Bears Take Down Penguins 4-1 in Return Home

February 23, 2024

The Hershey Bears (40-9-0-3) returned home from a five-game road trip and came away with a 4-1 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (26-18-7-1) on Friday night in front of a crowd of 10,520 at GIANT Center.

With the win, the Chocolate and White became the first team in the American Hockey League this season to reach the 40-win plateau. The Bears improved to 8-2-0-0 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in head-to-head play this season and 5-0-0-0 on home ice. Hershey has earned points in its last four games (3-0-0-1) and has won six consecutive home games.

BOX SCORE

Jonathan Gruden gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded breakaway goal at 5:49, beating Clay Stevenson to the blocker side.

Ryan Hofer leveled the score with his third of the season at 13:57 when he took a pass from Jake Massie in the neutral zone, skated into the offensive zone and snapped a low shot that beat Joel Blomqvist. Matt Strome earned a secondary assist.

The score remained tied through much of the second and third periods, before Chase Priskie broke the deadlock with a power-play marker from the left circle at 16:22 of the final frame for his sixth of the season. Mike Vecchione and Joe Snively earned assists.

Strome and Bogdan Trineyev then added shorthanded empty-net tallies at 18:05 and 19:30, respectively, to close out the game.

Shots finished 25-23 in favor of the Penguins. Stevenson went 24-for-25 for his 18th win of the season for Hershey; Blomqvist took the loss for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a 19-for-21 effort. The Bears went 1-for-7 on the power play; the Penguins went 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

The Bears continue the 2023-24 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they host the Rochester Americans on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for their first-ever FeBREWary Beerfest event. CLICK HERE for more information. Hershey Food Bank will also be collecting canned and non-perishable food items outside the front entrance to GIANT Center prior to the game. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE (limited tickets available).