The Hershey Bears completed a stunning comeback against their biggest rival, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, at Giant Center on Friday night.
Down 3-1 with 17:46 remaining in the third period, the Bears cobbled together two clutch goals to force overtime. There, Josh Dunne scored one of the most exciting goals of the season, capitalizing on a collision between Penguins goaltender Taylor Gauthier and Bears forward Spencer Smallman.
Josh Dunne’s OTGWG
The play was started by Smallman, who somehow sprung himself alone on net after losing a faceoff in the Bears’ defensive zone. The crafty Bears’ centerman first poked the puck past Penguins pivot Oliver Okuliar, then raced past Harrison Brunicke and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard to again send the puck into open space to himself.
Gauthier left the crease to clear the puck away from danger, but instead of doing that, he sent the puck to the right to Dunne as he crashed into Smallman. Dunne then fired the puck into the empty net as the 9,937 fans in attendance erupted.
Zack Fisch had the brilliant call on FloHockey.
“Off the draw. Foot race won by Smallman. He’s got a break. Gauthier comes way out. Gave it away to Dunne. Empty net. He SCORESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Gauthier lost it, and Dunne finishes it. It’s an overtime winner. And the Hershey Bears complete the comeback.”
The Bears put a season-high 47 shots on goal, marking the ninth time in 15 games they’ve had 30 or more shots and the second time they’ve posted over 40 (Nov. 1- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 43). Cal Petersen stopped 26 of 29 shots to earn his fifth victory of the season.
“Real proud. They should be proud of themselves,” Bears head coach Derek King said of the comeback. “I mean, we got a lot of faith in our group. It’s not always pretty. I wish it was, but I like the fact that we just stayed the course, kept plugging away. We never gave up. Some teams you have, over the years, some teams, we just pack it in. The old saying, look, we’re too dumb to quit, right? And we just kept going and going and going. We got some big saves from Petey, and, you know, about time some of our goals went in.”
The Bears forced overtime after consecutive goals by Smallman and Belpedio.
Belpedio, the Bears’ captain, tied the game with 6:59 remaining in regulation, sending a chunker from the point off a faceoff win past Gauthier.
Smallman brought the Bears within one with 12:53 left after heavy forechecking pressure. Atley Calvert gave the puck away to Andrew Cristall, who immediately fired a heavy shot on net. Smallman then potted the rebound for his fourth goal of the season.
Lynden Lakovic, who has struggled to finish early this season, scored the Bears’ first goal in the opening stanza, using his speed down the wing and burying a breakaway on his backhand.
The Bears will now turn their attention to the Charlotte Checkers for Kids Night on Sunday, November 15, at 3 pm. The first 3,000 fans 15 and under in attendance will receive a Coco knit hat.
