WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins blanked the Cleveland Monsters, 3-0, in the final game of the 2024-25 regular season on Saturday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton finishes its first season under head coach Kirk MacDonald with a 40-24-7-1 record after its season-ending victory. Taylor Gauthier, in his first AHL game this season, stopped all 32 shots that he faced for his second AHL shutout. Both Tristan Broz (2A) and Dan Renouf (1G-1A) collected two points en route to the Penguins’ eighth shutout victory of the season.
Renouf opened the scoring at 13:56 of the middle frame, finishing off an artful passing display by Broz and Ville Koivunen.
While the two teams were skating at four-on-four in the third period, the Penguins cashed in for two goals in 19 seconds. First, Broz lofted a pass towards Cleveland’s crease just in time for Avery Hayes to deflect the feed across the goal line. Moments later, Vasily Ponomarev whipped a behind-the-back feed to Joona Koppanen, who roofed a backhand shot to the back of the net with six and a half minutes left to play.
Late in regulation, a skirmish that started between Penguins defenseman Harrison Brunicke and Monsters forward Roman Ahcan escalated to the point where 14 game misconducts were handed out between the two teams. The remaining two minutes wrapped up without further incident, and Gauthier could celebrate his 32-save shutout.
Evan Gardner made his pro debut between the pipes for Cleveland and recorded 16 saves.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton begins its quest for the Calder Cup with Game 1 of its best-of-three, opening round series against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday, Apr. 23. Opening puck drop from Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza is set for 7:05 p.m. The Penguins’ full opening round schedule can be found here.
Individual tickets and full playoff packages for the Penguins’ postseason run are on sale now. Fans who wish to reserve their seats for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s games in the 2025 Calder Cup Payoffs can call the Penguins’ front office at (570) 208-7367.
Penguins Playoff Packages, which include tickets to all potential home games, are also on sale now. By purchasing this package, fans are committing to every home playoff contest played during the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs. This package includes a ‘Pay-As-We-Play’ plan, meaning your credit card will not be charged until a game is guaranteed to be played.
Also included in the plan…
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