HERSHEY, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins completed multiple comebacks against the Hershey Bears at Giant Center to come out on top by a 6-5 score in overtime on Sunday night.
At different points in the high-scoring, penalty-filled affair, the Penguins (38-21-4-1) trailed by one goal twice and by two goals in the third period, only to erase all three of those deficits en route to victory.
“That one had a little bit of everything for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton vs. Hershey,” said Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli following the rivalry game. “The guys played extremely hard, especially when we were down 5-3 in the third… There was a positive feeling on the bench that we knew we could get back.”
Penguins forward Kael Mouillierat set the tone for the thrilling match-up just 1:41 into the game, when he pulled off a jaw-dropping move, lifting the puck up on his backhand behind the net, cradling it like a lacrosse player, and stuffing the biscuit into the top corner for an early 1-0 lead.
An odd-man rush for Hershey saw Nathan Walker set up Madison Bowey for a tying tally 2:18 after Mouillierat’s stunning goal.
Sean Collins cashed in on a power play 9:59 of the first period, tipping in a point shot for a 2-1 Bears lead.
The Penguins found themselves in a tough situation midway through the second period, but successfully killed off back-to-back five-on-three power plays. Soon after the expiration of the second five-on-three kill, Dustin Jeffrey pushed a loose puck past Justin Peters, tying the score, 2-2, at 12:35 of the middle frame.
Hershey took back a 3-2 lead with another man advantage goal off of a redirect at the top of the crease, this time coming from rookie Jakub Vrána at 16:57 of the second.
Shortly after Vrána’s go-ahead goal, the Penguins went back to the penalty kill. However, instead of the Bears adding to their score, Adam Krause rushed down the ice for a shorthanded goal, making it 3-3 with 1:34 left in the second period. The late-period equalizer was Krause’s first goal in the AHL.
The Penguins went to the penalty kill six times during the second period, but outscored their opponent, 2-1, in the middle frame.
“Well, that’s not exactly what we wanted, you know? But the penalty kill has been great since I got here,” Donatelli said of his team’s second period. “That’s a good power play over there, Hershey, and our group got the job done. It went a long way.”
Ryan Stanton and Zach Sill scored 22 seconds apart early in the third period, as Hershey claimed a 5-3 advantage on the scoreboard.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pulled within one, 5-4, thanks to Jean-Sébastien Dea’s perfectly placed redirect on the rush at 5:02 of the third.
A Steve Oleksy slap shot ricocheted off of Peters’ shoulder, then off the post, and sat loose on the doorstep until Tom Kostopoulos buried it with 6:01 left in regulation. Suddenly, it was tied once again, 5-5.
That score carried over into sudden death overtime, during which Tristan Jarry denied the AHL’s leading scorer, Chris Bourque, from point blank range with a lunging pad save. On the ensuing possession after Jarry’s big stop, Will O’Neill batted a rebound out of midair and into the net, giving the Penguins the instant 6-5 win and tying them for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Bears.
Carter Rowney finished the night with three assists, including helpers on the game-tying and game-winning markers.
Jarry ended up with 22 saves in his second-consecutive win, while Peters posted 25 stops between the pipes for Hershey.
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