Joe Szymanski

Szymanski: Bears Even Up Series, Take Game Two 2-1 Over Penguins

Hershey found themselves down in a series for the first time these playoffs after losing 4-2 to the Penguins on Thursday night. Back in Wilkes-Barre for game two, the Bears were looking to even up the series before headed home for game three on Tuesday in the Giant Center.

Two changes for the Bears from Thursday. Dalton Smith comes in for Milton Gastrin, with Sam Bitten getting promoted to the third line. Jon McDonald also returns to the starting group, slotting back in for Leon Muggli.

Clay Stevenson starts his fourth straight of the playoffs

Postgame Takeaways

  • The major inflection point in this game in my opinion was the early four minute penalty levied to Aaron Ness for high sticking. Hershey kept the Penguins power play at bay, similar to what they did in game one against Bridgeport, and turned the game in their favor.
  • The first really was the Hershey dominant period. The Bears only allowed three shots on Clay Stevenson in the first 20 minutes, totally shutting down the Penguins dynamic offense.
  • Hershey’s power play got on the board for the first time this series in the first. A bit of a broken play that Ilya Protas turned into gold with a couple of great moves, as he found an open Brett Leason in front to make it 1-0 Bears.
  • Leason has been the Bears ‘Swiss Army knife’ all season, and he really showed out tonight. He plays in every scenario for this group, and it was great to see him get rewarded on the score sheet tonight.
  • The second was more back and forth, with the Penguins waking up out of their slumber, but Hershey continued to hold their own.
  • Failing to convert on two power play opportunities hurt the Bears momentum, but it was a moment of double excellence that got Hershey their second. First, a point blank save from Stevenson allowed Hershey to translate defense into offense, as Andrew Cristall found Bogdan Trineyev in a two on two situation, which Trineyev finished beautifully to make it 2-0 Bears.
  • The penalty kill was 4/4 on the night, another huge reason for Hershey’s success. Killing off Bongiovanni’s late second period penalty kept the Bears two goal lead intact headed into the third.
  • Clay Stevenson was unbeatable most of the evening, so maybe no surprise that it took a shot that deflected off two skates in front of him to beat him this evening.
  • That goal happened only 1:12 into the third, and Hershey were on their heels for the rest of the night.
  • Credit to every player though, they held firm, even when it looked doubtful. And of course Clay was Clay.
  • Wilkes-Barre had the goalie pulled for over two and a half minutes to end the period, but were unable to convert on their 6-on-5 opportunities.
  • In a big play that won’t show up on the score sheet, Andrew Cristall beat out a Penguin to negate an icing that killed off an additional 10-15 seconds that ended up being massive. Ivan Miroshnichenko also had a great block with about 30 seconds left on the clock. Great to see the skill guys make those plays.
  • Finally, a shout out to you Bear Nation, who killed it as the visiting crowd tonight. I could hear you all night in the press box and this coaching staff and roster appreciates you guys.

Postgame Comments

Derek King: https://youtu.be/zW98DBDXlgM?si=hHGIkZ8dpZtWyuxe

Brett Leason: https://youtu.be/N416fobhQMQ?si=ucGTSsE97Lymosau

Clay Stevenson: https://youtu.be/qvv6ItUkQ10?si=MD3Fn2V-QUQfOcS0

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