Bears Rally Late, But Fall To Baby Pens, 4-3 In Overtime; Vinny Iorio Scores Second Goal Of the Season

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Jon Sorensen
Screen cap: AHL TV

The Hershey Bears fell to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 4-3 (OT), Wednesday night at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. Vinny Iorio scored his second goal of the season and Mike Sgarbossa scored two goals in the third period in the loss. The Bears record drops to 23-8-3-1 (49 points) on the season.

LINEUP

Hunter Shepard (9-1-2-1, 1.98 GAA, .925 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Bears. Taylor Gauthier (3-1-0-0, 2.78 GAA, .908 sv%) got the start in goal for the Penguins. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Joe Snively –Mike Sgarbossa – Mike Vecchione
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – Ethen Frank
Mason Morelli – Hendrix Lapierre –Garrett Pilon
Beck Malenstyn – Henrik Borgstrom – Henrik Rybinski

Gabriel Carlsson – Dylan McIlrath
Aaron Ness – Bobby Nardella
Jake Massie – Vinny Iorio

Scratches: Sam Anas (abdominal surgery, out indefinitely), Lucas Johansen (Covid protocol), Kale Kessy (upper body injury), Riley Sutter, Shane Gersich, Julian Napravnik, Logan Day and Matthew Strome.

Callups/Re-assignments – Aliaksei Protas was re-assigned to Hershey on Saturday. Joe Snively cleared waivers on Sunday.

FIRST PERIOD

The first period went without a tally. Hershey led in shots 9-7. There were no penalties called in the first frame.

SECOND PERIOD

The Penguins struck first early in the middle frame. Jonathan Gruden (9) notched the game’s first tally at 4:00 of the second period, with Mitch Reinke (11) and Drake Caggiula (15) providing the helpers. Five of Gruden’s nine goals this season have come against the Bears.

The Bears’ Dylan McIlrath and Penguins’ Jamie Devane dropped the gloves at 5:05 of the middle frame.

Following yet another failed Bears’ power play, the Penguins made it 2-0 on Lukas Svejkovsky (1) first career AHL tally at 12:53. Jon Lizotte (6) and Tyler Sikura (6) had the assists.

The Penguins extended their lead to 3-0 on a shorthanded goal by Raivis Ansons (1) at 14:20. Jonathan Gruden (5) had the lone helper. In an effort to spark the Bears power play, the Bears removed the defenseman from the power play unit at the start of this game.

The second period concluded with the Penguins leading, 3-0. Wilkes-Barre led in shots, 8-4. The Penguins were 0 for 1 and the Bears 0 for 2 on the power play after two periods of play.

THIRD PERIOD

The Bears finally dented the twine on Mike Sgarbossa‘s 12th tally of the season, a power play marker, at 4:40 of the final frame. Ethen Frank (12) had Mike Vecchione (17) helpers.

The Bears cut the Pens lead to 3-2 on Vinny Iorio‘s second goal of the season at 14:39 of the final frame. Mason Morelli (16) and Garrett Pilon (7) had the assists.

The Bears tied the game on Mike Sgarbossa‘s second tally of the night with just 24 seconds remaining in regulation. Bobby Nardella (11) and Joe Snively (1) were credited with the assists.

Regulation ended , tied 3-3.

OVERTIME

Jonathan Gruden won the game for Pens in the extra frame.

The Bears are back in action on Friday when they begin a two-game set with the Springfield Thunderbirds at Giant Center.

SHAVINGS

  • AHL box score
  • Attendance: 6,349
  • Joe Snively recorded a point, giving him points in last 15 games at Giant Center.

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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3 Responses to Bears Rally Late, But Fall To Baby Pens, 4-3 In Overtime; Vinny Iorio Scores Second Goal Of the Season

  1. novafyre says:
    January 11, 2023 at 9:30 pm

    What happened to the Bears offense?

    Stingrays won 5-1. Not only did Clay stop 28 SOG but he had 2 assists. Bear only had one assist. Maass had 6 PIM. Looking forward to watching this game tomorrow.

    Reply
    • Jon Sorensen says:
      January 11, 2023 at 9:39 pm

      Not sure, Fyre. So much fire power. The common response is that it takes time to gel and build chemistry. Not sure if that’s the answer, but probably part of it.

      So, I see Maass is 1RD and Has is 3RD. Is that how you see them?

      Reply
  2. Jon Sorensen says:
    January 12, 2023 at 1:05 am

    Reply

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