WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins ensured they’ll have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays by beating the Hershey Bears, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (21-7-1-1) bested its oldest rival in the final game before the AHL’s holiday break thanks to Zach Gallant and Matt Dumba’s first goals of the season and a shining 26-save outing from goaltender Sergei Murashov.
The Penguins enter the holiday break atop the Eastern Conference, and Murashov leads all qualified AHL netminders with his 1.55 goals against average and .943 save percentage.
Gallant kickstarted the offense at the seven-minute mark of the second period. Gallant whipped a shot from the left wing and tucked it behind Clay Stevenson for the 1-0 lead.
Dumba sent a sizzler off the back bar at 5:15 of the third period, running Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s lead to two.
Hershey pulled back within one when Andrew Cristall had his pass deflect off of a Penguins defender and between Murashov’s legs. Beneficiaries of a fortuitous bounce, the Bears still had 6:09 left on the clock to try and tie things up.
However, Hershey was called for a minor penalty with two minutes and change remaining. The Bears pulled Stevenson for an extra attacker during the penalty kill, but that allowed Owen Pickering to seal the win with an empty-net goal from center ice.
Stevenson logged 22 saves on 24 shots in the loss for Hershey.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is also on home ice against Hershey on Saturday, Dec. 27. Game time between the Penguins and Bears is set to go for 6:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza