Game Story: Hershey - 2 at W-B/Scranton - 1 (OT) 12/17/22

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - While the Hershey Bears came up short in Wilkes-Barre Friday night, they upped the ante in the rematch Saturday and came away with a 2-1 win in overtime on the backs of Mike Sgarbossa (two goals) and Clay Stevenson (23 saves).

Penguins goaltender Filip Lindberg played phenomenally in net for the home team, stopping 30 of the 32 shots he faced. He was the only reason the game remained close early on as the Penguins were out-worked and out-shot by a wide margin in the opening two periods of play. Alex Nylander tallied the lone goal for the Penguins in the loss, which on Teddy Bear Toss Night saw thousands of stuffed animals litter the ice and caused an extended second intermission to clean up and get the playing surface ready for game action.

With the win, Hershey heads home to finish their three-in-three weekend at Giant Center for a 5 p.m. ET matchup with their other in-state rival.

The opening six minutes brought back-and-forth action between the Penguins and Bears, but as the period progressed Hershey really dominated the first frame - outshooting the Penguins by a 15-3 margin in the opening 20 minutes. They opened the scoring 8:11 into the contest after Gabriel Carlsson got a puck to Sgarbossa in the left-wing circle for a quick shot past Lindberg.

From there, the physical play picked up - with each team delivering their fair share of punishing checks along the boards and in open-ice. The Bears continued to control play in the middle frame, increasing their shots on goal count to a 22-9 margin late in the period. If not for several big stops from Lindberg, the Penguins certainly wouldn't have been in a one-goal game late in the second period.

After a stoppage with 1:47 left before the second intermission, public address announcer Bobby Day informed fans at Mohegan Arena that if the Penguins didn't score a goal before the end of the period that their annual Teddy Bear Toss would occur during the second intermission.

On the next shift, the Penguins tied the game - sending thousands of stuffed animals onto the ice. Stevenson tried to play a puck behind the Bears' net but the goaltender's attempted clear around the boards was stopped by Drake Caggiula as the Penguins forward hugged the boards and the puck bounced off him and onto the outside of the side of the net where a scrum for the loose puck ensued. Nylander was able to dig it loose and tuck it into the net before Stevenson was able to get back into his crease to tie the game at 1-1 with 1:12 left before the second intermission.

The two teams exited the ice for an extended intermission before returning to the ice for the final 21:12 of regulation in a 1-1 deadlock.

After the final 1:12 of the second period was played, the two goalies switched nets and the two teams lined up at center ice for the final 20 minutes of regulation.

Each team had a power play chance in the opening half of the third period, but neither side was able to find a go-ahead goal.

Despite not facing many shots through the first 40 minutes (12), Stevenson was under siege at times in the third as the Penguins out-shot the Bears 10-4 in the third period. In his second career AHL start, the rookie netminder stood tall to get his team to overtime.

In overtime, it was Sgarbossa scoring his second of the game to win it - converting on a 2-on-1 chance with Mike Vecchione in which Sgarbossa carried the puck with speed down the right-wing and elected to shoot.

Post-Game EXTRA!

Hershey Bears Head Coach Todd Nelson

On splitting the two games with the Penguins

"You know what, I thought last night we didn't play bad at all. We played a decent game, but our compete wasn't as high as theirs. And I thought that was why they won the game. They were willing to do the little things. You know, go to the net, blocking shots. They paid the price more than we did last night and they got the win. Tonight, we paid the price. It was a good win for our hockey team. It wasn't easy. They play stingy defensively, and they blocked a lot of shots. But it was a nice road win for our team."

Forward Connor McMichael

On getting the win after coming up short the night before

"I mean, I thought we were alright last night. We didn't bring our best but by no means were we playing poorly. But tonight, I thought the guys had a really good response. And we probably deserved to score a few more there. But overall, it was a good effort."

Hershey Bears Lineup Notes

Clay Stevenson got the start in net for Hershey Saturday night against the Penguins. With Zach Fucale called up to Washington, Padraig Carey was signed to a PTO and served as the team's backup goaltender.

Julian Napravnik and Kale Kessy exited the Bears' lineup, with Henrik Rybinski and Matt Strome entering the lineup in their place.

Bears Scratches: Julian Napravnik, Garrett Pilon, Kale Kessy, Michael Kim and Martin Has

Lines/Pairings

Mike Vecchione - Mike Sgarbossa - Ethen Frank Mason Morelli - Connor McMichael - Sam Anas Henrik Borgstrom - Hendrix Lapierre - Julian Napravnik Kale Kessy - Riley Sutter - Shane Gersich

Aaron Ness - Logan Day Gabriel Carlsson - Dylan McIlrath Jake Massie - Vincent Iorio

Zach Fucale - Clay Stevenson

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

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

Just one lineup change for the Penguins in Saturday's rematch, as Ty Smith (illness) was unable to play and Colin Swoyer entered the lineup in his place.

Penguins Scratches: Lukas Svejkovsky, Sam Poulin (personal leave of absence), Jamie Devane, Ty Smith and Filip Hallander

Lines/Pairings:

Drake Caggiula - Sam Houde - Alex Nylander Nathan Legare - Jonathan Gruden - Valtteri Puustinen Corey Andonovski - Tyler Sikura - Kyle Olson Ty Glover - Jordan Frasca - Raivis Ansons

Taylor Fedun - Colin Swoyer Jon Lizotte - Mitch Reinke Xavier Ouellet - Jack St. Ivany

Filip Lindberg - Dustin Tokarski

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

8:11: HER - Sgarbossa (8) - Carlsson, Vecchione 9:05: WBS - (PP) Puustinen, minor (interference) 10:58: HER - (PP) Lapierre, minor (high-sticking)

2nd Period

2:20: HER - (PP) Morelli, minor (high-sticking) 6:09: WBS - (PP) Caggiula, minor (boarding) 18:48: WBS - Nylander (9) - Caggiula

3rd Period

1:58: HER - Massie, minor (cross-checking) 1:58: WBS - Legare, minor (roughing) 8:17: WBS - (PP) Ouellet, minor (tripping) 8:26: HER - (PP) Morelli, minor (holding)

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

Hershey Bears  15 - 11 - 4 - 2 = 32 W-B/Scranton  3 - 9 - 10 - 2 = 24

Goalies

HER: Clay Stevenson (23 saves - 24 shots) WBS: Filip Lindberg (30 saves - 32 shots)

Power Play

HER: 0-for-3 WBS: 0-for-3

Penalty Kill

HER: 3-for-3 WBS: 3-for-3