Minor league report: Ville Koivunen ties goal record as Penguins rout Bears

Seth Rorabaugh | Wednesday, January 29, 2025 11:13 p.m.

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Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Rutger McGroarty (No. 2) and Ville Koivunen celebrate a goal with teammates at the home bench during a 9-0 win against the Hershey Bears at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday.

Four goals by forward Ville Koivunen led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 9-0 rout of the rival Hershey Bears at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday.

Koivunen tied Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s single-game record for goals. His predecessors:

• Erik Christensen — Oct. 5, 2005 (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 8, Bridgeport Sound Tigers 1)

• J.F. Jacques — Feb. 16, 2007 (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7, Binghamton Senators 0)

• Oskar Sundvist — Dec. 10, 2016 (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 6, Hershey Bears 2)

• Boris Katchouk – Dec. 11, 2024 (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 6, Charlotte Checkers 4)

Forward Vasily Ponomarev recorded a hat trick in Wednesday’s game as well while defenseman Filip Kral led all scorers with five points (one goal, four assists) for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (23-10-4-0), which has won three consecutive games.

Goaltender Sergei Murashov made 27 saves to record his first career shutout at the American Hockey League level and boosted his record to 4-0-0.

The result allowed the Penguins to set a franchise record for greatest margin of victory and set a single-season high for hat tricks with seven. Additionally, it marked the first time in franchise history the team had a pair of hat tricks in the same game.

Highlights:

The Penguins’ next game is a road contest against the Checkers on Friday, 7 p.m.

Follow the Penguins all season long.