BEARS RALLY TO DEFEAT PENGUINS 5-2 SATURDAY

September 26, 2009

HERSHEY evened its record at 1-1 in the preseason Saturday, rallying to defeat the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5-2 at Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton opened the scoring Saturday night with a power play goal from Dustin Jeffrey at 3:03. The goal was Jeffrey’s first of the preseason, and it proved to be the only goal scored in the first 20 minutes. HERSHEY was given a four-minute power play late in the period when Ryan Schnell of the Penguins took an attempted headbutting penalty, but the BEARS could not convert. HERSHEY picked up 12 shots in the first to eight for the Penguins, but trailed 1-0 heading into the second. The teams traded goals in the second, with Anton Gustafsson a split second ahead of Steve Pinizzotto at the top of the crease at 5:37 to score his first goal of the preseason. Gustafsson scored from Zach Miscovic and Oskar Osala on the power play to tie the game at 1-1. The Penguins re-took the lead at the 12:37 mark when Eric Tangradi picked up his first of the preseason. Wilkes-Barre took a 2-1 lead into the third period. The third period was owned by the boys from Chocolatetown, scoring four times to win the game 5-2. Francois Bouchard started the scoring with a goal at 25 seconds from Michael Dubuc and Gavin Morgan. Morgan would also assist on Zach Miscovic’s short-handed goal at 5:51 of the third, which proved to be the game-winner as well. Joe Finley and Steve Pinizzotto each scored third period goals after that to round out the scoring. Goaltender Braden Holtby won his first preseason start, playing all 60 minutes. Notes: The BEARS head home to complete the 2009 preseason Sunday afternoon against the Norfolk Admirals at GIANT Center. Face-off is set for 5:00 p.m., with tickets available at the Giant Center box office, or by calling (717) 534-3911. Many HERSHEY regulars from last season’s Calder Cup champions are expected to dress for the game. The Pens completed the preseason schedule with the game Saturday night. HERSHEY will travel to Wilkes-Barre Township on Friday, October 9 for the club’s first regular season road game of 2009-10 prior to playing in Binghamton on Saturday, October 10. Miskovic was named the game’s number one star, with Morgan pulling down number two star honors.