WILKES-BARRE TWP. - When it comes to clinching, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have a flair for the dramatic.

Last week, Bryan Lerg scored in overtime as the Penguins secured the East Division title with a win in Hershey.

Saturday night, it was Geoff Walker's turn in the spotlight.

Walker beat defenseman Adam Comrie up the left wing, cut to the net and deposited a shot inside the far post 3:11 into overtime to give the Penguins a 4-3 win over the Rochester Americans at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

The Penguins jumped off the bench to mob Walker in front of the penalty box doors, knowing they had won, for the first time in franchise history, the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy, given to the team with the best record in the AHL. That also means they'll have home-ice advantage throughout the Calder Cup playoffs.

"It feels awesome," Walker said. "Any time you can be a part of something like this, it's real special. We're just going to try to enjoy it, enjoy each other. We're just beginning on the track of good stuff we're going to do this year."

Technically, the Penguins clinched the best record in the league a few minutes before Walker's goal when their closest pursuers, the Portland Pirates, lost, 5-2, to the Manchester Monarchs.

The Penguins didn't know that on the bench, and according to center Zach Sill, it wouldn't have changed their approach even if they did.

"When you get into overtime, the compete level in everybody goes way up," Sill said. "Nobody wants to lose a tight game. I don't think a lot of guys even realized we already (clinched). It was just about finishing off the way we wanted to."

The Penguins started pretty well Saturday too, taking a territorial advantage throughout much of the first two periods and building a 28-10 shots advantage.

The Amerks hung around, however. In the first period, Chris Taylor answered a Corey Potter goal to tie the score 1-1. Late in the second period, ex-Penguins forward Bill Thomas scored at the end of a 5-on-3 power play to give Rochester a 2-1 lead.

The Penguins made their move in the first five minutes of the third period.

First, Andrew Hutchinson scored on a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle at 2:45 to forge a 2-2 tie.

About two minutes later, Sill took a chip pass from Chris Collins in the neutral zone, moved in on a breakaway, froze goalie Marc Cheverie with a fake and deftly backhanded the puck into an empty cage to give the Penguins a 3-2 edge.

"It was a we-had-to-show-up-or-you're-going-to-lose kind of thing," Sill said. "(Coach John Hynes) came in to kind of get us pumped up for the third period so we'd come out harder, do little things right."

The lead lasted less than two minutes, however, as Jeff LoVecchio scored on a give-and-go play down low with Jordan Knackstedt to ensure the Penguins would have to work overtime to get the two points they sought.

"We just talked about staying with our game plan and not veering," Hynes said. "It was good we didn't do that and we got rewarded for our effort."

With home ice clinched, the last four games of the season will be little more than exhibitions for the Penguins. Hynes said he isn't yet sure if he'll rest key personnel or not.

"The most important thing is you have to keep a mentality. You have to make sure you're playing the right way and doing the right things and you have the right rhythm in your team," he said. "We'll have some discussions about that, but the most important thing is where we're going and not what we've done."

Contact the writer: jbombulie@citizensvoice.com