WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins fell by a narrow, 2-1 score to the Hershey Bears in Game 2 of their Atlantic Division Semifinals playoff series on Saturday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is now looking at an even, 1-1, series after running into a 36-save showing by Hershey netminder Clay Stevenson. The Bears notched both of their goals in the late stages of the first and second periods, then survived a 22-shot barrage by the Black and Gold during the third thanks to Stevenson.
After surrendering the first goal in Game 1, Hershey flipped the script and struck first in Game 2. Brett Leason tapped a loose puck out of mid-air on the power play with 3:35 left in the first period.
Stevenson came up huge for the Bears in the middle frame, thwarting several Grade-A opportunities earned by the Penguins. Avery Hayes had a shorthanded breakaway halted when Stevenson stretched out with his left pad and stopped Hayes’ deke with his toe.
Stevenson made a point-blank denial of Aidan McDonough later in the period, and his save led directly to Hershey’s next goal. On the same shift, Andrew Cristall thread a pass to Bodgan Trineyev, who buried his chance with 2:49 left before the second intermission.
The Penguins came out with a purpose in the third period and quickly pulled within one. McDonough had a shot on the rush deflect off of a Bears defender and behind Stevenson 72 seconds in, giving McDonough tallies in back-to-back games to start the playoffs.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton continued to pepper Stevenson throughout the third, but Hershey’s last line of defense held down the fort for the visitors to white-knuckle their way to a bounce-back victory.
Penguins goalie Sergei Murashov posted 24 saves in defeat.
The series shifts to Chocolatetown for Game 3. The Bears will host the Penguins on Tuesday, May 5 with a 7:00 p.m. puck drop at GIANT Center.
Individual playoff game tickets can be purchased by calling the Penguins’ front office at (570) 208-7367 or at wbspenguins.com. Penguins Playoff Packages are also available only by reaching out to the Penguins directly.
Playoff packages, which are billed on a pay-as-we-play basis, include tickets to every confirmed home game during the postseason. Each package also comes with an $8 voucher for every home game, which can be redeemed at Savor concession stands or at the Penguins Igloo Team Store located inside Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza on each designated game date.
Every minute of Penguins playoff 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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