HERSHEY, Pa. – In their first game of 12 meetings on the schedule, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins secured a 5-0 victory over the Hershey Bears at GIANT Center on Sunday evening.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (5-4-1-0) received its offense from five different goal-scorers, but goaltender Taylor Gauthier stole the show. Gauthier put forth a career-high, 43-save effort to earn the Penguins their first shutout of the season.
For the second-straight game, Penguins rookie Melvin Fernström opened the scoring. Fernström took a frozen-rope pass from Owen Pickering at the far blue line, then charged between two defenders before beating Bears goalie Mitch Gibson with a silky, backhand move at 6:58.
Hershey put Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on its heels for several shifts and created several scoring chances that could have tied the game. Alas, Gauthier masterfully handled the Bears surge and ultimately left the first period with 15 saves.
Bill Zonnon slammed one in with 47.7 seconds left in the first period, extending the Penguins’ lead to two.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton put the pedal down in the second stanza, and an extended shift in the offensive zone resulted in the Black and Gold seizing a 3-0 lead. Four minutes into the frame, Jake Livanavage let loose with a shot from the high slot that glanced off of Rutger McGroarty and redirected into the Bears’ net.
Gauthier conjured several more clutch saves before Mikhail Ilyin rifled a shot over Gibson’s glove with 1:16 left in the second period.
Fifteen seconds into the third, Hugh McGing set up Rafaël Harvey-Pinard for his first goal since returning from a season-opening injury.
With the game seemingly out of reach, Hershey refused to relent. The Bears generated multiple breakaways, odd-man looks and long offensive-zone possessions throughout the third period, but Gauthier remained a riddle they could not solve. Gauthier thwarted 19 shots in the final frame to walk away with the third shutout of his AHL career.
Gibson made 10 saves for Hershey.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton heads south for its next batch of games, taking on the Charlotte Checkers for the first on back-to-back bouts on Friday, Nov. 6. Game time for the Penguins and Atlantic Division-leading Checkers is set for 7:00 p.m. at Bojangles’ Coliseum.
The Penguins’ next home game is also against the Comets on Tuesday, Nov. 10, and it is the Penguins’ first Winning Weekday of the season. If the Penguins secure a win, fans who are in attendance will receive a free ticket to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next mid-week home game. Puck drop is slated for 6:35 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Season-ticket packages for the Penguins’ 2026-27 regular season, including Full-Season, 22-game, 12-game, Flexbook and Premium Seating plans, as well as Corporate Partnership opportunities are also available by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367. Individual-game tickets can also be purchased at wbspenguins.com, at the Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza box office or by calling the Penguins’ front office at (570) 208-7367.
Every minute of Penguins hockey can be watched online with the league’s streaming service, AHLTV on FloHockey. AHLTV on FloHockey provides its subscribers access to not just every regular-season and Calder Cup Playoff game for all 32 AHL teams, but also more than 21,000 hockey contests from other professional and junior leagues on FloHockey, as well as access to all other live event streams and replays across FloSports.
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