The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins split the first two games of their series against the Hershey Bears. The best-of-five series now shifts for the next two games to Hershey.
It started out great for WBS, getting out to a 3-0 lead that they turned into a 4-2 win in Game 1. Sergei Murashov made 31 saves in the victory. Atley Calvert, Aidan McDonough, Owen Pickering scored goals for WBS, Avery Hayes added an empty netter to seal the victory.
The Game 1 lineup was as followed:
Game 1 was a physical and nasty game. The rookie Mikhail Ilyin was boarded and left the game. Harrison Brunicke lost his cool and went after a Bear player. The game ended in a scrum with Hershey looking to stir things up after the game was lost for them.
Game 2 saw some lineup changes where Tanner Howe, Boko Imama and Finn Harding all rotated into the lineup.
The Bears took back home ice for the rest of the series with a 2-1 victory. This time Hershey flipped the script, jumping out to a 2-0 lead and holding on. Goalie Clay Stevenson made his mark with 36 saves made on 37 shots to make the lead hold up. McDonough scored for a second straight playoff game for the lone WBS goal.
Wilkes made a furious run at tying the game in the third period, outshooting Hershey 22-8 in the final frame, but they couldn’t find the tying goal with Stevenson standing on his head. Head coach Kirk MacDonald pointed out the team going 0-for-4 on the power play (while giving up a goal to the Bears’ power play) and not getting enough until it ended up being too late.
By losing at home, Wilkes ventures into tricky waters now. The next two games will be on the road in Hershey, the Penguins will need to win one of those games to keep their season alive. Game 3 will be on Tuesday night.
