WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated the Hershey Bears, 4-2, in Game 1 of the Atlantic Division Semifinals on Thursday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took a 1-0 edge in the best-of-five series against its oldest rival, racing out to a big lead after an 11-day layoff. Hershey provided a scare in the second half of the contest, but the Penguins held on in front of their home crowd.
Atley Calvert broke the ice early, lighting the lamp three minutes into the contest.
Sergei Murashov made a sprawling glove save towards the end of the first period, falling to his side and reaching back with his arm to thwart Henrik Rybinski from tying the game.
Tireless work by Gabe Klassen helped extend a play in the offensive zone and eventually led to Aidan McDonough rifling a shot past Clay Stevenson at 5:17 of the middle frame.
The Penguins took a 3-0 lead on their third power-play opportunity of the game. Owen Pickering snapped a seeing-eye shot through traffic and beat Stevenson through his five-hole just before the midpoint of the second period.
However, Ilya Protas put Hershey on the board 1:16 later.
Rybinski bested Murashov on a breakaway just 69 seconds into the third period, suddenly pulling the Bears within one.
After several pulse-pounding close calls in the moments after Rybinski’s goal, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton steeled its nerves and slowly smothered Hershey’s offense as the frame continued. Avery Hayes walked in unopposed for an empty netter to seal it in the final minute of play.
Murashov recorded 31 saves to post the first Calder Cup Playoff win of his career. Calvert, McDonough and Pickering all tallied the first Calder Cup Playoff goals of their career, as well.
Stevenson finished the night with 27 saves on 30 shots faced.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will stay on home ice for Game 2 of the series, Saturday, May 2. Puck drop between the Penguins and Bears is slated for 6:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
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 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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