2024 Preseason: W-B/Scranton - 3 at Hershey - 4(OT) 10/4/24

HERSHEY, Pa. - In a rematch of Thursday's school day game, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Hershey Bears took to the ice at Giant Center Friday night to complete their two-game preseason series.

While the Penguins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Gabe Klassen and Atley Calvert, the Bears responded as the game wore on - taking advantage of their first three power play chances in the second period to flip momentum in their favor.

Pierrick Dube (Gordie Howe hat trick), Mike Vecchione (goal, two assists) and Ethen Frank (two assists) all had multi-point nights, and Bogdan Trineyev tallied the decisive goal in overtime to lift Hershey to an overtime win in the Bears' second game of the preseason.

Sam Houde tallied a game-tying goal in the latter stages of the second period, and Sergei Murashov made some key saves - especially late in the third period - but the Penguins ultimately came up short in their third preseason affair of 2024-25.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

Penguins Scratches: Luke Richardson, Nikolai Knyzhov, Matthew Quercia, Keeghan Howdeshell, Zachary Massicotte, David Jankowski, Philip Waugh, Chris Ortiz, Jordan Martel, Matt Koopman, Jared Wescott and Filip Forsmark

Lines/Pairings:

Sam Houde - Jimmy Huntington - Avery Hayes Gabe Klassen - Raivis Ansons - Marc Johnstone Jack Beck - Logan Pietila - Atley Calvert Bennett MacArthur - Kyle Jackson - Mathieu De St. Phalle

Dan Renouf - Mac Hollowell Isaac Belliveau - Scooter Brickey Justin Lee - Mats Lindgren

Sergei Murashov (Backup: Jaxon Castor)

Hershey Bears

Lines/Pairings:

Mike Vecchione - Garrett Roe - Ethen Frank Alex Limoges - Henrik Rybinski - Pierrick Dube Ryan Leibold - Ryan Hofer - Bogdan Trineyev Brennan Saulnier - Riley Sutter - Matt Strome

Aaron Ness - Vincent Iorio Hardy Haman Aktell - Brad Hunt Jake Massie - Chase Priskie

Clay Stevenson (Backup: Mitch Gibson)

GAME STORY

The Penguins got a few more expected AHL'ers in their lineup Friday night in Hershey against a Bears team fielding most of their regulars, and despite the appearance of a mismatch between the two rosters Wilkes-Barre/Scranton more than held their own in the opening 20 minutes.

Outshooting the Bears by a 12-4 margin in the opening 17 minutes of play, the Penguins were able to cash in on their strong play late in the period - which appears to be the teams M.O. in this preseason.

First, at the tail end of a Penguins' power play, an uncharacteristic turnover behind the Bears net out in front gave Gabe Klassen an open chance from the side of the Hershey net and he delivered - picking the short side top corner with 3:14 left in the period to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later the Penguins extended their lead to 2-0 after Jack Beck and Atley Calvert converted on an odd-man chance with Beck sliding a perfect pass across to Calvert, who finished the play and tripped over a sliding Bears' goaltender Clay Stevenson - falling headfirst into the crossbar after the puck hit the back of the net.

All in all, a strong opening 20 minutes from the Penguins.

Hershey got to their game in the middle frame, looking much more like the defending Calder Cup Champions and less like a team with a majority of its participants seeing their first AHL preseason action.

Penguins goaltender Sergei Murashov went post-to-post to rob Hershey of their first goal of the contest early in the period, but a holding penalty on the play gave the Bears a power play chance they wouldn't lay to waste.

After an offensive zone face-off win by Mike Vecchione, Brad Hunt controlled the puck at the right point and shuffled it a few feet to open space  at the right-wing wall for Pierrick Dube.

Dube did the rest, taking the pass and heading to the right-wing circle before wristing one past Murashov to the top shelf to get the Bears on the scoreboard with 13:47 remaining in the middle frame.

After being outshot by the Pens by a 12-4 margin to open the game, the Bears controlled a majority of the play in the second period - out-shooting the Penguins by a wide margin in the opening 13 minutes of the middle frame to even the statistics in that department.

The Bears' power play proved lethal as the period wore on, with Dube, Vecchione and Ethen Frank teaming up to even the game at 2-2 on a man advantage with 4:22 left before the second intermission.

Frank got the puck to Dube, who centered for Vecchione for a tap-in atop the crease on the Bears' second goal of the period.

The Penguins responded with a goal of their own less than two minutes later, with former Hershey Bears forward turned Penguin Jimmy Huntington connecting on a give-and-go with Sam Houde, resulting with Houde finishing off a feed from Huntington in tight at the Bears' net to temporarily restore the Pens' lead at 3-2 with 2:37 left in the period.

Another Penguins penalty in the final two minutes provided the Bears an opportunity to make it 3-for-3 on the power play, and Hershey needed every second of the remaining 1:55 in the period to connect - with Vecchione centering for a tap-in from Alex Limoges with 0.2 left before the second period horn to deadlock the game at 3-3 heading to the third period.

While the offense for both teams seemed to slow down to begin the third period, the physicality was turned up for the final frame - perhaps due to a tone-setting hit by Justin Lee behind the Penguins net on an unsuspecting Pierrick Dube that drew the ire of the Bears players who were on the ice.

Lee was whistled for boarding, sending the lethal Bears' power play back out onto the ice for their fourth opportunity of the game, but the Hershey man advantage was cut a little short after a scrum in the Penguins' defensive zone saw Garrett Roe being the aggressor and whistled for a roughing minor.

The two teams were unable to settle the 3-3 deadlock in regulation, heading to overtime for the second time in as many days.

Overtime had a little bit of everything, as Dube and Penguins' defenseman Mac Hollowell dropped the gloves in the opening minute of the three-on-three and Klassen put the Penguins shorthanded on the following shift.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was able to kill off the ensuing 4-on-3 power play, but as Klassen returned to the ice and made his way into the defensive zone Bogdan Trineyev was able to take a pass from Garrett Roe and tuck a backhander past Murashov to give Hershey the overtime win.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

9:48: HER - (PP) Strome, minor (tripping) 14:51: HER - (PP) Priskie, minor (interference) 16:46: WBS - Klassen (1) - unassisted 18:26: WBS - Calvert (1) - Beck, Pietila

2nd Period

5:29: WBS - (PP) Lindgren, minor (holding) 6:13: HER - PPG Dube (1) - Hunt, Vecchione 14:18: WBS - (PP) Lee, minor (slashing) 15:38: HER - PPG Vecchione (1) - Dube, Frank 17:23: WBS - Houde (1) - Huntington, Renouf 18:05: WBS - (PP) De St. Phalle, minor (slashing) 19:59: HER - PPG Limoges (1) - Vecchione, Frank

3rd Period

1:30: WBS - (PP) Lee, minor (boarding) 3:10: HER - (PP) Roe, minor (roughing) 15:48: WBS - (PP) Huntington, minor (tripping)

Overtime

0:48: HER - Dube, major (fighting) 0:48: WBS - Hollowell, major (fighting) 3:32: HER - Trineyev (1) - Roe

BOXSCORE

W-B/Scranton  2 - 1 - 0 - 0 = 3 Hershey Bears   0 - 3 - 0 - 1 = 4

Shots

W-B/Scranton  13 - 11 - 4 - 0 = 28 Hershey Bears   6 - 13 - 6 - 3 = 28

Goalies

WBS: Sergei Murashov  (24 saves - 28 shots) HER: Clay Stevenson (25 saves - 28 shots)

Power Play

WBS: 1-for-3 HER: 3-for-6

Penalty Kill

WBS: 3-for-6 HER: 2-for-3