Returning to the Giant Center after their first road trip of the season, Hershey took on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the first time this season.
Tonight was the first time the Bears faced either of their in-state rivals. In fact, the Bears will play the Penguins once more in 12 days before they face the Phantoms for the first time this season on Nov. 21. Hershey will once again not leave the state of Pennsylvania during the month of December again. All of their road games will be in Allentown or Wilkes-Barre next month.
The Bears split their recent road trip, going 1-1 with a win over Rochester on Wednesday and a loss to Toronto on Friday. Personally, I thought the Bears played very well both nights, though you need the penalty kill to be better on Friday, where the Bears let up three power play goals to the Marlies.
Hershey may also receive some additional help to an already stout backend tomorrow, as Dylan McIlrath was placed on waivers this afternoon after the Capitals acquired goalie Rémi Poirier from New Jersey for a 2027 7th round pick. Poirier may find himself down in Hershey at some point, but for now he stays in Washington.
As expected, multiple changes for the Bears. Eriks Mateiko and Alex Suzdalev came into the lineup for Matt Strome and Dalton Smith for the forwards, while Louie Belpedio returned to the lineup after being scratched for a maintenance day on Friday against Toronto. He comes in for David Gucciardi.
After Cal Petersen got both starts on the road, Mitch Gibson got the starters net for Hershey tonight, his first start since Sunday, Oct. 18 against Providence.
First Period
The first was frustrating in the sense the Bears did everything right and yet found themselves behind by two goals.
After failing to convert on the power play early on in the period, a bad change in the aftermath left a gaping hole for Penguins forward Melvin Fernstrom. Ferstrom beat Louie Belpedio into the zone and he pulled off a lovely deke past Mitch Gibson to leave himself an open net and give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.
Hershey, to their credit, did not back down. They kept going and going at the Penguins and kept most of the action in the Penguins zone for the last 13 minutes of the period. But they were unable to beat Taylor Gauthier in net and, as the old adage goes, it only takes one mistake.
A turnover behind the net let the Penguins come into Hershey’s zone in a 4-on-3 and Oliver Ocular was left alone behind the net, where he put an inch perfect pass on the tape of Bill Zonnon, who buried it to make it 2-0 Penguins with under a minute to go in the period.
The Bears ended up outshooting Wilkes-Barre 15-5 that period and were the more dominate team. They just couldn’t capitalize.
Second Period
It became glaringly obvious that this was just going to be one of those games for the Bears in the early parts of the second. Hershey started out well on the front foot, but all it took was one shot from Jake Livanavage, which hit Rutger McGroarty in front, to make it 3-0 Penguins.
Hershey would again keep much of the pressure in the Penguins zone. The better chances came from Hershey, the higher danger chances came from Hershey, Taylor Gauthier just would not be beat.
The real bad luck came on the Penguins fourth goal. A blocked shot deflects to Mikhail Ilyin, who turns around, fires, and the puck finds the top corner perfectly to make it 4-0. That was the dagger. You could’ve seen the Bears comeback in your mind before that goal. That goal seemed to end the real hope in the group.
Third Period
To give this group a lot of credit, they genuinely didn’t give up trying. 19 shots in the third period shows that. But again, the puck just would not go in.
It didn’t help when Wilkes-Barre scored on their first shot of the period 15 seconds in to make it 5-0 Penguins, which is where the score would end up. That would be the Penguins only shot for about 12 minutes of game time in the third, where Hershey would end up outshooting the Pens 19-4 in the third period.
The puck didn’t go in. That was the story of the night for Hershey.
Joe’s Thoughts
I have watched a lot of hockey in my 25 years of life, much of it in this building. I cannot think of any game where the Bears outshot their opponent so heavily and ended up losing so big on the scoreboard. That rarely happens at any level of hockey, let alone the AHL.
But it happened tonight. A great game from Penguins goalie Taylor Gauthier and timely finishing from the Penguins talented forward group is how you end up with that result. It does happen. The Bears were in this game. It just sucks that it ended in this way tonight.
The Bears will have one full day of practice to get right for Wednesday against Hartford. Josh Gearhart will have the game for us that night. The Bears will look to get back on the win train against the Wolf Pack as they get in one home game before headed to Springfield for a back to back against the Thunderbirds this weekend.
Postgame Comments
Derek King: https://youtu.be/f40w9262DE8?si=0l6beRx2hyriD9nq
Jacob MacDonald: https://youtu.be/YfkRnKTlxW4?si=Edx3CjRp9R1qg0cP
