Penguins surge past Springfield, reach deepest Calder Cup run since 2014
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 8-1 clincher matched a winner-take-all playoff record, with all 12 forwards on the scoresheet.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton did not just beat Springfield, it broke the series open, then buried it. The Penguins’ 8-1 rout in Game 5 gave them the Eastern Conference Finals berth, their deepest Calder Cup run since 2014, and it came with the kind of avalanche that usually signals a team that has learned how to survive pressure instead of being flattened by it.
That Game 5 finish was the loudest proof yet. Tristan Broz scored two goals and added two assists, Ville Koivunen piled up two goals and an assist, and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard struck twice in his return after missing the previous five games. All 12 Penguins forwards recorded at least one point, and the 8-1 margin matched the largest ever in a winner-take-all Calder Cup Playoff game. That is not just depth. That is a team that can absorb lineup changes, shake off a setback and still produce offense in waves.
The path there was the real story. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton opened by winning Game 1, then watched Springfield erase a 3-0 third-period deficit in Game 2 and steal the game in overtime. Sergei Murashov’s shutout streak ended at 139 minutes and 41 seconds in that comeback, a moment that could have rattled a younger club. Instead, the Penguins answered with a close Game 3 win before Springfield blanked them 2-0 in Game 4, holding Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to 20 shots and forcing the series back to Pennsylvania with the Thunderbirds suddenly carrying the momentum.
That is where this group hardened. Game 5 was not a bounce-back in name only. It was a full correction, the kind that matters in the next round because it showed the Penguins can take a punch, adjust and land one harder. Murashov finished the series with a 1.55 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage, the kind of numbers that usually travel deep into May. He has now given Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the backbone every contender needs, while the forwards around him have shown they do not need one superstar night to win.
Springfield was no soft landing. Steve Ott took over on Jan. 23 with the Thunderbirds last in the Atlantic Division and guided them to a 19-13-2-0 finish, then pushed them past Charlotte and Providence before the conference final. The Thunderbirds had already won the Calder Cup in 2022, which made the 29-point regular-season gap between the teams look dangerous on paper. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton turned that threat into a statement, and its 9-4 record in winner-take-all playoff games, including 6-1 at home, suddenly reads less like a stat and more like a warning for whoever comes next. Toronto also advanced in five games, setting up a conference final between two teams that survived the kind of series that can make a contender.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
