The Springfield Thunderbirds forced a Game 5 in the Atlantic Division finals after a 2-0 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Tuesday night.
Played at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, the win not only evened the series at 2-2 but also set the stage for a decisive showdown on Saturday at 6:05 ET.
A shutout night for the Thunderbirds
Dillon Dube opened the scoring with a power-play marker at 16:14 of the second period, his third goal of the series and fifth of the postseason.
Marc-André Gaudet added his first goal since March 11, extending the lead to 2-0 before the period ended.
Goalie Georgii Romanov turned in 20 saves for his second playoff shutout, preserving the lead through the final two frames.
Sergei Murashov, between the pipes for the Penguins, stopped 30 shots, but the effort wasn’t enough as Springfield improved to 3-0 when facing elimination this postseason and 4-0 after a playoff loss.
The series now shifts back to Wilkes-Barre for Game 5, where the Penguins will look to avoid a second straight shutout loss in a postseason game — a fate they haven’t suffered since May 6, 2016, against Hershey.