Ville Koivunen buried the first hat trick of his AHL career as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated the Toronto Marlies 6-3 on Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Koivunen became the fourth Penguin to record a hat trick this season, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (19-8-3-0) extended its season-long point streak to seven games.
Koivunen opened the scoring in a flash, notching his first of the night 108 seconds into the game. However, the Marlies’ Nikita Grebenkin responded three minutes later, tying the game 1-1.
Toronto went ahead, 2-1, on a slick redirection from Jacob Quillan at 12:15 of the first period. Once again, a response came quickly. Koivunen unleashed a laser on the rush that whizzed past Artur Akhtyamov’s glove one minute after the Marlies took the lead.
The Penguins converted on their first power play of the game to go back on top, 3-2, towards the end of an offense-filled first period. Filip Král floated a shot through traffic and to the back of the net with 4:15 left in the opening frame.
Late in the period, Akhtyamov exited the game with an injury, and was replaced by former Penguin Matt Murray. Murray, who shut-out Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Dec. 18, made several impressive saves during the second period to keep his old club at bay.
Fraser Minten tied things up again, 3-3, five minutes before the second intermission.
Král’s second man-advantage marker put the Penguins on top for good at 8:23 of the third. Koivunen hit the post 1:09 later, but Emil Bemström shoveled the rebound across the goal line.
Koivunen completed his hat trick on an empty-net goal with 1:15 left in regulation.
Filip Larsson earned his fifth-straight victory by making 36 saves for the Penguins. Murray denied 13 of the 15 shots he faced in relief of Akhtyamov, who left the game after stopping four of seven.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton continues its Canadian road trip with a game against the Belleville Senators on Friday, Jan. 10. Puck drop from CAA Arena is set for 7:00 p.m.