Harrison Brunicke scored a shorthanded goal to snap a 1-1 tie and send Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a series-clinching 4-1 victory over Hershey in Game 4 of their Atlantic Division semifinal series on Thursday night.
Brunicke, who turns 20 on Friday, put in the rebound of Gabe Klassen’s shot off an odd-man rush during a Bears power play with 13:40 to go in the second period. Ville Koivunen added his first goal of the series 3:33 into the third, and Klassen found the empty net – also shorthanded – with 31 seconds remaining.
Sergei Murashov (3-1) made 37 saves for the Penguins, who are heading to the division finals for the first time since 2016. They will take on Springfield beginning Tuesday night in Wilkes-Barre.
Ivan Miroshnichenko had the lone goal for the Bears in Game 4, and Clay Stevenson (3-3) stopped 26 of 29 shots.
(Wilkes-Barre/Scranton wins series, 3-1)
Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 30 – W-B/SCRANTON 4, Hershey 2
Game 2 – Sat., May 2 – Hershey 2, W-B/SCRANTON 1
Game 3 – Tue., May 5 – W-B/Scranton 4, HERSHEY 3 (OT)
Game 4 – Thu., May 7 – W-B/Scranton 4, HERSHEY 1
