For a while, it looked like the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins were going to take a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-five series against the Springfield Thunderbirds on Thursday.
They had a 3-0 lead going into the third period and a 3-1 lead with less than five minutes left in regulation before losing 4-3 in overtime. The Thunderbirds pulled the goalie twice to end the game, and Dillon Dube scored two 6-on-5 goals to pull his team even.
Akil Thomas won the game for the Thunderbirds in overtime off a weird bounce. The puck missed the net on a rush, but still somehow ended up in the back of the net.
Bill Zonnon opened the scoring for WBS in the first period with a great net-front play. He was there to clean up the loose puck after some beautiful puck movement from the power play.
Tristan Broz made it 2-0 early in the second period off a great feed from Mikhail Ilyin. WBS held on to that lead for a good chunk of the middle frame until Avery Hayes made it a 3-0 game with less than two minutes left.
Rutger McGroarty delivered one heck of a cross-ice pass to Hayes, who buried it past Thunderbirds goaltender Georgii Romanov.
WBS goaltender Sergei Murashov was outstanding once again in this game, despite allowing three goals in the third period and the game-winner in overtime. There wasn't much he could do on those and gave the Penguins a chance to win the game several times.
Ultimately, the Thunderbirds found a way to come back and win, sending the series back to Springfield tied at one game apiece.
Game 3 will be on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. ET.
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