The Hershey Bears met up with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for game three of a ten-game road trip. It’s a familiar stop for Hershey as it’s game nine of 12 in the regular season series. The Penguins looked to claw back into the race for the top of the Atlantic Division with a win. Wednesday’s game was the latest close affair between the two teams and the third straight to go beyond regulation. Sam Poulin scored in the fifth round and Sergei Murashov stayed perfect for a 5-4 win in the skills competition.
I-81 Rivalry Renewed
Each of the head-to-head matchups will have massive impacts on the standings race going down the stretch. Wilkes-Barre’s win brings them within four points of Hershey for the top spot in the Atlantic Division. There are three games left in the season series, two of which are in the final two weeks of the campaign. Provided one team doesn’t pull away in the next few weeks, it’ll be a tight race to the very end.
Hershey erased three different Wilkes-Barre leads in Wednesday’s game. Top scorers got on the board as Ivan Miroshnichenko extended his point streak to seven straight games. He tallied a goal and an assist to raise his goal count to 18. Hendrix Lapierre kept his strong play going with an assist while Chase Priskie had a goal and an assist.
Although it’s not a great stat game for Clay Stevenson, he played his part to help Hershey get a point. He had a big sequence in the dying seconds of regulation against a potent Penguins power play. Ultimately, he finished with 25 saves on 29 shots in this game. Hershey is now 5-3-0-1 against Wilkes-Barre in the regular season series.
Hershey had strong scoring, but Wilkes-Barre ultimately capitalized on their chances. The Penguins scored once on the power play and cashed in on chances low in front of Stevenson. Ville Koivunen and Valtteri Puustinen each had multiple points as they’ve had lots of success in the series.
Bears Visit Wolves
Hershey moves on to visit the Chicago Wolves at Allstate Arena for the first time since 2005. The Bears defeated the Wolves in overtime two days before Christmas on a goal from Lawrence Nycholat. Since then, the two teams have combined for seven total Calder Cup titles. Each of Chicago’s titles have been followed by back-to-back titles for Hershey.
Hershey and Chicago have combined to win the last three Calder Cup titles. They’re the last three teams to win the title since the trophy was not awarded in 2020 or 2021. Chicago is the lone Western Conference team to face Hershey in the regular season. The two teams split a pair of games in Hershey way back in October on the second week of play.
The Bears moved to 2-0-0-1 through three games of a historic ten-game road trip. After Sunday afternoon’s game is complete, they’ll move on to face some Atlantic Division foes. Hershey takes on Springfield and Hartford before revisiting Wilkes-Barre on March 22. The Bears will not have a local practice until after that date. It’s the most daunting portion of a brutal stretch on the road.
