GAME STORY: Hershey - 0 at W-B/Scranton - 3 (Game 1 - 5/6/22)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins seized momentum in the opening period Friday night on their way to a 3-0 win in Game One of their best-of-three series against Atlantic Division rival Hershey Bears.

Will Reilly converted on a pass from Jonathan Gruden to open the scoring 8:34 into the contest, and Alex Nylander re-directed a Radim Zohorna shot just 31 seconds later to vault the Penguins to an early 2-0 lead in what turned out to be a dominating first period effort that saw the home team take a 2-0 lead and 15-3 edge in shots on goal into the first intermission.

Hershey continued to have trouble creating offensive scoring chances sans their top line of Joe Snively, Mike Sgarbossa and Garrett Pilon but when they did get shots toward the Penguins' net Tommy Nappier was in position to close the door as he recorded a 23-save shutout in his AHL playoff debut.

The Penguins' win puts Hershey on the brink of elimination heading into Sunday's Game Two at Giant Center. If necessary, an all-deciding Game Three would take place Monday night back at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre.

GAME STORY

1st Period

After the two teams had a feeling out process in the opening six minutes - a sloppy start for both groups in what looked like two over-anxious hockey clubs in a Game 1 after an extended layoff - the Penguins grabbed momentum and put together quite a strong first frame.

The Pens opened the scoring with goals on back-to-back shifts near the midway mark of the period to take a 2-0 lead and put Hershey on their heels.

First, Jonathan Gruden set up Will Reilly as the Penguins defenseman crept in from the right point to the right-wing circle - collecting the pass from Gruden and beating Bears' goalie Phoenix Copley 8:34 into the contest.

On the next shift, Alex Nylander re-directed a Radim Zohorna shot to make it a 2-0 Penguins lead just 31 seconds after Reilly opened the scoring.

P-O Joseph recorded secondary assists on both goals.

From there, the Penguins continued to take it to the Bears - ending up with a 15-3 shots on goal advantage by the time the horn sounded to end the first frame.

Credit Copley with some big saves to keep Hershey afloat, notably a pair of stops back-to-back on Felix Robert and then absolutely robbing Nylander of his second goal of the period with a right pad save with just over five minutes left before the second intermission.

Simply put, the Bears looked very much like a team that hadn't played any games in the past two weeks entering Friday night's series-opening game.

2nd Period

The physical play and big hits picked up in the middle frame, in what was a much more evenly played 20-minute segment than the first period.

The Penguins and Bears traded power plays in the middle of the period, but neither team was successful with their man advantage opportunity.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton laid out several big hits in the second period. At one point, on back-to-back shifts, Gruden clipped Joe Snively up high and was assessed a roughing minor. During the ensuing power play, Kasper Bjorkvist put a punishing hit on Mike Sgarbossa near the Bears' bench. Both Bears' forwards were visibly shaken up, but both were able to remain in the game.

In fact, the Bears' top line of Snively, Sgarbossa and Garrett Pilon were able to create a few dangerous scoring chances as the period progressed. Though he didn't see much action in the first frame, Nappier was equal to the task when his number was called - as he ended up stopping all nine shots he faced to preserve the Penguins' 2-0 lead to the second intermission.

3rd Period

Hershey tried to climb back into the game in the third period, but the Penguins stingy defense and the strong play of Nappier in net was too much to overcome. The Bears out-shot the Pens 11-7 in the final frame, but the home team's bend-but-don't-break defense prevailed.

Zohorna iced the game with an empty net tally that actually registers as a power play goal because Cody Franson hauled down Gruden to prevent an empty net goal with just over a minute left to play.

Zohorna finished the game with a goal and an assist as the Penguins took Game 1 by a 3-0 final score.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

4:12: WBS - Zohorna, minor (interference) 8:34: WBS - Reilly (1) - Gruden, Joseph 9:05: WBS - Nylander (1) - Zohorna, Joseph

2nd Period

8:09: HER - (PP) McIlrath, minor (kneeing) 11:10: WBS - (PP) Gruden, minor (elbowing) 18:44: WBS - Devane, major (fighting) 18:44: HER - Kessy, major (fighting)

3rd Period

13:33: WBS - (PP) Poulin, minor (high-sticking) 18:54: HER - (PP) Franson, minor (tripping) 19:26: WBS - PPG/ENG Zohorna (1) - Puustinen, Poulin

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

Hershey Bears 3 - 9 - 11 = 23 W-B/Scranton  15 - 9 - 7 = 31

Goalies

HER: Phoenix Copley (28 saves - 30 shots) WBS: Tommy Nappier (23 saves - 23 shots)

Power Play

HER: 0-for-3 WBS: 1-for-2

Penalty Kill

HER: 1-for-2 WBS: 3-for-3