Minor league report: Radim Zohorna’s hat trick leads Penguins past Monsters

Seth Rorabaugh | Monday, March 18, 2024 10:23 p.m.

Members of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins including forwards Vasily Ponomarev (11) and Austin Rueschhoff (26) celebrate a goal during a 5-2 win against the Cleveland Monsters at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on Monday.

CLEVELAND — Forward Radim Zohorna’s first career hat trick at any level of professional hockey led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 5-2 road win against the Cleveland Monsters at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Monday.

“I never scored a hat trick,” Zohorna said. “It was pretty fun. I finally did. It feels good.”

The 27-year-old Zohorna also recorded an assist while linemate Jagger Joshua contributed a goal and an assist for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (31-20-8-1).

Forward Vasily Ponomarev scored his first goal — the game-winning score — since he was acquired via trade on March 7 and defenseman Jack St. Ivany recorded three assists.

Goaltender Joel Blomqvist made 25 saves on 27 shots to improve his record to 20-9-6.

Highlights:

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

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