PENGUINS BLANK BEARS ON NEW YEAR'S EVE

December 31, 2014

WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Jeff Zatkoff stopped all 24 shots he faced and got help on offense from Tom Kostopoulos and Dominik Uher, helping the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins shut down the Hershey Bears by a 2-0 count on New Year’s Eve at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
 
For the second night in a row, the Bears and their opponent played through a scoreless first period.  Hershey would be handed three penalties, but the league’s top-ranked penalty kill proved its worth on all three.
 
However, on the fourth chance of the game for the Penguins, Brian Dumoulin took a shot from the center point that deflected off of Kostopoulos and past Philipp Grubauer with 28.5 seconds remaining in the second period, giving the Penguins a 1-0 lead.
 
The Bears got a scare early in the third period, when Grubauer lunged out to deny Conor Sheary a sure goal early in the third period.  Grubauer would leave with an apparent injury, and Pheonix Copley came on in relief.
 
Inside the final minute, the Bears were trying to get the puck freed from their own left corner.  A turnover would land right in the slot for Uher to rip past Copley’s blocker with 48 seconds left to play, sealing the win.
 
Zatkoff improved to 11-6-1 with his third clean sheet, while Grubauer took the tough loss, stopping 18 of 19 shots in 43:33 of work.  Copley stopped six of seven shots in 16:23 of relief work.
 
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton opens a four-point advantage as East Division leaders with the victory.
 
The Bears will again host the Penguins in the first game of 2015 on Saturday, January 3 at 7:00 PM.  Individual tickets for this and all remaining home games are available at the GIANT Center box office, online at TicketMaster.com or by calling 717-508-BEAR.
 
NOTES: The Bears scratched D Michal Cajkovsky, LW Philippe Cornet, D Mike Moore, C Jim O’Brien, LW Tim Spencer, LW Nathan Walker and D Patrick Wey…The Penguins scratched D Paul Cianfrini, RW Patrick McGrath, C Adam Payerl and D Clark Seymour…The Bears finished the night 0-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill… Three stars: 3-Uher, 2-Kostopoulos, 1-Zatkoff.