BEARS BATTLE BUT FALL TO PENGUINS

March 18, 2015

WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Mike Moore scored in a strong middle period for the Hershey Bears, but first-period tallies from Jayson Megna and Conor Sheary pushed the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 3-1 victory on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
 
The Penguins would get on the board first once again, and it was Megna for the second consecutive game doing the honors.  Darting down the slot, Megna collected a pass from Tom Kostopoulos and lifted a shot over the glove of Philipp Grubauer 1:48 into the contest.
 
The Bears protected their zone well for the remainder of the period, but the Penguins used their speed to increase their lead. Sheary reached for a pass from Megna, skated around a defenseman and placed a shot off of the blocker arm of Grubauer at 18:25.
 
The second period was a complete turnaround, as Hershey jumped out to a great first few minutes.  The effort paid dividends as Tim Kennedy worked the puck from the left boards to the point. Moore wound up and beat Matt Murray through a screen with a low slapper for his second goal in as many games against the Penguins at 10:12, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
 
Hershey kept their feet on the gas all period, but one pinch out of the defensive zone cost the Bears an odd-man rush against.  Carter Rowney tipped a shot on goal and Grubauer made a great lunging save, but Dominik Uher cleaned up the rebound at 14:26 for a 3-1 lead.
 
Murray stopped all 10 Hershey shots in the third to solidify the win, and improved to 20-8-2.  Grubauer dropped to 23-14-4 with 26 saves on 29 shots.
 
Hershey’s record now stands at 37-18-5-2 (81 points), holding a three-point lead on their East Division rivals.
 
The Bears now embark on a six-day trip, beginning with a visit to take on the Worcester Sharks on Wednesday, March 18 at 7:00 PM.  Fans may listen to the game beginning at 6:20 PM on the Bears Radio Network of affiliates WQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460 and via iHeart Radio (1460 AM). 
 
Hershey returns home to host the Manchester Monarchs on Friday, March 27 at 7:00 PM.  All fans in attendance will receive a complimentary ticket to the ARCA Racing Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup practice on June 6 courtesy of Pocono Raceway.  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 LW Dane Byers, LW Chris Conner, C Jim O’Brien, LW Aaron Volpatti and D Patrick Wey… The Penguins scratched RW Josh Archibald, D Alex Boak, C Nick Drazenovic, C Andrew Ebbett, D Reid McNeill, D Harrison Ruopp, RW Bryan Rust and LW Anton Zlobin … The Bears finished the night 0-for-1 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill…D Mike Moore has three goals with the Bears and all have come against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton…C Tim Kennedy increased his assist total to 45 and his team-leading point total to 52 (7-45-52).