Carter Rowney buried a shot just 1:09 into overtime on Wednesday night as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins opened up their Atlantic Division semifinal series with a 3-2 win over the Providence Bruins.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Thursday night in Wilkes-Barre.
Tom Kostopoulos collected a loose puck behind the Bruins net and found an open Rowney, who one-timed a shot over Jeremy Smith for the game-winner.
It was the third career Calder Cup Playoff goal for Rowney, who was second in the AHL with three overtime winners during the 2015-16 regular season.
Rowney and Jake Guentzel each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, and Casey DeSmith made 31 saves in his AHL postseason debut.
Guentzel’s deflection of a Will O’Neill point shot at 13:13 of the first period gave the Penguins a 1-0 edge, and Dustin Jeffrey doubled the lead just 18 seconds into the second period after Kael Mouillierat helped force a turnover behind the Providence cage.
Seth Griffith got Providence on the board with 5:10 remaining in the second period, finishing a nifty give-and-go with Max Talbot for the seventh goal of his playoff career.
Colby Cave then tied things up with 11:16 left in the third, snapping a shot past DeSmith for a shorthanded marker.
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 – Providence at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
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
.@carterrowney with the overtime game-winner! The @WBSPenguins take the series lead 1-0 #PROvsWBS pic.twitter.com/oHIBZtCoVR
— AHL (@TheAHL) April 21, 2016
