The two top teams in the Atlantic Division clashed on Tuesday night at Giant Center. It was matchup number six between the Hershey Bears and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. With plenty on the line for both teams and points on the board, the teams battled down to the very end. When the final horn sounded, the Bears prevailed by a 5-4 final score. Hunter Shepard earned the win in goal with 25 saves.
New Bears
Hershey went with a very different looking lineup than in recent time. Multiple key players were sidelined with illness and injury with a lengthy list of scratches. In their place, Hershey called up players from their ECHL affiliate in South Carolina. All the additions left a positive mark on the game, featuring Ryan Hofer and Alexander Suzdalev up front. Dalton Smith and Garrett Roe rotated back into the lineup with the veteran slots.
The first player to pay dividends was defenseman Andrew Perrott. He made an immediate impression in his Hershey debut with a goal on his first shot just under five minutes in. Perrott played well in South Carolina and was signed to an AHL contract days prior. Hershey is short a few defenders, and Perrott made big contributions in his debut. It’s a big reward for his strong play making an impression.
As many of Hershey’s recent games have been, this was a back-and-forth contest. Emil Bemstrom tied the game back up minutes later with a perfectly placed wrist shot. The goal is his 20th of the season, fresh off a stint in the NHL due to the Four Nations break.
Trading Goals and Punches
Hershey pulled ahead with a pair of goals only to see Wilkes-Barre cut the lead to one in the first. Hendrix Lapierre swooped in and dropped a backhand shot through Joel Blomqvist’s pads. It’s Lapierre’s first goal since Game Six of the Calder Cup Finals and a big one to put Hershey ahead. He was one of four Hershey skaters with multiple points on Tuesday.
That goal was followed up quickly by a snipe from Ethan Bear. Much like his game-winner against Bridgeport, he found a seam short side and made no mistake. Bear, who was named to the All-Star festivities, keeps on tallying points in an impressive season. Valtteri Puustinen answered with a late power play goal to keep things interesting after twenty minutes.
However, late in the first period, the rivalry heated up a notch. Three separate fights broke out after Vasily Ponomarev launched Dalton Smith into the boards from behind. It led to some chaos as Justin Nachbaur took down Nikolai Knyzhov. Smith fought Dan Renouf while two others got misconducts. All in all, the teams combined for 99 minutes of penalties in the game, an old school tilt.
Down to the Wire
It’s been the same script for the Bears almost all season. They’ve traded goals and gone to the last moments for narrow, high scoring wins. Tuesday was no different as the Bears nearly surrendered a two-goal lead. Spencer Smallman seemingly finished the game off, extending Hershey’s lead to 5-3 with an empty net goal. Game over, right? Wrong. Wilkes-Barre cut the lead to one again and threatened inside of the final minute.
With just over two seconds to spare, Wilkes-Barre appeared to tie the game. A point shot caught Boris Katchouk’s stick up high and deflected past Shepard. The goal was initially called good but went to conference with the officials. The AHL does not have the option to go to video review, so the referees had the game in the balance with the decision. Ultimately, the call was reversed, and the goal came off the board to land Hershey a 5-4 victory.
“We were hoping the refs got it right, and they did,” Bears head coach Todd Nelson said. “It was pretty apparent. I can’t challenge that, in the National Hockey League you can. Hopefully, they change that because it was pretty blatant. In those situations, and the fourth goal, we have to get into the shot lanes better. When you’re a team playing under adversity, sometimes you put too much pressure on yourselves. The guys wanted this game really badly, and it showed for sure.”
Big Response
It’s a massive win for the Bears. The Penguins have five games in-hand over them, and a chance to cut into their lead for first place. More importantly, Wilkes-Barre handed them a crushing 9-0 loss in the last matchup between the two teams. Hershey has had a few lopsided losses and needed to get back on track in a big way. Nelson noted that, while the team allowed a few too many goals, it’s an improved effort.
“The guys we inserted played outstanding,” Nelson added. “Suzdalev was great, Hofer was outstanding. Nachbaur and Smith did their job. Perrott, excellent. We played a strong game, and I thought we deserved it. The game was probably closer than it should have been.”
“We started taking on water in the third where they got rolling in the zone. Our guys were focused the whole day. The guys responded really well; they played hard. Our personnel may not be as skilled as the guys who are out sick, but they made up for it with hard work.”
The two teams are set to run it back at Mohegan Arena on Saturday night. Wilkes-Barre plays ahead of time on Friday while Hershey is idle as they make up some of those games. There are six more matchups between the two teams down the stretch which very well could be a playoff preview.
