April 25, 2021
Josh Currie had two goals and an assist to help the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins beat the
Hershey Bears 6-3 on Sunday evening at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Hershey's six-game win streak was snapped, and the club's record fell to 17-6-2-0 with the loss.
Philippe Maillet opened the scoring for the Bears on the power play 8:31 into the game, scoring his third goal of the season on a 4-on-3 man advantage. Brett Leason and Cameron Schilling assisted on the goal to make it 1-0 Hershey.
The Penguins scored twice before the period ended to grab a 2-1 lead. Chase Berger beat an outstreched Hershey goaltender Pheonix Copley from the bottom of the left circle, scoring on the rebound of a ricochet off the end boards to make it 1-1 at 14:19 of the opening stanza. Currie scored his first of two goals at 18:29, snapping a shot into the upper corner of the net to make it 2-1 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Hershey tied the game just 53 seconds into the second period. This time it was the Bears capitalizing on a rebound off the end boards, with Matt Moulson tapping the puck into an empty net after a lively bounce pulled Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goaltender Alex D'Orio out of position. The goal was Moulson's 8th of the season and was assisted by Martin Fehervary and Alex Alexeyev.
Jonathan Gruden gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead at 8:17, but the Bears tied the game on a shorthanded marker from Axel Jonsson-Fjallby at 15:18. Riley Sutter found the speedy forward racing up ice, and Jonsson-Fjallby beat D'Orio over the glove to make it 3-3. Johnsson-Fjallby has scored in three straight games.
At 16:48, Hershey's Connor McMichael was whistled for a hooking penalty. The Bears bench disagreed, and the officiating crew slapped them with an additional bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. Hershey was tasked with killing an entire two minute 5-on-3 power play, and they failed to do so as the Penguins took a lead they'd never surrender. Currie scored his second goal of the game from the slot, notching the eventual game-winner at 17:13, pulling Wilkes-Barre/Scranton ahead, 4-3.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Jon Lizotte added a third period goal at 4:24, and Anthony Angello also tallied at 15:40 to put the game out of reach and give the Penguins only their second win versus Hershey this season.
The Bears were outshot 32-29 in the loss. Hershey was 1-for-5 on the power play while Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was 1-for-3.
The Chocolate and White are back in action on Wednesday in Newark as they battle the Binghamton Devils at 6 p.m. The game may be heard on the Bears Radio Network and viewed on AHLTV.
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