Hershey Bears Get Blanked 4-0 by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Posted on January 24, 2018 by
Screen Shot 2018-01-24 at 9.27.42 PM
Photo: @TheHersheyBears

Coming off a loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the Outdoor Classic, the Hershey Bears returned indoors to welcome another Pennsylvania rival to Giant Center. Unfortunately, Hershey would get shutout on their home ice by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The Penguins scored two goals in the first period by Zach Aston-Reese and Jarrett Burton to put the Bears in an early hole and would add two more goals by Christian Thomas and Zach Trotman to win 4-0. This loss extended the Bears winless streak to six games. 

BEARS LINES

Forwards:
Walker-Boyd-Bourque
Bau-Graovac-Gazley
Simpson-Albert-Barber
O’Brien-Sill-G. Mitchell

Defense:
Ness-Hobbs
Johansen-Lewington
Siegenthaler-Williams

The scratches for Wednesday’s game were Jeremy Langlois (upper body), Anthony Peluso (veteran), Mason Mitchell and Hubert Labrie. The starting goaltender was Pheonix Copley (8-7-5).

FIRST PERIOD
The Baby Pens wasted no time as Zach Aston-Reese struck first at 3:40 for his seventh goal of the year. Tyler Graovac tried to strip the puck from Greg McKegg but McKegg whiffed the puck right to Aston-Reese and he fired it in.

The Bears had a power play opportunity at 4:36 as Jarred Tinordi was called for a delay of game. The Penguins killed off the Penalty. Later at 9:14, the Baby Pens struck again as Jarrett Burton came down the ice, shot the puck off the boards but was able to follow his shot and put it past Copley for a 2-0 lead. This was Burton’s fourth goal of the season.

Through the first 11 minutes of play, the Bears led the Penguins in shots 4-3. Hershey went back to the power play at 17:19 as Tinordi headed to the sin bin for the second time. This time, he was whistled for tripping. The Bears couldn’t cash in. At the end of the third at 18:13, Nathan Walker was called for high-sticking, putting the Bears on the penalty kill to end the first period and begin the second. At the end of one, the Penguins led the Bears 2-0 but the Bears led in shots 9-4.

SECOND PERIOD
The Bears began the second period on the penalty kill for 13 more seconds but were able to kill it off successfully. Hershey head a frustrating second period that had a couple of looks but couldn’t break through. The Penguins led in shots 3-1 through the first five minutes.  Bears were only able to generate two shots through 10 minutes.

The Bears went to the power play thee times. At 6:42, Christian Thomas went to the box for slashing. Hershey couldn’t convert but had some great scoring chances late in the middle frame. Their best opportunity came on this great pass from Graovac to Dustin Galley.

The Bears got two more power play opportunities. The first came at 17:15 on a tripping penalty by Zach Trotman and then at 19:36 there was a bench minor for too many men on the ice. The Bears ended the middle frame still on the power play. The score remained 2-0 after two periods and the Baby Pens led in shots in the second 9-4.

THIRD PERIOD
The Bears began the third period with 1:37 left on the power play and the frustrations continued as they once again came up empty. The Bears led in shots 3-2 through the first seven minutes of the third period. Hershey almost broke through with 12:52 left in the game. There was a scrum in front of the net and Zach Sill nearly knocked it in for the Bears first goal. The puck got stopped by Anthony Peters and the play would get reviewed by the officials. Upon further reveal, the call stood. No goal.

Former Capitals prospect and Hershey Bear Christian Thomas put the Penguins up 3-0 at 10:54 in the third period for his 12th goal of the season.

Zach Trotman added a fourth goal for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for this third tally of the season at 12:01. What followed shortly after was frustration reaching it’s boiling point.

Tyler Lewington took out his frustrations on Garrett Wilson as the two fought at center ice. Prior to the goal, Lexington cross-checked Wilson while he was on his knees at the blue line. Each player served five-minute majors for fighting.

There would be another scrum between the teams that was broken up by the officials 19 seconds later and McKegg and Garrett Mitchell each served two minutes for roughing. The Bears went back to the power play at 13:45 as McKegg was called for interference but Hershey faltered on the man-advantage for the sixth time. Gazley was called for cross checking at 18:24 and then began arguing with officials, who then drew the line by giving him a 10-minute misconduct. Chris Bourque would serve time in the sin bin for Gazley. Gazley left the game since he wouldn’t be able to come back in anyway

The Bears were outshot in the final period 8-5. The Penguins would win 4-0 giving Peters his first AHL shutout. It was simply a frustrating night all around for both the Bears and their fans as their record drops to 17-20-3-4. Copley stopped 17-of-21 shots he faced in the loss as his record dropped to 8-8-5.

By Michael Marzzacco

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1 Response to Hershey Bears Get Blanked 4-0 by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

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