HAGGERTY TALLIES TWICE, BUT PENGUINS FALL TO HERSHEY, 4-2
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins dropped a 4-2 decision to the Hershey Bears on Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (25-22-5-2) received two goals from Ryan Haggerty in the second period, but Hershey’s Riley Barber ran away with a hat trick to complete a third-period comeback by the Bears.
Hershey broke the seal and scored the game’s first goal on the power play at 2:47 of the second period. Immediately after the expiration of the Penguins’ first penalty on a two-man advantage for the Bears, Aaron Ness set up Barber for a one-timer that found the back of the net.
The Penguins knotted the score at 9:08 of the middle frame on Haggerty’s first of the night. Haggerty dangled around Liam O’Brien and then unleashed a scintillating shot to beat Vítek Vaněček. The Penguins’ forward continued his red-hot run by putting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on top approximately six minutes later. Joseph Cramarossa found Haggerty at the right circle in the Hershey zone, whose blast kissed off the post on the way to lighting the lamp.
With his two tallies on Friday, Haggerty has 12 points (9G-3A) in his past 11 games.
Jayson Megna tied the game, 2-2, with a backhand breakaway conversion 55 seconds into the final frame.
Late in the third period, a crucial save by Vaněček sent the Bears the other way in a hurry and led to the go-ahead goal. Mike Sgarbossa collected a loose puck behind the Penguins’ net and fed Barber in the slot for his second tally of the contest and a 3-2 lead with 3:41 remaining in regulation time.
Barber added an empty net tally to secure the hat trick with 3.3 seconds left.
Tristan Jarry made 26 saves in defeat for the Penguins. Vaněček denied 30 bids to extend the Bears’ winning streak to 10 games.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is Sunday, Feb. 24 against the Rockford IceHogs. Rockford’s lone visit to Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza this season also serves as a Kids Free Sunday, during which children aged 14 and under can attend the game free of charge with the paid purchase of one adult ticket. Puck drop on between the Penguins and IceHogs is scheduled for 3:05 p.m.
Individual tickets for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton home games can be purchased at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza box office, through all Ticketmaster outlets, or by contacting the Penguins’ offices at (570) 208-7367. Season ticket packages for the 20th season of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hockey, including full season, 12-game and Flexbook plans, are available by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367.
Fans can also keep up with the Penguins through the AHL’s brand new high definition streaming service, AHLTV. Subscriptions for AHLTV, which include live and archived games, begin at just $79.99 for the entire 2018-19 regular season. Fans can visit theahl.com/AHLTV now to register for a free AHLTV account and purchase 2018-19 subscriptions.
