Daniel Sprong’s second goal of the night lifted the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 4-3 overtime win over the Providence Bruins in Game 2 of their Atlantic Division semifinal series on Thursday.
With back-to-back overtime wins, the Penguins will take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series into Saturday’s Game 3 in Providence.
Sprong redirected a back-door pass from Kael Mouillierat to give the Pens the win at 5:13 of the extra period. Sprong, who made his AHL debut in Game 1 on Wednesday, was a second-round draft pick by Pittsburgh in 2015. The 19-year-old winger had two goals in 18 NHL games with the Penguins earlier this season.
Tim Erixon and Tom Kostopoulos also scored for the Penguins, who trailed 2-0 after the first period. Providence had won 21 of 23 games in the regular season when leading after 20 minutes.
Noel Acciari, Colby Cave and Frank Vatrano scored for the Bruins, who will play the final three games of the series at home if they can extend it the far.
Casey DeSmith (2-0) earned his second straight win in net for Wilkes-Barre, finishing with 30 saves. Jeremy Smith (0-2) took the loss for Providence, stopping 29 of 33 shots.
Atlantic Division Semifinals – Series “B” (best-of-5)
A2-Providence Bruins vs. A3-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 20 – W-B/SCRANTON 3, Providence 2 (OT)
Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 21 – W-B/SCRANTON 4, Providence 3 (OT)
Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 23 – W-B/Scranton at Providence, 7:05
*Game 4 – Mon., Apr. 25 – W-B/Scranton at Providence, 7:05
*Game 5 – Tue., Apr. 26 – W-B/Scranton at Providence, 7:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern
Another overtime decision as Sprong nets the game-winning goal! @WBSPenguins take a 2-0 series lead pic.twitter.com/zkgRkPJtuO
— AHL (@TheAHL) April 22, 2016
