Erik Christensen‘s power-play goal with 17 seconds left in overtime gave Wilkes-Barre/Scranton a 3-2 win over Manitoba at the Wachovia Center at Casey Plaza on Wednesday night.
The Penguins controlled the puck throughout the man-advantage, created by a tripping call to the Moose’s Jannik Hansen, and finally broke through when Christensen’s wrister eluded goaltender Drew MacIntyre.
Manitoba had struck early, when rookie Alex Edler carried the puck into the Wilkes-Barre zone and then fed it to Yannick Tremblay, who made a nice move and put a shot on net that took Penguins netminder Andrew Penner out of position. Brad Moran jumped all over the rebound to pot the first goal of the AHL’s 71st season at 3:30 of the first period.
Alain Nasreddine capped a shorthanded rush to tie the score for the Penguins at the 8:44 mark of the second period. It was his first goal since Mar. 5, 2005, ending a 103-game drought (including playoffs). Noah Welch‘s shot through traffic then put Wilkes-Barre on top 2:43 into the third.
Manitoba pressed late and got the equalizer from Prestin Ryan with 1:24 left in regulation.
MacIntyre finished with 30 saves for the Moose, while Penner stopped 20 shots for the Penguins.
Attendance was 8,163 at the Wachovia Arena, where the Pens were hosting the first game of the AHL regular season for the seventh straight year.
