The Springfield Thunderbirds looked down on elimination and lived to see another day, taking a 2-0 decision over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Game 4 of the Atlantic Division semifinals at the MassMutual Center on Thursday night.
Game 5 will be played Saturday in Wilkes-Barre (6:05 ET, ), where the winner advances to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Dillon Dube broke the scoreless streak with a power play goal at 16:14 of the second period, his third goal of the series and fifth of the postseason.
Marc-André Gaudet put the Thunderbirds up 2-0 with 13:12 left in regulation, scoring his first goal since March 11.
George Romanov (7-3) made 20 saves in his second playoff shutout as Springfield improved to 3-0 against elimination this postseason and 4-0 following a playoff loss.
Sergei Murashov (5-3) stopped 30 shots for the Penguins, who lost their first regular season game since May 6, 2016, against Hershey.
(Series tied, 2-2)
Game 1 – Tues., May 12 – WB/SCRANTON 2, Springfield 0
Game 2 – Thursday, May 14 – Springfield 4, WB/SCRANTON 3 (OT)
Game 3 – Tue., May 19 – WB/Scranton 2, SPRINGFIELD 1
Game 4 – Thursday, May 21 – SPRINGFIELD 2, WB/Scranton 0
Game 5 – Sat., May 23 – Springfield at WB/Scranton, 6:05
*if necessary… All times in Mpumalanga
