On Saturday night, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins picked up a 5-4 overtime win over the Springfield Thunderbirds.
The game’s second star was Emil Bemström, whose third goal came at 4:27 of overtime, giving the Penguins a hard-fought win.
WBS’s bounce-back performance was impressive, as the Charlotte Checkers shut them out 4-0 on Friday.
Historically, Bemström’s hat trick on Saturday was his second career professional three-goal game, with his last one occurring as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets on May 3, 2021.
Against the Thunderbirds, he tallied the game’s second goal at 16:06 of the first period, extending the Penguins lead to 2-0. Then, in the second period’s final minute, he scored his second of the game at 19:41 to extend the WBS lead to 4-1.
Once Springfield rallied in the third with three goals, the stage was set for Bemström to finish the night with the overtime winner.
Related: Boris Katchouk Scores Four Goals In Wild Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Win
The 25-year-old Swede’s special night is just another in a string for members of the baby Penguins, as Boris Katchouk (Dec. 11) and Vasiliy Ponomarev (Dec. 7) have also recently scored hat tricks, giving WBS three in their last five games.
Meanwhile, at the NHL level, the Penguins’ only hat trick came Thursday night when Bryan Rust collected three goals against the Montreal Canadiens.
Interestingly, the AHL’s three stars of the night included two connections to the Penguins organization, as former forward Alex Nylander was named the league’s top star with a hat trick and five points.
WBS (29 points) dropped a spot in the Atlantic Division, trailing the Providence Bruins (30 points) by a single point, while both teams continue to chase the Hershey Bears (39 points) for the top spot.
