Hershey Bears Rally for 4-2 Road Win Over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Three goals in 5:37 of the second period turned a scoreless game into a rout, and Mitch Gibson did the rest. The Hershey Bears walked out of Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza with a 4-2 road win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday night, improving to 27-23-6-2 on the season.

The first period offered nothing on the scoreboard, but the second belonged entirely to Hershey. Andrew Cristall opened it by whipping one in from the slot at the six-minute mark. Moments later, a Sonny Milano centering pass deflected off a Penguins skate and blooped across the goal line to push the lead to two. Ryan Chesley then fired a wrister from the point and found twine, completing the three-goal outburst and sending the Bears into the second intermission ahead 3-0.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, sitting at 36-15-5-2 before Friday's drop, came out of the locker room with urgency. Aidan McDonough launched a shot to the short-side top corner 2:35 into the third to cut the deficit to 3-1. The Penguins kept the pressure on, and it paid off again at 8:43 when Rafaël Harvey-Pinard snapped a scorcher through Gibson's five-hole just 20 seconds into a power play, pulling Wilkes-Barre/Scranton within one.

The comeback stalled there. Despite out-shooting Hershey 14-4 in the third period, the Penguins could not find a tying goal. Bogdan Trineyev sealed it with an empty-netter late, setting the final at 4-2.

Gibson finished with 30 saves for Hershey. Sergei Murashov stopped 20 of the 23 shots he faced for the Penguins, who absorbed their fourth consecutive loss. Ryan Graves and Jack St. Ivany were both in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton lineup in the first game of their conditioning loans, forming the team's top defensive pairing.

The Penguins have little time to regroup. They host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza, with puck drop set for 6:05 p.m. as part of the club's annual St. Patrick's Day Celebration.