Ryan Cartwright and Camden Davis had back-to-back scoring chances for the Penguins as time expired on a Pittsburgh power play with over 10 minutes to play in the first, but the game remained scoreless.

The Grizzlies opened the scoring with 9:43 on the clock in the first when Jack O'Hanisain capitalized on a one-timer right in front of the net off a backhanded pass from John Emmons from just below the faceoff circle.

Pittsburgh looked to answer immediately with a shot from Cartwright at the point, but it was scooped up by Oakland goaltender Rocco Stolz, who finished with 32 stops for the Grizzlies.  

With 7:45 to go in the first, Stolz stopped Pittsburgh’s Eddie Paulissian on a breakaway attempt to preserve the Grizzlies’ 1-0 lead. Pittsburgh looked to even the score again with 3:19 to go with a shot from Dietz and a follow up from Jaxon Wilson, who went after the rebound, but Stolz came up with saves on both.

Oakland’s Travis Bryson started off the second period with a chance for the Grizzlies, but it was gloved down from Pittsburgh goaltender Jeffrey Kreidler. The Grizzlies followed that up with back-to-back scoring opportunities, but the score remained 1-0.

Pittsburgh scored two goals within 40 seconds of each other to take a 2-1 lead with less than a minute to play in the second period. Caden Pendo tied the game up with 1:21 left on the clock in the second. Pendo tapped in the rebound on the back doorstep off an initial shot from Pittsburgh’s Matthew DiMarsico.

Less than a minute later, Cole Bianchin found the back of the net off of his own rebound to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead going into the third.

In a one-goal game and a trip to the semifinals on the line, the first 10 minutes of the third period went scoreless on both sides, but there was no shortage of opportunities for either team.

Similarly to the end of the second period, the Penguins registered back-to-back goals within two minutes, both from Dietz, to close out regulation.

“This is what we’ve worked so hard for all year long,” Muller said. “We’re finally here. So now, every day counts, every shift counts and every minute counts. For us to be here, it’s kind of nice we get to mentally reset and watch our 18U team tonight and support them and that’s important as a program that we come support each other. They were here supporting us today so that was fun. It’s then really about us sitting down, doing our pre-scouts for tomorrow and we’ll get back to work and get the minds right.”

HIGHLIGHT: Pittsburgh's Caden Pendo ties the game up with 1:21 left on the clock in the second period.