WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins downed the Hershey Bears, 4-1, on Wednesday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton picked up its 30th win of the season (30-12-2-2) by unloading four goals in the third period for the second-straight game. The contest was deadlocked at 0-0 going into the final frame thanks to stalwart penalty killing and a strong showing in net by All-Star goalie Sergei Murashov.
Murashov stonewalled the Bears at every turn in the first period, coming up with 17 stops during the opening stanza. His most jaw-dropping denial came on a backdoor pass to Brett Leason, who had a wide-open net taken away by the lightning-quick pads of the Penguins’ 21-year-old netminder.
Early in the second period, Hershey was awarded a lengthy five-on-three power play. The Bears even called their timeout prior to the 79-second two-man advantage, but Murashov and the Penguins held firm.
By the end of 40 minutes, the Penguins were five-for-five on the penalty kill.
The third period opened with Aaron Huglen’s wrist shot riding up the paddle of Bears goalie Mitch Gibson and into the top corner of Hershey’s net 99 seconds in. However, Grant Cruikshank quickly evened the scales by going coast-to-coast for the Bears’ first and only goal.
Avery Hayes put the Penguins back in the lead with a man-advantage marker that beat Gibson through his five-hole at 7:55 of the third.
Tanner Howe, playing in his second AHL game, picked up his first pro goal at 14:40 of the third, redirecting a shot from the point on a designed face-off play. Less than a minute later, Aidan McDonough slithered through the Bears defense and across Gibson’s crease for a dazzling finish that put Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in a commanding 4-1 lead.
Murashov finished with 30 saves. Gibson took the loss with 25 stops.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is Friday, Feb. 6 against its other Keystone State rival, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Game time for the Penguins and Phantoms is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m. at PPL Center.
The Penguins’ next home game isn’t until after the AHL All-Star Break, a date with the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday, Feb. 14. The Valentine’s Day clash is set for 6:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
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