McGrath and WBS Penguins move to brink of clinching home ice

Shavertown native Patrick McGrath scored his first career AHL goal Saturday, sparking the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 2-1 victory over Hartford at Hartford’s XL Center.

McGrath’s goal came off assists from Derrick Pouliot and Adam Krause 3:06 into the second period after a scoreless opening period, and gave the Penguins a lead they didn’t relinquish as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton recorded a rare, eight-game season sweep of the WolfPack.

Casey DeSmith stopped 34 shots in goal for the Penguins, who improved to 49-19-3-1 and moved within a point from clinching the Atlantic Division title and securing home ice advantage throughout the upcoming AHL Playoffs.

The clincher could come with a victory, tie, or overtime loss in Sunday’s 3:05 p.m. game in Providence.

Jean-Sebastien Dea gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead when he registered his 17th goal later in the second period.

DeSmith turned away Hartford’s first 26 shots, including four power play opportunities in the first period, before the WolfPack broke through with Adam Tembellini’s goal 15 seconds into the third period.

But DeSmith and the penalty kill remained stout for the Penguins, who killed off all six of Hartford’s man-advantages — including a six-on-four kill in the final two minutes of regulation as Hartford desperately tried to tie the score. DeSmith denied the Wolf Pack their equalizer with an exclamation mark by flashing a blocker save on Hartford’s leading scorer, Nicklas Jensen, with less than 20 seconds left in the game.

Penguins 2, Hartford 1

Penguins`0`2`0` — `2

Hartford `0`0`1` — `1

First Period — No Scoring. Penalties — Summers, Hfd, (interference), 3:27; Prow, WBS, (hooking, unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:25; Pouliot, WBS, (tripping), 16:28; Josephs, WBS, (high-sticking), 18:49.

Second Period — Penalties — Josephs, WBS, (hooking), 9:46.

Third Period — Penalties — Catenacci, Hfd (interference), 4:13; served by Wydo, WBS (bench minor – too many men), 17:36.

Shots on Goal

WBS 6-15-6-27. Har 15-11-9-35.

Power Play Opportunities

WBS 0-2; Har 0-6.

WBS, DeSmith 20-4-2 (35 shots-34 saves). Har, Hellberg 12-14-5 (27 shots-25 saves).

-6,344

-Terry Koharski, Chris Brown. -Glen Cooke, Frank Murphy.