Controversial call takes goal away, as the Bears winning streak ends at nine
The Hershey Bears winning streak came to an end on Saturday night, but not without some controversy, as the Chocolate and White fell to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 2-1
After two cracks at the power play in the first period, the Bears special teams units did everything but put one on the board.
Defenseman Bobby Nardella did find the back of the net, but referee Michael Duco ruled it no goal, determining that Matt Moulson had interfered with Penguins goaltender Dustin Tokarski.
“Sometimes referees get calls wrong and that’s going to happen,” head coach Spencer Carbery said postgame. “I make mistakes, players make mistakes, but when you’re isolated on a certain thing, and there’s nothing in your way, and you disallow a goal, you have to make absolutely sure that you saw exactly what you think you saw.”
The Bears would end up being outshot at the end of the first period, but the score stayed knotted at 0-0.
The second period started off on a rough note for the Chocolate and White as their leading point scorer Mike Sgarbossa took a hit up high on the way to the net, cutting him open and sending him to the dressing room for repairs.
Shortly after Sgarbossa would exit the ice, Wilkes-Barre would add insult to injury as Anthony Angello pocketed his 13th goal of the season to put the Penguins up 1-0.
Hershey would go on to earn multiple power-play chances midway through the second, only to have Nardella come inches shy of scoring. On the ensuing power play, Hershey would get a 5-on-3 opportunity as Nardella was cross-checked in the back by Wilkes-Barre’s Jake Lucchini.
Hershey would use the opportunity to strike back. Moulson picked up his 12th goal of the season and he let the referees know it, giving his own “good goal” sign to the net.
After taking their third penalty of the night, the Bears would finally pay the price. Penguins forward Thomas Di Pauli would bury a rebound off Vanecek to give Wilkes-Barre the lead in the early stages of the third.
The Bears would try and fight there way back into the game, getting plenty of scoring opportunities throughout the remainder of the period. But the bounces just were not going Hershey’s way tonight, as they failed to get another one past Dustin Tokarski and fell to the Penguins by a final score of 2-1.
The Chocolate and White will complete their three games in three nights tomorrow night in Allentown, as the take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
