Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goalie Sergei Murashov tracks the puck during Game 2 of the AHL Calder Cup Atlantic Division semifinals at Mohegan Arena on Saturday, May 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A fan waves as Hershey’s Aaron Ness is escorted to the penalty box during Game 2 of the AHL Calder Cup Atlantic Division semifinals at Mohegan Arena on Saturday, May 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Gabe Klassen breaks his stick while taking a shot during Game 2 of the AHL Calder Cup Atlantic Division semifinals at Mohegan Arena on Saturday, May 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Joona Koppanen (15) takes the puck down the ice during Game 2 of the AHL Calder Cup Atlantic Division semifinals at Mohegan Arena on Saturday, May 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Rutger McGroarty (2) takes the puck down the ice during Game 2 of the AHL Calder Cup Atlantic Division semifinals at Mohegan Arena on Saturday, May 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Mikhail Ilyin (70) takes the puck down the ice during Game 2 of the AHL Calder Cup Atlantic Division semifinals at Mohegan Arena on Saturday, May 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goalie Sergei Murashov tracks the puck during Game 2 of the AHL Calder Cup Atlantic Division semifinals at Mohegan Arena on Saturday, May 2, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Goalie Clay Stevenson and the Hershey Bears withstood a third-period onslaught by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday night.
Penguins coach Kirk MacDonald thought if his team played the first 40 minutes the way it did in the final 20, the outcome may have been different.
Stevenson stopped 36 of 37 shots, including 21 in the third period, to help Hershey come away with a 2-1 victory in Game 2 of the AHL Calder Cup Atlantic Division semifinals before a crowd of 6,591 at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Brett Leason and Bogdan Trineyev scored for the Bears, who evened the best-of-5 series at 1-1. Game 3 is Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Giant Center in Hershey.
“Going back home tied after taking a game on the road is always huge, especially against these guys,” Hershey coach Derek King said.
Aidan McDonough scored early in the third period for the Penguins, but they could not get anything else past Stevenson.
“Credit to him, but we only made it hard on him for 20 minutes,” MacDonald said. “If that’s the first period effort we get, it starts to stack on top of itself and he kind of hangs on in the third. But tip of the cap to him, don’t get me wrong. He was outstanding tonight. But we made it easy on him the first two periods.”
In the first period, the Penguins missed a golden opportunity to seize the momentum early. Aaron Ness of Hershey high-sticked Rutger McGroarty after the whistle, drawing blood and was given a four-minute penalty. However, the Penguins managed just one shot on the ensuing power play and the Bears killed it off with ease.
Hershey outshot the Penguins in the first period, 8-3, and cashed in on its power-play opportunity. With Finn Harding in the box for high-sticking, Ilya Protas took a shot that Penguins goalie Sergei Murashov saved. But the rebound popped up in the air and Leason, parked in front of the crease, bunted the puck into the net at 16:25.
Wyatt Bongiovanni took a roughing penalty with three seconds left in the first period, giving the Penguins a chance to open the second period on the power play. Again, they came away empty.
“We lost the special teams battle and we just tip-toed into the game in my opinion. Like we were testing the waters, not knowing what to expect,” MacDonald said. “We had some serious passengers, especially the first two periods, which is tough to see in an environment like this.”
With 6½ minutes left in the second and the Penguins on the penalty kill, Avery Hayes had a shorthanded breakaway. But Stevenson made the save.
Late in the period, Stevenson denied McDonough alone in the slot. Hershey counterattacked and Andrew Cristall picked up the puck at the Penguins blue line, skated into the zone along the right-wing boards, started to go behind the net and backhanded the puck for Trineyev in the slot. Trineyev lifted the stick of a Penguins defenseman to accept the pass and fired a shot past Murashov to make it 2-0 at 17:11.
“They had one scoring chance in the second period, we’re not hard on the puck and it goes in. And that’s the game,” MacDonald said. “We’re not going to go 14-0. But you can’t give games away and tonight we gave the game in the first 40 minutes.”
At 1:12 of the third period, the Penguins finally scored. Rafael Harvey-Pinard sent a puck from the right-wing boards toward the net. McDonough, coming down the slot, had the puck deflect off him past Stevenson to cut the deficit to 2-1.
“It was a good play by Alex Alexeyev just finding in the middle,” Harvey-Pinard said. “I just sent it to the net and didn’t see how it went in until the replay. Just trying to get it to the net. Good things happen when you go there.”
For the rest of the period, the Penguins kept pressing for the tying goal. Each time, though, Stevenson made the stop. Murashov was pulled for a sixth attacker with 2:38 left, but the Bears held on for the win.
“We want to play on our front foot. That’s how we are, that’s what we’re about, we want to be aggressive,” MacDonald said. “We saw it in the third period. We put up 22 shots to eight and dominated. But we never should have been in that position. We put ourselves in that position.”
Now the series heads to Hershey for a pivotal Game 3.
“We just have to reset and go Tuesday to Hershey and play the way we played in the third the whole game and we should be fine,” Harvey-Pinard said.