WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – When it comes to playoff hockey at any level, a slow start can kill any momentum of a previous win. For the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, their slow start in Game Two of the Atlantic Division Semifinal on Saturday night doomed them almost from the start.
Despite a boatload of scoring opportunities in the third period, the Penguins were unable to find a way back into the game, falling to the Hershey Bears, 2-1. The loss evens up the series at a game apiece, ahead of the third game in Chocolatetown next week.
After clinching a convincing win on Thursday night, the Penguins came into Saturday’s contest with all the momentum. However, for an almost sold out Mohegan Arena, that momentum would come to a screeching halt as the Bears hung on and squandered any chances of a Penguins win.
Less than five minutes into the game, Bears captain Aaron Ness caught Penguins forward Ville Koivunen in the face with his stick. WBS went on a four-minute power play, but mustered just one shot during the shift.
The Bears found the back of the net at 16:25 on the power play as Brett Leason scored the game’s opening goal. It might have been the first period, but that power play goal for the Bears proved to be huge.
During the regular season, whenever the Penguins surrendered a power play goal against, their win percentage was at around 48.6%.
In the second period, both sides had their fair share of scoring chances but Hershey netminder Clay Stevenson and Penguins goaltender Sergei Murashov traded save-for-save.
But late on in the middle period, the team from Chocolatetown struck again, this time off the stick of Bogdan Trineyev. Andrew Cristall and Ilya Protas provided the assists on the play after both recorded assists on Leason’s goal in the first.
After some line shuffling to begin the third period, the Penguins came out on fire, scoring their first goal of the game on their first shot in the period.
Aidan McDonough took a shot from the left side of Stevenson, with the puck getting kicked in by his own defender, one Louie Belpedio.
From there the Penguins were dominant, outshooting the Bears 22-8. However, it would be Stevenson that had the final save. He stopped 21 shots after the Penguins’ goal, including four in the dying moments after Murashov was pulled to bring on the extra attacker.
The Penguins’ goaltender made 24 saves en route to the loss, but he had his share of great saves throughout.
Stevenson was near perfect, making 36 stops. “Tip of the cap to him, don’t get me wrong, he was outstanding tonight,” Penguins HC Kirk MacDonald said. “But we made it too easy on him in the first two periods.”
In the first two periods the Penguins amassed just 15 shots compared to Hershey’s 18. While the shot totals are similar, the only two lines for the Penguins that really had it going all night were the first and fourth lines.
The fourth line, made up of Boko Imama, Atley Calvert and Tanner Howe battled all night, got pucks deep and looked alive the entire game.
“Maybe I should have gotten them more ice time,” MacDonald said.
“They did a great job, and I thought they did a great job establishing momentum, getting it in the o-zone…like I said they were outstanding.”
Moving on to Game Three, the Penguins take the trip to Hershey on Tuesday, May 4. Later it’ll be Game Four on Thursday, May 6. Both contests are set for 7:00 p.m. from Giant Center.
