Game Story: W-B/Scranton - 1 at Hershey - 4 (2/23/24)

HERSHEY, Pa. - In the tenth battle between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Hershey Bears, it was another game the Penguins saw slip away as a 1-1 game late in the third period turned into a 4-1 loss within minutes after the Bears power play broke through on their seventh opportunity of the night.

Chase Priskie gave the Bears the go-ahead goal on the man advantage with 3:38 left to play, while Matt Strome (goal, assist) and Bogdan Trineyev sealed the deal with empty net tallies to complete the final score. Ryan Hofer also scored for the Bears in the win, while Clay Stevenson stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced.

Jonathan Gruden opened the scoring and give the Penguins a 1-0 lead with a first period shorthanded tally, but that's all the offense Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was able to muster up as the team continues to lose bodies at the forward position. Joel Blomqvist stopped 19 of 21 in the loss.

Post-Game EXTRA!

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach JD Forrest

On the effort being better Friday than Wednesday despite the result.

"The effort was much better. Yep, for sure."

On the penalty-filled game, giving Hershey seven power plays

"Yeah, it's tough. You give them that many opportunities... It's not a situation you want to put yourself in for sure."

On it being difficult to adjust to how games are being called with the inconsistency in the league's officiating

"I think we're just ready for anything with how these games go sometimes. So that's about all you can do. I mean, sometimes it's a mystery, but you know it's gonna be a mystery. So there's not much... you just play the game."

GAME STORY

The two teams traded power plays in the opening five minutes of the game, with the Penguins failing to convert on their man advantage before scoring shorthanded during the Bears' power play opportunity to take an early 1-0 lead.

Hershey seemed to be generating chances late on their opening power play of the game, but Ryan Shea blocked down a potential dangerous chance in the slot and Raivis Ansons flipped the puck out of the Penguins' defensive zone - with Gruden winning the race to the puck and converting on his breakaway attempt for his 12th goal of the season.

The Penguins jumped out to an 8-2 edge in shots on goal in the early going, but credit Hershey for finding their skating legs as the period progressed - tying the game up at 1-1 with 6:03 left before the first intermission on a sneaky shot on the left wing from Hofer with Jake Massie and Matt Strome picking up the assists.

Things appeared to settle down in the middle frame after a penalty-filled first frame, as the two teams got back to their hard-fought, tight-checking style of play that has been showcased in this matchup for much of the season.

That was until the final eight minutes of the period, when the parade to penalty box resumed in the form of four penalties - with back-to-back penalties on the Penguins putting them in a 5-on-3 shorthanded situation to begin the third period.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was able to kill off the Bears' two-man advantage to begin the final frame, but the officials once again got active late in the third period - nearly losing control of the game after back-to-back scrums in the final six minutes saw things getting out of hand.

First, a very soft penalty behind the Penguins net was assessed to Penguins' captain Taylor Fedun. During the delayed call, Joona Koppanen slashed and shoved a Bears' forward from behind and into the boards - causing a scrum to break out after a whistle stopped play.

The result was penalties to Fedun, Koppanen and the Bears' Strome, giving the Bears a power play with 5:19 left to play in a 1-1 game.

On the ensuing faceoff, Jimmy Huntington grabbed Gruden and put him in a headlock - taking the Penguins' forward down to the ice.

Instead of negating the Bears' power play, referees Jordan Deckard and Adam Tobias opted to take both Huntington and Gruden to the penalty box - keeping the Bears' power play opportunity intact and setting up the eventual go-ahead goal by Priskie after a give-and-go play with Mike Vecchione to give Hershey a 2-1 lead with 3:38 left to play.

The Penguins pulled Blomqvist for the extra attacker with 2:44 left, but empty net tallies from Strome and Trineyev sealed the Pens' fate in another disappointing setback.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

Joel Blomqvist got the start in net for the Penguins Friday night, with Magnus Hellberg serving as the team's backup goaltender.

Radim Zohorna (day-to-day, upper body) and Peter Abbandonato (game-time decision) were out of the Penguins' lineup Friday in Hershey. Abbandonato took the warmups, but was unable to play.

Alex Nylander was traded to Columbus Thursday night, so the combination of those three forwards being out of the lineup necessitated the Penguins to call up Dillon Hamaliuk shortly after they had reassigned him to ECHL-Wheeling.

Penguins Scratches: Magnus Hellberg, Marc Johnstone, Sam Poulin, Peter Abbandonato, Sam Houde, Radim Zohorna, Lukas Svejkovsky, Owen Headrick and Avery Hayes

Lines/Pairings:

Vinnie Hinostroza - Jonathan Gruden - Corey Andonovski Matt Filipe - Joona Koppanen - Austin Rueschhoff Jagger Joshua - Raivis Ansons - Max Cajkovic Dillon Hamaliuk - Justin Addamo - xxxxxxxx

Ty Smith - Xavier Ouellet Ryan Shea - Jack St. Ivany Jack Rathbone - Dmitri Samorukov Taylor Fedun

Joel Blomqvist (Backup: Taylor Gauthier)

Hershey Bears Lineup Notes

Clay Stevenson got the start in net for Hershey Friday night. Hunter Shepard served as the Bears' backup.

The Bears are battling their own injuries and call-ups as of late, with several guys out of the lineup.

Bears Scratches: Lucas Johansen (upper body), Riley Sutter (upper body), Ethen Frank (lower body), Dmitry Osipov and Dylan McIlrath (suspension)

Ivan Miroschnichenko - Jimmy Huntington - Mike Vecchione Joe Snively - Garrett Roe - Alex Limoges Bogdan Trineyev - Henrik Rybinski - Kevin O'Neil Tyson Empey - Rayn Hofer - Matt Strome

Aaron Ness - Vincent Iorio Hardy Haman Aktell - Logan Day Jake Massie - Chase Priskie

Clay Stevenson (Backup: Hunter Shepard)

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

0:59: HER - (PP) Priskie, minor (interference) 4:27: WBS - (PP) Filipe, minor (slashing) 5:49: WBS - SHG Gruden (12) - Ansons, Shea 10:50: HER - (PP) Massie, minor (tripping) 13:57: HER - Hofer (3) - Massie, Strome 18:32: WBS - (PP) Shea, minor (tripping)

2nd Period

6:23: WBS - (PP) Fedun, minor (slashing) 12:07: HER - (PP) Roe, minor (hooking) 15:44: HER - (PP) Strome, minor (tripping) 19:15: WBS - (PP) Fedun, minor (cross-checking) 20:00: WBS - (PP) Joshua, minor (tripping)

3rd Period

11:43: WBS - (PP) Gruden, minor (elbowing) 14:41: WBS - (PP) Fedun, minor (tripping) 14:41: WBS - Koppanen, minor (boarding) 14:41: HER - Strome, minor (roughing) 14:41: WBS - Gruden, minor (hooking) 16:22: HER - PPG Priskie (6) - Vecchione, Snively 18:05: HER - SH ENG Strome (4) - Rybinski 19:30: HER - ENG Trineyev (7) - unassisted

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

W-B/Scranton  8 - 8 - 9 = 25 Hershey Bears  6 - 9 - 8 = 23

Goalies

WBS: Joel Blomqvist (19 saves - 21 shots) HER: Clay Stevenson (24 saves - 25 shots)

Power Play

WBS: 0-for-5 HER: 1-for-7

Penalty Kill

WBS: 6-for-7 HER: 5-for-5