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

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:

Lineup for 2/7/2020 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton ⬇️ #HBH pic.twitter.com/hryl117oYq

— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) February 7, 2020

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.

Matt Moulson knocks home rebound from Djoos shot for PPG. Bears lead 1-0. pic.twitter.com/MaMC9msqR1

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) February 8, 2020

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.

Two big stops by The Cop. Bears lead 1-0 with 1:34 remaining in first frame. pic.twitter.com/moGyo68uyL

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) February 8, 2020

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.

#CapsProspect Garrett Pilon creates turnover, and finishes for the score. His 13th goal of the season. He remains hot. pic.twitter.com/7SeGXtFm3z

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) February 8, 2020

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.

#CapsProspect Alex Alexeyev leaves the game after this high hit. He left the ice dazed, but under his own power. pic.twitter.com/KT1pUdYybC

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) February 8, 2020

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