One win from its final four since 2014, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton takes a 2-1 series lead into Game 4 of the Atlantic Division finals at Springfield tonight (7:05 ET, 
).
With 14:02 left in regulation, Bill Zonnon scored his third goal in as many games to start his professional career and it ended up being the game-winner in Tuesday’s 2-1 Penguins victory.
“I was just getting bounces,” Zonnon said after Game 3. “My teammates have been doing a lot of work to create space for me to come in and finish. I’ve had good luck as well. Once you’ve worked, do the right things, luck is with you.”
Rutger McGroarty scored on a short break with 19.1 seconds left in the first period to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. The Pens scored first in six of seven playoff games; Springfield has allowed the first goal in eight of its 10 postseason contests.
Sergei Murashov (5-2, 1.80, .942) made 27 saves as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton moved to 3-0 on the road in these contests.
In their last six games, the Thunderbirds have led for 44 seconds. They have already won two playoff games, both in the first round in Charlotte with George Romanov (6-3, 1.68, .946) stopped 63 of 66 shots in that victory.
“It was a close game, but a loss is a loss,” the Springfield coach Steve Ott said. “We want to be on the right side of the game, but there were many things we were happy about.”
Chicago gets another chance to close out the Central Division finals on home ice tonight, hosting Grand Rapids in Game 4 at Allstate Arena (8 ET, ). A potential Game 5 returns to Grand Rapids on Saturday.
Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (4-3-7) scored 9:22 into overtime as the Griffins survived their first layup and won 4-3 on Tuesday. It was the third game-winning goal of the postseason for the 20-year-old Norwegian forward, Detroit’s first-round pick (15th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Road teams are now 10-4 in overtime during the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs.
For the second game in a row, Grand Rapids built a 2-0 lead with five minutes left in the contest. But again for the second game in a row, the Wolves responded, this time leading 3-2 early on Tyler Angle – a Game 2 scratch for the Griffins – tied the game with 7:14 left in the second half.
Griffins ahead John Leonard (1-4-5), who scored a team-best 33 goals in 47 games during the regular season, found the back of the net for the first time this postseason in Game 3. Carter Mazur (5-1-6) added his fifth goal in the last five games, too Erik Gustafsson (1-5-6) and Sheldon Dries (1-4-5) each had two assists.
“I thought we were pretty good,” the Griffins head coach Dan Watson said. “We stuck to the game plan; our guys were beaten down mentally and physically. Chicago made it difficult for us, but we stayed strong. Our guys deserved to win.”
Grand Rapids finished Game 3 with a 46-20 advantage in shots on goal, including 28-9 after Chicago went ahead early in the second half. Cayden Primeau (5-3, 2.34, .922) made 42 Wolves appearances, while Felix Unger Sörum (3-4-7) extended his scoring streak to four games with a goal and an assist.
