Bears Turn Tables, Shut Out Penguins in Game Two

May 6, 2016

HERSHEY, Pa. – Justin Peters made 27 saves for his second shutout of the playoffs, while Sean Collins and Carter Camper provided the offense for the Hershey Bears in a 2-0 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday night at GIANT Center.

Hershey came out as the angrier team and it showed on the scoreboard after the first period.  Despite giving the Penguins the first two power plays of the night, Hershey would grab the 1-0 lead on a nice play by Dustin Gazley.  Busting out of the Bears’ zone on the right wing, Gazley had Collins with him on a two-on-one.  Gazley placed a saucer pass right on Collins’ tape, and the winger let the puck slide off his stick after a deke and beat Casey DeSmith inside the right post at 12:43.

Shortly afterward, Jakub Vrana circled the entire Penguins zone after taking an onside pass from Madison Bowey.  He then made a diagonal pass to the left circle, where Camper one-timed a low shot that slipped through DeSmith at 15:06.  Hershey took the 2-0 lead to the locker room.

The lead stayed the same through the final 40 minutes as well, which featured solid penalty killing by Hershey once again.  The Bears had their best chance to expand their lead in the third on a Tyler Lewington shot from the point, but the first chance deflected off of the crossbar.

Peters held the fort when the Penguins pulled DeSmith with 2:30 left in regulation, stopping all 14 third-period shots to improve to 4-2 on the season.  DeSmith and the Penguins suffered their first loss of the postseason, falling to 4-1.  Hershey finished the night 0-for-3 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.

With the win, the Bears even the best-of-seven Atlantic Division Finals at one game each.

The series now shifts to Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza for the next two games.  Game three is set for tomorrow, May 7 with puck drop at 7:05 PM, and game four will be played on Monday, May 9 at 7:05 PM.  Fans may catch the broadcasts beginning at 6:25 PM on the Bears Radio Network of affiliates WQIC-FM 100.1, WKBO-AM 1230, via the iHeartRadio App (WHP 580 Harrisburg), or online at WHP580.com.  Fans may watch the game for a small fee at AHLLive.com.

Game five will be played on Wednesday, May 11 at 7:00 PM at GIANT Center.  Tickets are available at the GIANT Center box office, by calling (717) 508-BEAR, and online at TicketMaster.com.

NOTES: Hershey is 3-0 in the playoffs following a loss…Justin Peters pitched his second home-ice shutout in his last four games…The Bears have scored the game’s first goal in five of their seven playoff contests and are 4-1 when doing so…The win was Hershey’s third when scoring just twice, and the team is 3-0 when doing so…The Bears scratched LW Paul Carey, G Adam Carlson, D Connor Hobbs, LW Dylan Margonari, LW Domenic Monardo, D Mike Moore and D Colby Williams…LW Liam O’Brien served a one-game suspension from a charging incident in game one…The Penguins scratched D Niclas Andersen, RW Tyler Biggs, G Sean Maguire, RW Pat McGrath, D Reid McNeill, D Ethan Prow, C Dominik Simon and LW Dominik Uher.