The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins concluded their preseason schedule on a high note, recording a 5-1 win against the Hershey Bears at the Giant Center on Sunday night. The win evened the Pens’ record to 2-2-0-0 ahead of Wednesday night’s regular season opener in Wilkes-Barre.
Hershey tallied the only goal of the opening period, as Boyd Gordon broke the scoreless deadlock 12:16 into the contest.
But that was all the offense the Bears could muster, as the Pens rattled off five straight goals.
Joe Jensen continued his strong play in the preseason, scoring a power play goal 1:54 into period number two to even the score.
Mark Letestu grabbed the game-winning goal midway through the contest, taking an odd angle shot from the right side which Frederic Cassivi could not handle. The Bears netminder appeared to lose sight of the rebound, as the
puck found it’s way right back onto Letestu’s stick. The rookie forward then banked a shot off Cassivi’s left leg pad and into the net for the goal.
The Pens were the recipients of some luck as Hershey was whistled for back-to-back penalties just 18 seconds apart, giving the visitors an extended two-man advantage. Chris Minard missed several good chances from the left circle, but made up for his misfiring when he found a streaking Mark Ardelan behind the defense, who redirected a pass behind Cassivi at 18:38 of the second.
Tyler Kennedy squibbed home a shot through a crowded crease 13:39 into the final period, and Ned Havern finished off the scoring with 26 seconds remaining.
Conklin made 21 shots on the evening to pick up the win, as the Penguins went 3-for-12 on the power play.
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