Bears Defeat Penguins for First Win of Pre-Season

WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Alex Berry broke a 2-2 tie early in the third period and the HERSHEY BEARS held the host Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to 15 shots on goal in the contest, en route to a 3-2 win on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

The Penguins opened up a 2-0 lead on two quick power-play goals in the first period. With Kevin Marshall in the box for slashing, the Penguins worked the puck to the right point where rookie Joe Morrow was waiting. He picked his spot and fired a slapper that beat BEARS backstop Braden Holtby inside the far post at 9:05.

Just 1:32 later, on another man advantage, Alex Grant took a long-range slap shot from the center point that Jayson Megna deflected past Holtby from between the hash marks, giving the Penguins a 2-0 advantage.

The BEARS finally got on the board with 2:52 left in the frame. The Penguins were a step away from clearing the puck on a penalty kill, but Julien Brouillette stole a pass right in front of Penguins netminder Jeff Zatkoff. Brouillette beat Zatkoff high to the upper left corner, pulling the BEARS within one.

The visitors got the equalizer at 5:41 of the second period. With a delayed penalty call coming against the Penguins and with Holtby off for an extra attacker, the puck came to the left corner were Stanislav Galiev was waiting. Galiev banked a shot from the goal line off of Zatkoff and in to knot the score.

For the first time of the pre-season, the BEARS took the lead when Berry crashed Zatkoff’s crease on an early third-period power play. Off of a rebound of a Mike Carman shot, Berry chipped a mid-air rebound into the net at 3:31.

The BEARS played strong defense, holding the Penguins to just eight shots on goal over the last two periods of play to preserve the win.

Holtby stopped eight of 10 shots faced in 30:56 of work. Dany Sabourin came on in relief, and turned aside all five shots sent his way to earn the win. Zatkoff went the distance, stopping 15 of 18 shots.

The BEARS finished the night 1-for-7 on the power play and 2-for-6 on the penalty kill.

The BEARS and Penguins will wrap up the pre-season on Sunday, October with a 5:00 PM faceoff at GIANT Center. Individual tickets are currently on sale at the GIANT Center box office, by calling (717) 508-BEAR, or online at TicketMaster.com.

The BEARS open their home schedule of the 2012-2013 regular season on Saturday, October 20 with a 7:00 PM faceoff against the Rochester Americans. The first 8,000 fans will receive a team schedule magnet, courtesy of PNC Bank. Tickets for this game and all HERSHEY BEARS home games are on sale now through the above outlets.