The Hershey Bears’ final game of a four-game road trip ended with a disappointing 5-1 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The Bears had won four straight since starting their season getting shutout 4-0 by the Belleville Senators on their banner-raising night.
Thursday was the Bears’ first game since their starting goaltender Hunter Shepard received a call-up to the Capitals. Shepard made his NHL debut and recorded his NHL win tonight against the Devils, winning 6-4.
Clay Stevenson got the start against the Penguins at Mohegan Sun Arena.
The Penguins got on the board just under three minutes into the game. Alex Nylander scored on a two-on-one rush for the Penguins on the power play that Nylander finished over Bear’s goalie Clay Stevenson’s shoulder.
Joe Snively scored the single goal for the Bears tonight, which was his first of the season. A big hit from Dylan McIlrath forced a Penguins turnover to Bears’ left wing Garrett Roe. Roe passed it to Snively where he fired the puck past Penguins’ goalie Joel Blomqvist to tie the game 1-1 with 8:05 left in the second period.
The hit, the dish, the finish, and Snives has his first of the season.
🍎 Roe
🍏 McIlrath pic.twitter.com/0paHkWcsYS— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) October 26, 2023
The Pens broke the tie under a minute later, with Sam Houde scoring a tip-in goal with 7:14 in the second. The second period would end 2-1.
The Penguins’ offense continued to fly during the third period, scoring three more goals including another from Houde on the power play. The Bears were not able to claw back into the game, losing 5-1.
Below is the youtube recap of the game from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
And below is the full game recap from the Hershey Bears.
BEARS WIN STREAK ENDS IN 5-1 LOSS TO PENGUINS
Snively scores lone goal for Hershey
(Wilkes-Barre Township, PA – Oct. 25, 2023) – Joe Snively scored the lone goal for the visitors as the Hershey Bears (4-2-0-0) fell 5-1 to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (3-2-0-0) on Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. The loss was Hershey’s first on the road this season, bringing an end to a 4-0-0-0 overall run and a three-game road win streak.
The Penguins took an early 1-0 lead off a power-play goal from Alex Nylander, as the forward broke in on Clay Stevenson as part of a 2-on-1 rush with Sam Poulin and roofed a shot over the shoulder of the Hershey netminder to put the hosts ahead.
Hershey tied the game at 8:05 of the middle period when Dylan McIlrath laid a hit along the right wall to separate Jagger Joshua from the puck, allowing Garrett Roe to dish it over to Snively, who beat Joel Blomqvist for his first of the season.
Sam Houde restored the lead for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at 12:46 to make it 2-1.
Houde scored again on the power play early in the third period at 1:28 when he was able to gather a loose puck that rolled away from Stevenson and swat it into the net to put Wilkes-Barre/Scranton up 3-1.
Marc Johnstone extended the lead to three goals at 5:28 when Vincent Iorio stumbled inside the Hershey blue line and coughed the puck up to Johnstone, who skated in and beat Stevenson.
32 seconds later the Pens made it 5-1 when Vinnie Hinostroza scored on a breakaway at 6:00 via a stretch pass from Nylander. The 32-second blitz was the quickest this season that Hershey had allowed a pair of goals.
Shots finished 25-20 in favor of the Penguins. Stevenson took the loss with a 20-for-25 performance; Blomqvist went 19-for-20 in the victory for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Hershey was 0-for-1 on the power play; the Penguins went 2-for-4 with the man advantage.
The Bears are back on home ice when they host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at GIANT Center on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. for PNC Bank Magnet Schedule Night, when the first 8,000 fans in attendance will receive a 2023-24 season magnet schedule, courtesy of PNC Bank. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.
Headline Photo: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
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