The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are three wins away from their first trip to the conference finals in 12 years, but the Cinderella Springfield Thunderbirds stand in their way as the best-of-five Atlantic Division finals kick off at Mohegan Arena tonight (7:05 ET, 
).
The Penguins followed their 101-point regular season with a 3-1 series victory over Hershey, with 16 different skaters recording at least one point. Ville Koivunen (1-3-4) and Tristan Broz (0-4-4) led the way offensively with four points apiece, and Sergei Murashov (3-1, 1.99, .937) allowed eight goals on 126 shots in the series.
Defenseman Harrison Brunicke’s shorthanded goal in Game 4 was the decisive goal in the series-clinching contest last Thursday night.
“This is probably the most fun I’ve ever had,” said Brunicke, who turned 20 last week. “It’s a great team to be a part of and we have a chance to do something special here.”
Brunicke, a second-round draft pick in 2024, played nine games for Pittsburgh and five for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before returning to Kamloops (WHL) after winning a bronze medal with Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship. He was assigned back to the AHL club in April after his junior season ended.
“There’s stuff that Kyle (Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas), Spezz (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton GM Jason Spezza), everyone has told me I need to do to improve my game,” Brunicke added. “I’m feeling good about my game and it’s upward from here.”
The Penguins, in the division finals for the first time since 2016, won three of four meetings from Springfield during the regular season and finished 29 points ahead of the Thunderbirds in the Atlantic Division. But the T-Birds have already proven that none of that matters.
Springfield, which allowed eight goals in Game 1 of their first-round series with Charlotte, has given up a total of nine goals in six games since. Georgi Romanov (5-1, 1.42, .954) posted a 37-save shutout on Thursday, with Dillon Dube (2-3-5) scoring the clinching goal in the 1-0 overtime victory to knock out the regular-season champion Bruins.
“We talked about it six weeks ago,” head coach Steve Ott said in his post-game address to his team after eliminating Providence. “For us to continue to have this process, we have to get better every single day. What I absolutely love is we just slayed the giant. I told you we were a good hockey team months ago, and we’re just now starting to prove it to everyone else.”
