good but we knew they were going to come,” head coach Clark Donatelli said. “We knew probably the score wasn’t going to stay the same. They’re too good of a team.”
With Game 2 on Thursday, the Penguins have little time to cherish their win as they look to go up 2-0 and send the best-of-five series back to Providence.
“We have to park this win and it’s a new game tomorrow,” Rowney said. “We know they’re going to bring it tomorrow, so we just have to reload.”
NOTES
– Donatelli wouldn’t say of DeSmith or Tristan Jarry would start Game 2, but he was impressed with DeSmith’s performance considering he spent much of the season in Wheeling. “I knew he had the ability to play int he AHL. Could I have predicted this? No. But I knew he could play,” Donatelli said.
– Daniel Sprong suited up for his first AHL game and finished the night with two points. “He had a couple of good chances coming out of the corner. I look forward to having him in the lineup. I think we’re going to see some good things from him,” Donatelli said.
– G Sean Maguire, D Harrison Ruopp, D Ethan Prow, F Jarrett Burton, F Patrick McGrath, F Adam Krause, F Tyler Biggs, D Reid McNeill (injury), F Sahir Gill (injury) and F Dominik Uher (injury) were scratched for the Penguins.
– Game 2 is Thursday, 7:05 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
