The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins suffered a 4-2 setback to the Cleveland Monsters on Friday night at Rocket Arena.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (2-2-1-0) jumped out to an early lead and received two goals from Avery Hayes, who now leads the club with eight points (4G-4A) on the season. Hayes’ offense was matched by a pair of goals by Cleveland’s Mikael Pyyhtiä, and the Monsters pulled away in the third period to secure their fourth win in a row.

It didn’t take long for the Penguins to get on the board, with Hayes rifling a top-corner shot behind Pheonix Copley just 54 seconds into the game. But the Monsters’ response came in a flash. Pyyhtiä buried a power-play goal fewer than two minutes later.

Hayes put the Penguins back in the lead midway through the second period, albeit thanks to a bizarre bounce. Hayes’ dump-in from the neutral zone rattled off the glass, but the puck made an unexpected trajectory towards the net.

Copley had left his crease, expecting the puck to harmlessly roll behind his net. However, it skittered right between his vacated posts and put Wilkes-Barre/Scranton ahead, 2-1.

Pyyhtiä polished off a two-on-one rush with 1:53 left before the second intermission, once again tying the score.

Steven Lorentz also converted on a two-on-one 1:50 into the third, putting Cleveland in the lead for the first time, 3-2.

An empty-net goal by James Malatesta tidied things up for the Monsters.

Joel Blomqvist finished with 23 saves on 26 shots against. Copley took home the win with 18 saves.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Cleveland will do battle again on Saturday. The rematch is slated for 3 p.m. at Rocket Arena, with the start time moved up from the original schedule.