HERSHEY, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins lost to their in-state rival, the Hershey Bears, 5-1, at Giant Center on Saturday.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (27-24-3-5) saw its opponent take an early lead, and despite a valiant second-period burst and nine power plays, the Penguins couldn’t stage a comeback.
Hershey opened the scoring at 4:52 with a breakaway goal from Garrett Pilon. Daniel Sprong added to that lead four minutes later by swatting an airborne puck into the top corner of the Penguins’ net.
Mike Sgarbossa kept up the pace for the Bears, tallying into an empty net at 4:17 of the second period after a turnover behind the Penguins’ net. Hershey swiftly assumed a commanding 4-0 lead when Philippe Maillet tallied less than two minutes later.
The third power play was the charm for the Penguins, as David Warsofsky put them on the board at 8:54 of the middle frame with a slap shot following a faceoff win by Phil Varone.
Warsofsky’s goal buoyed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and the team started racking up a bevy of shots after the captain’s man-advantage marker. However, Hershey regained its four-goal edge when Sgarbossa notched his second of the night with less than five minutes before the second intermission.
Casey DeSmith made 23 saves in net for the Penguins, while Vítek Vaněček put up 24 stops for the Bears.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is Friday, Mar. 6 against the Binghamton Devils at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. The Penguins’ next home game is Saturday, Mar. 7, when they take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Puck drop between Penguins and Sound Tigers is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Individual tickets to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton home games are on sale now and can be purchased at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza box office, Ticketmaster.com, or by contacting the Penguins offices at (570) 208-7367. Season ticket packages for the Penguins’ 2019-20 regular season, including 12-game, Flexbookand Premium Seating plans, are available by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367.
Fans can also keep up with the Penguins through the AHL’s state-of-the-art, high-definition streaming service, AHLTV. Subscriptions for AHLTV are available now. Fans can visit theahl.com/AHLTV now to register for a free AHLTV account and purchase 2019-20 subscriptions.
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