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Bears beat Baby Penguins 2-1 on Thanksgiving Eve

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The Hershey Bears are headed into their Thanksgiving Break on a win, defeating the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2-1. The Bears have now won three of five against the Penguins this season and have a 13-4-0 record overall, the best record in the AHL.

Riley Sutter scored the game-winner, giving him goals in consecutive games. Hunter Shepard made 22 saves in the victory. Ivan Miroshnichenko also returned to the lineup tonight after being scratched in Saturday’s game against the Bridgeport Islanders.

Dylan McIlrath scored just 2:46 into the game, firing a wrist shot from the blue line past Penguins goaltender Joel Blomqvist.

The Penguins got themselves on the board 10:46 into the first period. A goal from forward Rem Pitlick tied the game 1-1.

However, a great stop by Hunter Shepard on a Penguins breakaway denied Wilkes-Barre the opportunity to take the lead.

Miroshnichenko made a gorgeous blinded back pass from behind the net to get the puck to Riley Sutter, who was in front. Sutter finished the play, putting the puck over the goalie’s glove to give the Bears a 2-1 lead.

A possible power-play goal for the Bears was overturned in the third period, denying the Bears a more comfortable 3-1 lead. Nonetheless, the team was able to push through and held onto the 2-1 score to get the win.

Here were the lines tonight:

Here are the video highlights of tonight’s game:

And below is the full game recap from the Hershey Bears:

SUTTER HELPS BEARS TOP PENGUINS, 2-1

Hershey prevails over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Thanksgiving Eve game

(Hershey, PA – Nov. 22, 2023) – Riley Sutter broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and enjoyed a two-point night to give the Hershey Bears (13-4-0-0) a 2-1 Thanksgiving Eve home win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (8-6-2-0) on Wednesday night in front of a crowd of 9,259 at GIANT Center. Hershey improved to 3-2-0-0 in the season series with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with the victory.

The game marked the 56th time the Bears had hosted a game on Thanksgiving Eve, and their first since the 2021-22 season. Hershey is now a lifetime 29-20-4-2-1 in Thanksgiving Eve home games; the Bears are 3-1-0-0 in Thanksgiving Eve home contests against the Penguins.

BOX SCORE

Dylan McIlrath, playing in his first game back with the Bears following his loan by the Washington Capitals, opened the scoring with a shot from the blue line that floated past Joel Blomqvist at 2:46 of the first period. Sutter and Matt Strome earned assists on the goal by Hershey’s captain, his first of the season. For both Sutter and Strome, their assists mutually extended their point streaks to an AHL career-high three games.

Rem Pitlick scored off the rush with a shot from the right circle at 10:37, beating Hunter Shepard to the glove side.

Hershey made it 2-1 early in the second period, as Riley Sutter redirected a behind-the-back pass by Ivan Miroshnichenko from beneath the goal line over the arm of Blomqvist at 2:52, with Hardy Häman Aktell collecting a secondary helper. Sutter’s tally marked his second consecutive game with a goal, the first time in his career he had scored in back-to-back contests.

A potential power-play insurance marker by Mike Sgarbossa was negated at 10:42 of the third period after the officials ruled no goal and a subsequent video review could not produce enough evidence for the officials that the puck had crossed the goal line before the net had been dislodged from its moorings.

Shots finished 32-23 in favor of the Bears. Shepard went 22-for-23 in securing his seventh victory of the season; Blomqvist went 30-for-32 in the defeat for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Hershey was 0-for-3 on the power play; the Penguins went 0-for-2 with the man advantage.

Headline Photo: Tori Hartman/Hershey Bears

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