Photo: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
The Hershey Bears downed the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 5-3 Wednesday night at the Giant Center in Hershey. Joe Snively scored two goals and Ethen Frank recorded his team-leading 24th goal of the season in the win. The victory improves the Bears record to 33-13-5-2 (73 points) on the season.
LINEUP
Zach Fucale (16-9-2-1, 2.58 GAA, .898 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Bears. Dustin Tokarski (10-8-4-1, 2.38 GAA, .919 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Penguins. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Joe Snively –Mike Sgarbossa – Mike Vecchione
Mason Morelli – Connor McMichael – Ehten Frank
Henrik Borgstrom – Henrik Rybinski – Garrett Pilon
Beck Malenstyn – Riley Sutter – Shane Gersich
Aaron Ness – Logan Day
Gabriel Carlsson – Vinny Iorio
Lucas Johansen – Bobby Nardella
Scratches: Hendrix Lapierre (upper body injury), Sam Anas (abdominal surgery, out indefinitely), Kale Kessy (upper body injury), Jake Massie, Matt Strome, Julian Napravnik and Benton Maass.
Recalls and Reassignments: The Bears recalled defenseman Benton Maass from ECHL South Carolina on Wednesday.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears opened the scoring with a goal from Henrik Borgstrom (8) at 9:49 of the first frame. Henrik Rybinski (8) had the lone helper.
Nice play by Henrik Borgstrom, finishes with the score, his 8th goal of the season. Bears lead 1-0 early. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/GebiJeXnr0
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) March 2, 2023
The Penguins equalized late in the period with a goal from Justin Addamo (1) at 17:32 of the frame. Colin Swoyer (7) and Lukas Svejkovsky (9) had the helpers.
Damo gets a piece of it for his FIRST AHL GOAL 🤠 pic.twitter.com/lIrLL0UGcq
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 2, 2023
The first period concluded with the game tied, 1-1. The Penguins led in shots, 12-10 in the first 20 minutes. Wilkes-Barre was 1 for 1 on the man advantage. The Bears did not have a power play in the opening stanza.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bears regained the lead early in the middle frame on Ethen Frank’s 24th goal of the season. The goal came on the power play. Connor McMichael (14) and Mike Sgarbossa (29) had the assists.
Frank The Tank! Ethen Frank with his 24th of the season. Bears lead 2-1 in the middle frame. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/3QD57sE9nS
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) March 2, 2023
The Bears extended their lead to 3-1 late in the middle frame. Joe Snively (6) made a nice goal-front move to fake Dustin Toskarski for the score. Lucas Johansen (4) and Mike Sgarbossa (30) had the helpers.
Nice puck movement by the Bears. Joe Snively fakes Dustin Tokarski and finishes. Bears lead 3-1. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/BSg5XbrHsY
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) March 2, 2023
The second period concluded with the Bears holding a 3-1 lead. The Bears led in shots, 14-4 in the second period and 24-16 after two periods. Both teams were 1 for 2 on the power play after 40 minutes of play.
THIRD PERIOD
The Penguins closed the gap to a single goal with a power play tally early in the final frame. Justin Addamo (2) potted his second goal of the night, both coming on the power play. Nathan Légaré (8) and Mitch Reinke (22) had the assists.
If you’re gonna score one, you might as well just score two, amiright?!
That’s another one for Justin Addamo 😤 pic.twitter.com/Fhm37gxCwU
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 2, 2023
The Penguins tied the game less than three minutes later on a breakaway tally from Alexander Nylander (24) at 5:11. Jon Lizotte (8) had the lone helper.
A lil shake 🤝 and bake 👨🍳🤜🤛 pic.twitter.com/RClXZDv9KV
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 2, 2023
The Bears regained the lead on Joe Snively‘s second goal of the night at 15:55. Mike Sgarbossa (31) and Mike Vecchione (25) had the helpers.
Joe Snipely! Joe Snively with his second goal of the game, gives the Bears a late 4-3 lead. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/FTkU0KOZCJ
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) March 2, 2023
Mike Vecchione added an empty net tally for the 5-3 final.
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 7,738
- The Bears led in shots 35-28.
- 12th and final regular season meeting with the Penguins.
- Stars of the game: 1) Joe Snively, 2) Mike Sgarbossa and 3) Justin Addamo (#26)
- Bears averaged 28.83 shots per game (28th) entering the contest.
- Bears averaged just 2.96 goals per game (24th) entering the contest.
Finally some offense.
No doubt. Mixed the top 6 up a bit and it paid. Homely Maass gets ice time this weekend.
If not, I want Benton back in North Charles for the three games this weekend.
Yep. Bears face Bruins in battle for first place this weekend. If they don’t plan on playing him, send him back ASAP. But I got a gut feel he gets in. Just a hunch.
That’s more like it! That shot by Snively for his second goal was ridiculous
That was better. Still a third period collapse (again), but this time they answered back.
You could almost feel it coming in the third.