Andrew Pustay for Inside the Rink.
HERSHEY, Pa. – The Hershey Bears faced off against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Saturday night at the GIANT Center. The Penguins won 4-3 in overtime.
Avery Hayes opened the scoring for the Penguins on the power play less than three minutes into the game with his 14th goal of the season. Rutger McGroarty (9) and Gabe Klassen (10) got the assists. A few minutes later, Hayes followed it up with a short-handed goal at the 6:07 mark of the first period. McGroarty (10) and Alex Alexeyev (2) assisted. The Bears got on the board in the first period thanks to a powerpay goal from Ilya Protas, his team-leading 18th goal of the season, with assists from Andrew Cristall (26) and Bogdan Trineyev (13). The period ended with the Penguins leading 2-1.
Ivan Miroshnichenko tied the game for the Bears just over a minute into the second period with his ninth goal of the season, thanks to assists from Cristall (27) and Protas (19). Less than three minutes later, the Penguins’ Melvin Fernstrom scored his first AHL goal, with assists from Owen Pickering (14) and Ville Koivunen (18). Just over a minute later, Alex Suzdalev notched his second goal of the season, tying the game. Louie Belpedio (18) and David Gucciardi (7) assisted.
Both teams went scoreless in the third period. With 12 seconds remaining in the period the Bears’ Jon McDonald was called for high-sticking, resulting in a double-minor.
The Penguins began the overtime period with nearly four minutes remaining on the powerplay. At 2:04, Hayes struck yet again when he put home a one-timer, securing the hat trick and a Penguins’ win. Koivunen (19) and Matt Dumba (12) were credited with the assists.
Garin Bjorklund stopped 34 of 38 shots for the Bears and Sergei Murashov stopped 20 of 23 for the Penguins.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside the Rink’s Andrew Pustay for highlights from the game.
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