Game Story: W-B/Scranton - 3 at Hershey - 4 (SO) 11/29/22

HERSHEY, Pa. - In a back-and-forth game Tuesday night at Giant Center, it was the host Hershey Bears (12-4-2) pulling through with a 4-3 shootout victory after overcoming an early 2-0 first period deficit.

Drake Caggiula and Valtteri Puustinen gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead in the opening 7:50 of the contest, but the Bears battled late in the first period and carried that momentum through to the second period - getting goals from Mason Morelli and Jake Massie to even the game.

Nathan Legare gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead with a third period power play goal, but Mike Vecchione responded with a game-tying goal for the Bears before Hershey pushed through in the shootout - getting a goal from Sam Anas to earn the extra standings point.

Hunter Shepard picked up the win to improve his personal record to 6-0-2 on the season, making 16 saves.

Penguins goalie Dustin Tokarski stopped 40 of the 43 shots he faced through regulation and overtime, while stopping 1 of 2 Bears' shooters in the shootout in a losing effort.

The Penguins opened the scoring 1:09 into the contest after a successful cycle play was worked to perfection. Puustinen sent a puck down low, where O'Connor was first to the puck. Meanwhile, Caggiula cut to the net and O'Connor fed it out in front to him for a quick shot and goal past Shepard.

The Penguins' top line continued to buzz, forcing a turnover and converting on a well-timed screen/deflection by Puustinen who skated across the net-front as O'Connor let a shot rip. Puustinen's defelction goal was his team-leading seventh of the season. Caggiula added a secondary assist on the play that gave the Pens a 2-0 lead.

Hershey seemingly got to their game in the second half of the period, cutting their deficit in half on a Morelli deflection goal in front of Tokarski after Massie fired a hard shot off the left-wing wall with Morelli positioned perfectly at the net front.

Things got interesting late in the period as Bears antagonist Kale Kessy and Tokarski got into a bit or a scrum in Tokarski's crease. Kessy took the lone penalty, but it certainly drew the attention of the Penguins' bench. Cooler heads ultimately prevailed, but it was probably a shove or punch away from getting out of hand.

The Bears upped the ante in the middle frame, preventing the Penguins from generating much of anything - especially outside of the Caggiula-O'Connor-Puustinen trio. Puustinen hit the post on a 2-on-1 chance in the opening minutes of the period, and Caggiula hit the same post toward the middle of the period - but the Pens managed just one single shot on goal in the opening 17 minutes of the period.

That allowed the Bears to tie the game, with Morelli again being a presence at the net. This time, Massie's blast from the point bounced in off a Penguins' forward at the net - giving Massie his first of the season and giving the Bears the equalizer 6:52 into the period.

As the middle frame was coming to a close, Kessy dropped the gloves and started throwing punches on O'Connor. The officials deemed Kessy was the aggressor and assessed the Bears' forward two minutes for insitigating, five for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct while O'Connor received just two minutes for roughing - setting the stage for the Pens to begin the third period with a five-minute power play.

The Pens cashed in on the power play to begin the third with Legare giving WBS a go-ahead goal to give the Pens the lead back at a 3-2 count, but the Bears evened things back up on a deflection goal from Vecchione with 8:56 left in regulation to force overtime.

After the three-in-three OT went by without a game-winning goal, the Bears ended up prevailing in the shootout to earn the 4-3 decision.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

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

Mark Friedman missed the game due to what Penguins' play-by-play broadcaster Nick Hart explained as a non-COVID illness. Jack St. Ivany was moved up to the top pairing with Ty Smith, while Taylor Fedun returned to the lineup and slotted in on the third pairing with Jon Lizotte.

Penguins Scratches:  Jordan Frasca (lower body), Colin Swoyer, Raivis Ansons, Corey Andonovski, Jamie Devane, Ty Glover and Mark Friedman

Lines/Pairings:

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

Ty Smith - Jack St. Ivany Xavier Ouellet - Mitch Reinke Jon Lizotte - Taylor Fedun

Dustin Tokarski - Filip Lindberg

Hershey Bears

Hunter Shepard got the start in net Sunday for the Bears in the rematch against the Penguins. Zach Fucale served as the team's backup after earning the win Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre.

Garrett Pilon returned to Hershey after being called up to the Capitals earlier this week. Washington claimed forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel off waivers from Toronto.

Bears Scratches: Gabriel Carlsson, Lucas Johansen, Shane Gersich, Julian Napravnik, Garrett Pilon, Michael Kim and Kevin O'Neil

Lines/Pairings:

Mike Vecchione - Mike Sgarbossa - Ethen Frank Henrik Borgstrom - Connor McMichael - Sam Anas Mason Morelli - Hendrix Lapierre - Henrik Rybinski Kale Kessy - Riley Sutter - Matt Strome

Aaron Ness - Logan Day Bobby Nardella - Dylan McIlrath Jake Massie - Vincent Iorio

Hunter Shepard - Zach Fucale

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

1:09: WBS - Caggiula (3) - O'Connor, Puustinen 7:50: WBS - Puustinen (7) - O'Connor, Caggiula 15:41: HER - Morelli (4) - Massie, Iorio 16:58: HER - (PP) Kessy, minor (roughing)

2nd Period

6:52: HER - Massie (1) - Lapierre, Iorio 8:21: WBS - (PP) Ouellet, minor (tripping) 20:00: WBS - O'Connor, minor (roughing) 20:00: HER - Kessy, minor (instigating) 20:00: HER - (PP) Kessy, major (fighting) 20:00: HER - Kessy, ten-minute misconduct

3rd Period

1:33: WBS - PPG Legare (2) - Reinke, Ouellet 4:10: WBS - (PP) Nylander, minor (holding the stick) 11:04: HER - Vecchione (6) - Nardella, Frank

Overtime

No scoring/penalties

Shootout

WBS

Nylander - no goal Poulin - no goal Caggiula - no goal

HER

McMichael - no goal Anas - GOAL

BOXSCORE

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

Shots

W-B/Scranton  9 - 5 - 4 - 1= 19 Hershey Bears  17 - 13 - 10 - 3 = 44

Goalies

WBS: Dustin Tokarski (40 saves - 43 shots) HER: Hunter Shepard (16 saves - 19 shots)

Power Play

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

Penalty Kill

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