Photo: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

The Hershey Bears fell to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 3-1, Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, PA. With the loss, the Bears record drops to 17-6-2-1 (37 points) on the season.

HERSHEY BEARS LINEUP

Zach Fucale (10-5-1-0, 2.58 GAA, .897 sv%) got the start in goal for the Bears. Dustin Tokarski (7-3-3-1, 2.04 GAA, .930 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Penguins. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Mike Vecchione –Mike Sgarbossa – Ethen Frank
Mason Morelli – Connor McMichael – Sam Anas
Henrik Borgstrom – Hendrix Lapierre – Julian Napravnik
Kale Kessy – Riley Sutter – Shane Gersich

Aaron Ness – Logan Day
Gabriel Carlsson – Dylan McIlrath
Jake Massie – Vinny Iorio

Scratches: Garrett Pilon (lower body injury), Henrik Rybinski (precautionary reasons), Bobby Nardella (upper body injury), Michael Kim, Matthew Strome and Martin Has.

FIRST PERIOD

It was all Penguins in the first frame. Jonathan Gruden (6) opened the scoring just 4:57 into the contest. Xavier Ouellet (14) and Nathan Légaré (1) had the helpers.

Gruds + X = ✨magic✨ pic.twitter.com/qCvjl5ZipI

— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 17, 2022

The Penguins made it 2-0 at 8:37 of the frame. Tyler Sikura (4) would get the redirect for the tally. Mitch Reinke (7) and Corey Andonovski (4) had the assists.

Sikky’s sneaky 👀 pic.twitter.com/VzSbccVU6L

— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 17, 2022

The period concluded with the Penguins ahead 2-0. They led 13-10 in shots.

SECOND PERIOD

The Bears and Penguins skated to a scoreless draw in the middle frame.

The Bears had three power plays in the second period but were unable to convert on all three.

The Bears led in shots 11-3 for the middle frame and led 21-16 after two periods of play.

SECOND PERIOD

The Penguins extended their lead to 3-0 early in the final frame. Sam Houde (3) roofed a backhander over Fucale’s glove for the Penguins third goal of the night at 3:48 of the frame. Ty Glover (2) and Taylor Fedun (1) had the helpers.

Houdey with the ole ✨razzle dazzle✨ to give us 3 pic.twitter.com/LLA0fyfpF8

— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 17, 2022

Midway through the period, Bears’ Kale Kessy decided to take out his frustrations on the Penguins bench by entering the Penguins bench to take care of business.

Kale Kessy is a treasure. 🙂 #HBH pic.twitter.com/xxRr4of2rj

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) December 17, 2022

The Bears would finally dent the twine with less than a minute remaining in regulation. Gabriel Carlsson (1) would let one rip from the left point for the Bears tally at 19:10 of the third period. Mike Vecchione (12) had the lone assist.

Gabriel Carlsson end the Pens shutout. 3-1 with under a minute to go. #HBH pic.twitter.com/8Wq4GPcpTV

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) December 17, 2022

That would be it, as the Baby Pens held on for the 3-1 win.

The Bears are back in action on Saturday night for game two of their two-game set against the Penguins in Wilkes-Barre. Puck drop is set for 6:05PM.

SHAVINGS

• AHL box score
• Attendance: 2,854
• Zach Fucale stopped 23 of 26 for a .884 game save percentage.