Game Story: Hershey - 0 at W-B/Scranton - 4 (11/18/22)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (7-4-1) got another strong performance in net from Dustin Tokarski Friday night, leaning on the Penguins goaltender to preserve a 1-0 first period lead all the way into the final six and a half minutes - killing off a five-on-three power play against before rallying for three more unanswered goals in a 4-0 shutout of rival Hershey Bears (8-3-2).

The Penguins' win snapped a four-game losing streak, while the Bears' loss snapped Hershey's six-game winning streak.

Drake Caggiula, Jonathan Gruden, Sam Houde and Fillip Hallander tallied goals for the Penguins while Xavier Ouellet added two assists in the win. Dustin Tokarski, with his first shutout of the 2022-23 season, moved into ninth all-time in AHL history with 28 career AHL shutouts after stopping all 26 he faced Friday.

Zach Fucale (18 saves - 21 shots) kept his team in a one-goal game deep into the third period, but couldn't get any offensive support from his teammates besides one disallowed goal late in the second period due to incidental goaltender interference.

The Penguins utilized a fast start to take an early 1-0 lead in the opening period.

After failing to convert on a 2-on-1 chance on his first shift of the contest, Caggiula made the most of his second scoring chance of the night - burying one top shelf crashing the net after a Mitch Reinke bad angle shot kicked out atop the crease. Ouellett added a secondary assist on Caggiula's first of the season.

Hershey picked up their play as the period progressed and were awarded the game's first power play with 6:16 left before the first intermission when Nathan Legare was whistled for a slashing minor in the offensive zone, but were unable to get one past Tokarski and headed to the middle frame trailing by a 1-0 margin.

The Bears controlled large portions of the middle frame, out-shooting the Pens 9-1 through the opening 15 minutes of the stanza, but were unable to get one past Tokarski despite the decided edge in time on attack, shots on goal, scoring chances, puck possession. You name it.

Hershey thought they tied the game with 4:19 left before the second intermission as a point shot from Vincent Iorio deflected in off Penguins defenseman Ty Smith and in past Tokarski, but the goal was immediately waived off by the referee in position at the side of the net. The explanation was that incidental contact atop the crease made by Kale Kessy on Tokarski prevented the Penguins goalie from an opportunity to make a save.

A bit of a break for the Penguins, and the Bears took an offensive zone penalty on the following shift to really stymie the momentum Hershey had been building up despite trailing by the 1-0 score.

The Penguins got into penalty trouble in third period, giving the Bears ample opportunity to tie the game up on a partial 5-on-3 power play in the middle portion of the final frame.

However, Tokarski and the Penguins' penalty killers stood tall - finishing the night 5-for-5 shorthanded but not before breaking open the one-goal game.

Gruden gave the Pens an insurance marker with 6:14 left to play after Tokarski fired a puck ahead for Ouellet, who quickly got it forward to Gruden at the the Pens' offensive zone blue line. Gruden did the rest, skating the puck hard down the right wing before pulling up and sneaking a quick shot under the blocker of Fucale to extend the Pens' lead to 2-0.

Just 1:38 later, Tyler Sikura fed a perfect saucer pass across to Sam Houde on a 2-on-1 bid that resulted with a knee-drop one-timer by Houde past Fucale for Houde's second goal of the season, and second in as many games. Mark Friedman added a secondary assist on the play.

Hallander added an empty net tally with 1:08 left to complete the 4-0 final score.

Post-Game EXTRA!

Head coach J.D. Forrest

On snapping the four-game skid, holding on in the third

"Yeah, you know, the penalty kill was huge for us. We made some big blocks, some guys laying it all on the line there. Little sense of desperation. And we kind of knew it was a big one for us there. So, from a man, really, really happy about how we were on the PK. And then obviously, you know, Ticker [Tokarski] was was solid back there for us. And when he's seeing the puck the way he did tonight, it's hard to put it by him. So starts with him. And then everyone kind of fed off that."

On wanting the team to have a sense or urgency/desperation versus creating panic in the room

"There is a fine line. And it's too early in the season, and we've done enough on the positive side where you don't want to panic and kind of blow everything up and start doing all kinds of crazy things and kind of veer from your core values and your core identity as a team. We feel like, in these times is when you got to dig deeper and believe a bit more and kind of hold on to those even closer in the chest."

Hershey Bears

Zach Fucale got the start in net for Hershey Friday night at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Hunter Shepard served as the Bears' backup goaltender.

Bears Scratches: Jake Massie, Julian Napravnik, Logan Day and Ethen Frank

Lines/Pairings:

Mike Vecchione - Mike Sgarbossa - Sam Anas Mason Morelli - Henrik Borgstrom - Garrett Pilon Henrik Rybinski - Hendrix Lapierre - Shane Gersich Matt Strome - Riley Sutter - Kale Kessy

Lucas Johansen - Aaron Ness Bobby Nardella - Dylan McIlrath Gabriel Carlsson - Vincent Iorio

Hunter Shepard - Zach Fucale

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

Dustin Tokarski got the start in net Friday night for the Penguins. Filip Lindberg served as the team's backup goaltender.

All three of Mark Friedman, Filip Hallander and Sam Poulin were back in the lineup after being reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton over the course of the past week. All returned for their first AHL action since returning from Pittsburgh.

Penguins Scratches: Jordan Frasca (lower body), Colin Swoyer, Raivis Ansons, Lukas Svejkovsky, Jamie Devane, Ty Glover and Jon Lizotte

Lines/Pairings:

Drake Caggiula - Drew O'Connor - Alex Nylander Filip Hallander - Sam Poulin - Valtteri Puustinen Kyle Olson - Jonathan Gruden - Corey Andonovski Sam Houde - Tyler Sikura - Nathan Legare

Ty Smith - Mark Friedman Xavier Ouellet - Mitch Reinke Taylor Fedun - Jack St. Ivany

Dustin Tokarski - Filip Lindberg

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

4:16: WBS - Caggiula (1) - Reinke, Ouellet 13:44: WBS - (PP) Legare, minor (slashing)

2nd Period

14:06: WBS - (PP) Sikura, minor (tripping) 16:50: HER - (PP) Anas, minor (hooking)

3rd Period

0:20: HER - (PP) Sgarbossa, minor (high-sticking) 6:43: WBS - (PP) St. Ivany, minor (interference) 8:23: WBS - (PP) O'Connor, minor (tripping) 13:46: WBS - Gruden (2) - Ouellet, Tokarski 15:24: WBS - Houde (2) - Sikura, Friedman 18:52: WBS - ENG Hallander (5) - unassisted 19:55: WBS - (PP) Friedman, minor (delay of game)

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

Hershey Bears  9 - 9 - 8 = 26 W-B/Scranton  6 - 6 - 10 = 22

Goalies

HER: Zach Fucale (18 saves - 21 shots) WBS: Dustin Tokarski (26 saves - 26 shots)

Power Play

HER: 0-for-5 WBS: 0-for-2

Penalty Kill

HER: 2-for-2 WBS: 5-for-5