Bears Fall To Penguins, 2-1 On Controversial Goal; Axel Jonsson-Fjallby Scores 12th Goal Of the Season

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Jon Sorensen
Photo: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

The Hershey Bears fell to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2-1 on Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre. The Bears opened the scoring for the seventh-straight game with a snipe from Axel Jonsson-Fjallby for a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. The Penguins would tie the game with 21 seconds left in the second period for a 1-1 tie at the second intermission. The Penguins would take their first lead of the game early in the final frame, making it 2-1. Video replay of the goal looks as though the puck hit the crossbar and never crossed the goal line. The goal stood, and that would be the final. The loss drops the Bears record to 32-17-3-3 (70 points).

STARTERS
Pheonix Copley (17-6-5-2, 2.38 GAA, .908 sv%) started between the pipes for the visiting Bears. Casey DeSmith (17-14-2-3, 2.77 GAA, .908 sv%) got the start in goal for the  Penguins. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Scratches: Mike Sgarbossa (lower-body injury, day-to-day, possible return on Tuesday),  Tommy Hughes, Lucas Johansen and Connor Hobbs (shoulder surgery, out indefinitely) were the injury scratches. Eddie Whittchow, Kale Kessy, Kody Clark, Colby Williams were the healthy scratches.

Former Capitals prospect and Hershey Bears’ forward Riley Barber made his first start with the Penguins after being traded from the Laval Rocket earlier this week.

Steve Whitney (upper body injury, week-to-week) was re-assigned to South Carolina for rehab games earlier in the day.

FIRST PERIOD
The Bears would open the scoring for the seventh-straight game with a tally from Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (12) at 17:13 of the first fame. Beck Malenstyn (7) and Chris McCarthy (5) had the helpers.

That would be all of the scoring in the first frame. The Penguins outshot the Bears 11-10 for the first period. There were no penalties called.

SECOND PERIOD
The Bears went to the power play early in the middle frame when Phil Maillet was clipped with a high stick, but the Bears were unable to convert. The Bears would return to the power play at 6:18 of the middle frame after the Pens were called for too many men, but again, they were unable to get much of anything started in the Pens zone. The Bears would be the benefactors of a third consecutive power play at 14:59 of the second period, but again, to no avail.

The Penguins would tie the game late in the period with a goal from Kevin Roy with 21 seconds left in the middle frame.

The second period would end with the game tied 1-1. Hershey led in shots on goal 8-4 in the period, and 18-15 after two periods. The Bears were 0 for 3 and the Penguins 0 for 0 on the power play after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD
The Penguins would take their first lead early in the third period with a snipe in the slot by Kevin Czuczman at 3:48 of the final frame.

A second look at the go ahead “goal” looks like the shot hit the cross bar and went out.

Following the game, the AHL provided an alternative angle that apparently shows the puck hitting the back of the net.

The Pens would hold on for the 2-1 win. the Bears led in shots in the final period, 18-4.

The Bears wrap their week of work on Saturday when they visit the Sound Tigers in Bridgeport. Puck drop is set for just after 7:00 pm.

SHAVINGS

  • AHL box score
  • Attendance: 6,333
  • Hershey outshot the Penguins 36-19 for the game.
  • Bobby Nardella led the Bears in shots with 6.
  • The Bears were o for 4 on the power play. The Penguins did not have a power play.

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 interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
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