BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Pittsburgh Penguins prospects are champions once again.
Thanks to an 8-5 win over the Buffalo Sabres in the final game of the 2024 Prospects Challenge, the Penguins finished with an undefeated, 3-0 record, defending their championship won at last year’s event.
Avery Hayes scored a hat trick and had four points on Monday, and Tristan Broz followed suit with a four-point game of his own. Hayes provided an offensive spark at key moments in the game, putting his team in the driver’s seat and never letting off the gas.
“The puck was bouncing my way a couple of times, and I’m playing with great players,” Hayes said. “I mean, we have a bunch of guys who have a chance to make the NHL this year. It’s easy playing with them, and I had a blast.”
Buffalo cashed in on the power play to seize its first lead of the game, with Viktor Neuchev letting loose from the slot midway through the first period. Five minutes later, Jiří Kulich also buried one from the slot, making it 2-0.
However, the Penguins pulled within one with 2:20 left before the first intermission. Broz fed Hayes on a two-on-one rush for the latter’s third goal of the tournament.
Hayes didn’t have to wait long after the intermission to earn his fourth and fifth goals and complete the hat trick. He tied the game, 2-2, with a tip in on a carryover power play 46 seconds into the middle frame, and then he gave the Penguins the 3-2 lead two minutes and 12 seconds later.
“I thought he was outstanding and it’s good to see guys get rewarded for hard work,” said Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Kirk MacDonald. “His energy level, his compete, has been outstanding.
“Going back to Saturday’s game, he deserved that empty netter for his play. It’s nice to see a guy rewarded with an empty-net goal. You can say, ‘Hey, you’ve done a lot of great things and had a lot of really good looks.’ Now tonight, he got rewarded even more.”
Not happy to see Hayes have all the fun, Kulich netted his second man-advantage marker of the night at 4:43 of the second, making it 3-3.
Ville Koivunen delivered a top-corner snipe while the teams were skating at four-on-four at 11:56 to put his team back on top. Then Mathieu De St. Phalle buried one for a two-goal lead with 3:29 remaining in the second stanza.
Twenty-two seconds into the third period, Neuchev secured his second goal of the game, but the Penguins were unfazed. Koivunen and Broz connected once again during four-on-four, this time with Broz lighting the…
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