Game Recap: Bears vs. Penguins 12/8/19

Coming off of three straight wins for the first time this season, the Bears looked to build on their recent success, against their other in-state rivals, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.

For the third time this season the Bears had to go through the gauntlet that is the dreaded 3 games in 3 nights. While it is nice to have all three of this weekend’s contests in the keystone state, it always takes a toll on the players. Which was evident in the first period for Hershey.

The Bears had a couple of defensive breakdowns in front of their net in the first 10 minutes. Surrendering 2 goals to Wilkes-Barre in a matter of a 2 minutes. The second half of the period was rather uneventful for both sides.

Both teams spent a large chunk of time battling in the neutral zone, and neither side were really able to generate grade A chances through the rest of the first frame.

With the exception being a good looking rush and pass from Sgarbossa to Snively, only to be denied from a great lateral post to post save by the AHL player of the week, Casey DeSmith.

The second period was faster paced than the first. The Bears came out with an offensive jump in the second stanza. Peppering Casey DeSmith with 18 shots throughout the entire period and dominating the 5 on 5 play.

We didn’t see a power play in this one until 8 minutes and 36 seconds into this period. After an Eddie Wittchow tripping minor, sent the Bears to their first penalty kill of the game.

On the ensuing Wilkes-Barre power play, rookie Martin Fehervary made a rookie mistake, by hitting an airborne puck way up into the stands with 30 seconds left on the Wittchow penalty. Giving the Penguins a 2 man advantage for 30 seconds.

As the old saying goes, your goaltender needs to be your best penalty killer, which is just what Pheonix Copley did, by stopping all shots thrown his way. And bouncing back from a rough first period. The baby Pens would get another crack at the power play after Shane Gersich was called for holding. But aggressive penalty killing from Liam O’Brien led to another holding call. This time on Wilkes-Barre’s David Warsofsky. In the ensuing 4 on 4, the Bears would hit not one, but two goal posts, still not being able to solve Casey DeSmith. The Bears would look to keep the pressure on, as they remained down 2 goals, heading into the third period.

As we moved into the third, the Bears game plan remained the same. Another fast start out of the gate led to Hershey dominating the time of possession and creating a plethora of chances in the offensive end. The Bears up until this point really hadn’t had a crack at the power play. They had a very short power play in the second at the end of that 4 on 4 previously mentioned. But after a Jamie Devane hooking minor in the opening minutes of the third. The Chocolate and White’s power-play would get to work. As the veteran Matt Moulson picked up the loose change on a Bobby Nardella snipe, he was able to bring the Bears within one. One Christian Djoos, who just a few minutes later, let a seeing-eye wrist shot go from the blue line, that Casey DeSmith never saw coming. Knotting the game up at 2 apiece. After a wild final 10 minutes of the period, 60 minutes proved to not be enough as this one headed for overtime.

In the 3 on 3 overtime, one of the Bears hottest hand during this win streak, Joe Snively, would pick up a juicy rebound left at the top of the goal crease, to give the Bears the win. Their fourth in a row, and their third win in as many days. But another huge part of this win was Pheonix Copley, who cannot be forgotten in this one. Just prior to the game winning goal sequence, Copley made an unbelievable pad save on a two on one, to keep the comeback hopes alive. As well as countless other huge stops throughout the second and third periods. Including killing off a 5 on 3 in the second. This is something that Bears fans can really smile about. As Pheonix has had his fair share of struggles as of late. But in this one, he proved to be backbone of this comeback victory.

The Bears are in action this coming Saturday at Giant Center, against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.