Bears Surrender Lead, Fall in Shootout

December 9, 2018

The Hershey Bears surrendered a three-goal lead and fell 5-4 in a shootout to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday night at Giant Center. Hershey's record when leading after two periods falls to 9-0-0-1. 

Only 4:38 into the game, Jayson Megna opened the scoring and tallied his seventh goal of the season and fourth against the Penguins. Colby Williams added his fourth assist of the weekend after Megna's shot sneaked past Penguins goaltender John Muse. The Bears doubled their lead to 2-0 at 13:28 on Riley Barber's ninth goal of the season. On the power play, Barber snapped a quick wrist shot after gaining the blue line and beat Muse low to the ice. Shots after 20 minutes were 8-7 Hershey with a two goal advantage. 

Next period, Wilkes-Barre solved Vitek Vanecek to cut their deficit to 2-1. After a successful Hershey penalty kill, Kevin Czuczman floated a shot from the blue line past a screened Vanecek at 8:50. Hershey responded with two goals 52 seconds apart to take a 4-1 lead. First, Liam O'Brien finished a 2-on-1 rush after receiving a crisp cross-ice feed from Steve Whitney at 13:41. Next, Tyler Lewington banked a shot off Muse from beneath the goal line which rolled into the net. Down three goals late in the second period, the Penguins began their rally.

At 16:12, Teddy Blueger chopped Hershey's lead to 4-2 after finishing a second chance in the slot past Vanecek. For the Penguins, the key momentum swing occurred in the final minute of the second stanza. With five seconds left before intermission, Thomas Di Pauli beat Vanecek moving from his right to left on a feed from Anthony Angello. 

The Bears 4-3 third period lead stood until Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pulled Muse for the extra attacker. On the 6-on-5 advantage, Ethan Prow scored his eighth on the season at 19:18 to force overtime. When the 3-on-3 sudden-death solved nothing, a marathon, nine round shootout followed. Scoreless in the ninth round, Joseph Cramarossa walked off the game with a sneaky shot past Vanecek. 

The defeat moves the Bears record to 11-13-0-2 after earning three of six possible standings points during the weekend. The Hershey Bears return to the ice on Saturday, December 15 against the Providence Bruins for the start of a three-game road trip. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. Voice of the Bears Zack Fisch will have the call on the Bears Radio Network.