Bears Beat Penguins 3-0; Pheonix Copley Stops 31 Shots, Garrett Pilon Scores Again

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Jon Sorensen
Photo: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

The Hershey Bears downed the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3-0 on Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The Bears would strike first with a power play goal from Matt Moulson early in the first frame for a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. Garrett Pilon would stretch the Bears lead to 2-0 early in the middle frame for a 2-0 lead at the second intermission. Liam O’Brien would add an empty net goal late in the third period for the 3-0 win. The victory improves the Bears record to 29-15-2-3 (63 points) on the season.The win also move’s the Bears into a first place tie with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the Atlantic Division. The Wolf Pack have played one less game.

STARTERS
Pheonix Copley (14-6-4-1, 2.41 GAA, .907 sv%) started between the pipes for the visiting Bears. Casey DeSmith (16-11-2-3, 2.82 GAA, .907 sv%) got the start in goal for the Penguins. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Scratches: Tyler Lewington (illness), Mike Sgarbossa (lower-body injury, day-to-day), Steve Whitney (upper body injury, week-to-week), Lucas Johansen and Connor Hobbs (shoulder surgery last week, out indefinitely) were the injury scratches. Riley Sutter, Kale Kessy, Chris McCarthy and Eddie Whitchow were the healthy scratches.

Martin Fehervary was held out of the lineup “for precautionary reasons for a potential recall.”

FIRST PERIOD
The Bears would strike first with a power play goal from Matt Moulsoin (16) at 2:28 of the first frame. Moulson picked-up an easy rebound off a shot by Christian Djoos. Djoos (19) and Nardella (16) had the helpers.

Pheonix Copley made two big stops late in the first period to keep the score 1-0 at the first intermission. The Bears led in shots on goal 13-12 for the first 20 minutes. The Bears were 1 for 2 and the Penguins 0 for 1 on the power play in the first period.

SECOND PERIOD
The Bears would make it 2-0 with a goal from Garrett Pilon (13) at 4:32 of the middle frame. Pilon created the initial turnover at center ice, then found space for a pass from Liam O’Brien for the score. Liam O’Brien (17) and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (8) had the helpers.

The middle frame would conclude with the Bears leading 2-0. The Penguins outshot the Bears 14-9 for the second period, and 26-22 after two periods. The Bears were 1 for 3 and the Penguins 0 for 1 on the power play after 40 minutes.

THIRD PERIOD
Alex Alexeyev would leave the game midway through the final frame after taking a high hit in the Bears zone. Alexeyev would return to the game after missing approximately five minutes of game time.

Liam O’Brien would add an empty net goal (9) to make it 3-0, and that would be the final.

SHAVINGS

  • AHL box score
  • Attendance: 4,868
  • Bears are 5-2-0-1 on the season against the Penguins.
  • Shots on goal were 31-31.
  • Axel Jonsson-Fjallby led all Bears in shots with 6.
  • Pheonix Copley has won 11 of last 12 starts.
  • The Bears were 1 for 5 and the Penguins 0 for 3 on the power play.
  • Stars of the game: 1) Pheonix Copley, 2) Matt Moulson and 3) Garrett Pilon.
  • Only the 10th game this season where the Bears led after one period.

By Jon Sorensen

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His passion for the Caps has grown over the decades, which has included time as a season ticket holder, social media and community organizer, and most recently led to the founding of NoVa Caps in 2014. Jon earned a Bachelor's of Science in Civil Engineering at Old Dominion University, and is a Systems Engineer during intermissions, which has been instrumental in supporting his Capitals habit.
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1 Response to Bears Beat Penguins 3-0; Pheonix Copley Stops 31 Shots, Garrett Pilon Scores Again

  1. Anonymous says:
    February 7, 2020 at 10:45 pm

    HOw good can Pilon be? Always wanted to see LO called up for a few games…

    Reply

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