Less than two minutes away from victory, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton slammed into another obstacle. And there had been plenty of them on this seven-game winless streak.
Jordy Bellerive made sure the skid wouldn’t hit eight.
The Penguins lost a lead with just 1:39 left in regulation before Bellerive rescued them with a goal in the final minute of overtime for a 3-2 win at Binghamton.
Leading 2-1 on Nick Schilkey’s power play goal midway through the second period, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was looking to close out its first win since its last trip to Newark — where the Devils are playing home games this season — on March 6.
But the Penguins, who had gone 0-5-2-0 since that game, nearly had their misery extended when Danick Martel picked off a clearing attempt. Goalie Alex D’Orio stopped his shot from the high slot, but the rebound kicked right onto the stick of Nolan Foote, who buried it at the 18:21 mark of the third.
With time winding down in the extra period, Bellerive blew past a defender at the blue line and snapped the winner past Devils goalie Gilles Senn. Bellerive got down on one knee to celebrate the end of the team’s skid as the bench emptied to congratulate him.
It was Bellerive’s team-leading seventh goal of the season, and it gave D’Orio his first career AHL win, finishing with 21 saves on 23 shots.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton controlled play for most of the night, peppering Senn with 43 shots. But nothing came easy as Binghamton opened the scoring just 28 seconds into the first period with a Graeme Clarke goal.
Jan Drozg tied it up before the intermission, scoring his fourth of the year with 3:30 left in the first on assists from Drew O’Connor and Pierre-Olivier Joseph.
Joseph also picked up an assist along with Josh Currie on Schilkey’s go-ahead goal with 7:48 left in the second period.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton killed off all five of Binghamton’s power plays.
The Penguins continue their road trip on Saturday when they head to Allentown to take on Lehigh Valley at 7:05 p.m.