Kevin Marshall’s OT Winner Beats Penguins, 5-4

Photo courtesy: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Facebook page

With momentum riding high in the Hershey Bears’ locker room following a win in our nation’s capital, the Bears looked to carry that momentum to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Kevin Marshall recorded his first and only shot of the game at the 3:18 mark of overtime, and capitalized on Penguins’ goaltender Jeff Zatkoff to send the Bears past the W-B for the forth time this season, 5-4.

Dany Sabourin drew his first start in goal since November 24 in Adirondack and would be tested early and often by the high powered Wilkes-Barre offense. However it was the Bears who drew first blood on Friday night, as Mattias Sjogren tallied only 3:42 into the game. Sjogren tipped a Steve Oleksy blast from the point to give Hershey the early lead.

Towards the middle minute of the frame, the Pens quickly bounced back with goals coming only 3:07 apart. First, Benn Ferriero only four seconds into a power play fired a shot past a screened Sabourin to knot the game up. Minutes later, at the 12:19 mark, Philippe Dupuis scored for Wilkes-Barre to quickly give them their first lead of the night.

Hershey has been known for late period goals this season, and that trend continued with 3:12 remaining in the opening period. Mathieu Beaudoin scored his first goal of the season to pull the game even at 2-2 before intermission.

Although the Chocolate and White are known for scoring late, the Penguins are known for answering back. Only 89 seconds into the second period, answering back is exactly what Robert Bortuzzo did for Wilkes-Barre. He gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead, which later proved to be their final lead of the night.

Hershey again bounced back with goals by Jon DiSalvatore and Tomas Kundratek to regain a late second period 4-3 lead. But a Steve Oleksy double-minor with 27 seconds left on the game clock would give the Penguins a long power play chance to begin the final stanza.

Who else for Wilkes-Barre but their leading scorer, Eric Tangradi would hit pay-dirt on Dany Sabourin while on the man-advantage to tie the game at 4-4. Heading into over time, both teams picked up a crucial standings point in the East Division. Thanks to Kevin Marshall on an odd-man rush with T.J. Syner, Hershey recorded the extra point over the Penguins, and their first overtime win of the season.

Video: Marshall’s OT Goal