Game Preview: Bears at Penguins, 7:05 p.m.

October 17, 2018

TALE OF THE TAPE:
Tonight, the Bears and Penguins meet for the first of 12 games this season in the I-81 rivalry series. The Penguins enter tonight's game with a perfect 3-0-0-0 record, coming off a pair of wins at Cleveland. Hershey enters without a win in five games this season, leaving them the only winless team in the AHL. This is the fourth game of Hershey's season-high seven game road trip. The Bears will head to Charlotte this weekend for a pair of games, before concluding the time away from home next Friday in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

LAST YEAR’S SEASON SERIES:
Last season, the Penguins bested the Bears in their 12 game regular season series by winning 10 of 12 over Hershey. Tyler Graovac, Dustin Gazley and Wayne Simpson all tied for a team-best six points in the season series for Hershey. For the Baby Pens, current NHL'er Daniel Sprong scored six goals, 10 assists for 16 points to lead his team in scoring against Hershey.

SNAPPING THE SKID:
The Penguins have won eight straight games versus the Bears in the I-81 rivalry series. Hershey's last victory versus the Baby Pens came on Dec. 3, 2017, as Chris Bourque scored in overtime to earn Hershey at 4-3 win at Giant Center. Hershey has dropped four straight games at Mohegan Sun Arena, with the club's last victory coming in a shootout on Nov. 5, 2017. Pheonix Copley earned his first win of the season in the 3-2 victory.  

LIQUID HOT MEGNA:
Jayson Megna will skate tonight for the Bears and battle against his former team. Megna played parts of three seasons with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins from 2012-15. With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Megna appeared in 144 games and tallied 66 points (40 goals, 26 assists), including a team-leading 26 goals in the 2014-15 season. While with the Pens, he played in 21 games against the Chocolate and White and scored a lethal nine goals and six assists. The center was re-assigned to the Bears by the Washington Capitals on Sunday.

MAX EFFORT:
Forward Maximilian Kammerer enters tonight's game with assists in each of his past two contests. The first-year Bear earned his first AHL point, assisting on Derek Hulak's third period goal, last Saturday in Milwaukee. He followed that up by adding a helper on Tyler Lewington's first period goal on Sunday in Rockford. The 22-year-old German scored 31 points (six goals, 25 assists) for Düsseldorfer EG of the DEL last season.

BOSTON CONNECTION:
Hershey forward Steve Whitney and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forward Jimmy Hayes were teammates at Boston College. The duo helped the Eagles to an NCAA Championship in 2010, with Hayes scoring 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists) and Whitney scoring 28 points (seven goals, 21 assists). That BC team also featured Hershey prospect Parker Milner in goal, and former Bears Paul Carey and Joe Whitney at forward.

PERFECT PETERS:
The Penguins feature the AHL's top goalie in Anthony Peters. The brother of former Hershey netminder Justin, the younger Peters is off to a hot start, posting a 3-0-0 record with the Penguins with the league's best goals against average of .98, a sparkling .968 save percentage, and one shutout. After arriving from Cincinnati of the ECHL last season, Peters went 3-0-1 versus Hershey in five appearances with a 2.17 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.