Bears Rally for 4-3 OT Win Over Penguins

The Hershey Bears (9-6-0-0) rallied from a 3-1 deficit to come away with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (7-5-2-0) in the 300th regular-season meeting between the two clubs on Friday night at GIANT Center. 

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Hugh McGing gave the visitors a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 10:25.
• Lynden Lakovic netted the tying score with his fourth of the season at 14:59 from Theodor Niederbach and Jonny Brodzinski.
• The Penguins went ahead 2-1 in the second on a goal by Harrison Brunicke.
• Avery Hayes scored a shorthanded goal for the Penguins at 2:14 of the third to extend the lead to 3-1.
• Spencer Smallman closed the deficit to 3-2 with his fourth of the season at 7:07 with assists from Andrew Cristall and Niederbach.
• Louie Belpedio tied the game at 3-3 at 13:01 after a faceoff win from Josh Dunne.
• Dunne won the game in the extra frame after Spencer Smallman won a defensive zone faceoff and poked the puck ahead, prompting Penguins netminder Taylor Gauthier to race out to play the puck into open ice. Dunne recovered the puck and fired it into an open net at 3:30 for his third game-winning goal of the season for Hershey.
• Cal Petersen made 26 saves for his fifth win of the season.
• Hershey established a new season high for shots with 47.
• The game marked the 300th regular-season contest between the Bears and Penguins. The Bears improved to 1-1-0-0 in the season series, and improved to a lifetime 154-105-4-26-11 against their I-81 rivals.

SHOTS ON GOAL: HER – 47; WBS – 29

GOALTENDING: HER – Cal Petersen, 26-for-29; WBS – Taylor Gauthier, 43-for-47

POWER PLAY: HER – 0-for-6; WBS – 1-for-3

The Bears continue the 2026-27 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they host the Charlotte Checkers for Belco Kids Night, Mascot Mania, and Bears Brunch on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 3 p.m. at GIANT Center. The first 3,000 fans 15-and-under in attendance will receive a Coco knit hat, courtesy of Belco. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game via Ticketmaster.