Hershey had control through two scoreless periods against the Penguins, but lost its grip in the third. Aaron Huglen opened the scoring just 1:39 into the final frame, and while Grant Cruikshank answered with an unassisted goal at 4:08, Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton pulled away with three more goals. Avery Hayes scored the game-winner on a power play at 7:55, followed by Tanner Howe and Aidan McDonough adding insurance goals.<\/p>\n
The loss extended Hershey’s struggles at home this season. The Bears are 1-2-0-1 at GIANT Center against Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton in the first four games of the series. The last time Hershey managed only one home win through an entire season series was 2017-18, when the Bears finished 1-4-1-0 at home against the Penguins.<\/p>\n
Despite Wednesday’s defeat, Bears head coach Derek King sees the team improving in its handling of adversity. Earlier in the season, a 4-1 result would have devastated Hershey’s momentum. Now the team is picking up points and staying competitive in late-game situations.<\/p>\n
“We’re playing well,” King said. “We’re taking teams, whether we’ve got the lead or they tie it up and we go to overtime, but we’re still in the game, and that’s huge for us. 10-15 games into the season, if we were in that position, we probably would have walked out with our heads down. It would’ve been a 4-1 game because we pulled our goalie, couldn’t score, empty-net goal, empty-net goal, and it would just suck the life out of us, but our guys are battling, we’re staying in the games, we’re involved.”<\/p>\n
King acknowledged on Wednesday that Hershey’s shortcomings centered on focus rather than effort. The team played hard, but committed lapses in the third period that handed the Penguins scoring opportunities they capitalized on.<\/p>\n
“I think we did deserve a better fate,” King said. “We played hard, we worked hard, but we had a few lapses there and let them off the hook. I just mentioned it to our guys after the game, that to compete with those top teams, especially a Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton, you have to play three periods pretty much flawlessly. We had a couple lapses in the third and let them have their chances to score and they buried theirs, and we couldn’t bury ours.”<\/p>\n
Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton enters Saturday riding a four-game winning streak. Sergei Murashov leads the Penguins between the pipes with 17 wins, fourth in the league, and a .926 save percentage, third best among AHL goaltenders.<\/p>\n
King expects a better performance from his team Saturday night. Hershey is 16-4-4-2 this season when scoring first and 11-2-2-1 when leading after the first period, statistics that show the team competes well once it establishes its game.<\/p>\n
“We know this team. I feel we’re good enough to beat them,” King said, “but we have to be solid for three periods. We can’t have lapses or give up a bad goal. We have another chance to go at them again at home, and I’m hoping to see our guys respond and play a solid three-period game.”<\/p>\n
\nSpecial Teams <\/p>\n
HER PP: 17.2% (21st in AHL) |\u00a0HER PK: 82.2% (13th in AHL)
WBS PP: 14.0% (31st in AHL) | WBS\u00a0PK: 82.6% (10th in AHL)<\/p>\n
\nOfficials <\/p>\n
Referees:\u00a0Alex Lepkowski (44) & Mike Dietrich (15)
Linespersons:\u00a0Dylan Blujus (57) & Tommy George (61)<\/p>\n
\nHow to Watch <\/p>\n
Tonight’s game is on FOX43.2 Antenna TV. Live coverage from GIANT Center begins at 7 p.m. Zack Fisch, Garrett Mitchell, and Todd Sadowski will have the call. You can find Antenna TV on WPMT 43.2 over the air or on these cable channels:<\/p>\n
Xfinity Ch. 247 and 1178
Verizon FiOS Ch. 463
Blue Ridge Ephrata Ch. 91
Blue Ridge Newberry\/Duncannon Ch. 88<\/p>\n
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