Bears Fall to Penguins in Overtime, 4-3

February 10, 2017

(Wilkes-Barre, PA- February 10, 2017)-The Hershey Bears hockey team pushed its point streak to seven games, but the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins earned a 4-3 victory in overtime on Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Kevin Porter’s game-winning goal gave Wilkes-Barre/Scranton a fourth overtime win versus Hershey this season. 

Six of the seven goals in Friday’s contest came on the power play. Trailing 2-1 entering the third period, Hershey would use the power play to jump out to a lead. Chandler Stephenson would even the score, 2-2, with his ninth goal of the year at 6:30 of the third period. Liam O’Brien collected the puck behind the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton net and centered a pass to Stephenson. The forward jammed a shot through the legs of Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry to tie the game. 

At 9:54 of the third period, Hershey scored again. Christian Thomas notched his team-leading 17th goal of the season, and 10th power play marker, to make it 3-2 Hershey. Defender Christian Djoos’ shot from the left point was stopped by Jarry, but the rebound sat loose for Thomas, and the forward converted on the backhand. 

Hershey failed to hold the lead, as the club ran into penalty trouble late. The Penguins tied the game at three on a 5-on-3 power play goal from captain Tom Kostopoulos at 16:05. A shot from the left wing beat Hershey’s Vitek Vanecek over the left shoulder, giving Kostopoulos his 200th career AHL goal. 

In overtime, Hershey had a golden opportunity on the power play after the Penguins were issued a too many men on the ice penalty. However, Hershey failed to convert, and Porter scored the winning tally at the 2:55 mark, beating Vanecek under the right pad on a breakaway. 

Both teams went 3-for-7 on the power play. Paul Carey also had a power play goal for Hershey, scoring his 15th goal of the season to make it 1-0 just 7:20 into the game. 

The Penguins outshot Hershey 36-31. The victory was Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's sixth straight win versus Hershey. The Bears are now 1-8 in overtime this season. 

The Bears are back on home ice tomorrow evening for Capital BlueCross Baseball Cap Night and College Night Delivered by Papa John's. Hershey hosts Hartford at 7 p.m. tomorrow.