Stevenson's 37 saves help Hershey even series with road win over Penguins
Clay Stevenson turned a hostile third period into Hershey’s escape hatch, making 37 saves as the Bears beat Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2-1 to split the series.
Clay Stevenson did not just keep Hershey alive in Game 2. He flipped the series.
With the Bears facing a road crowd and a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton push that could have seized control of the Atlantic Division semifinal, Stevenson stopped 37 shots in a 2-1 Hershey win on Saturday night, including 21 in the third period alone. The Bears left Wilkes-Barre with the series tied 1-1 and a chance to reset the tone in Game 3 on Tuesday in Hershey.
The margin was built early and defended under pressure. Brett Leason opened the scoring late in the first period on the power play, giving Hershey a lead it never surrendered. Bogdan Trineyev added another goal before the second intermission, and his night carried extra weight after he briefly exited when he was struck in the head by an errant clearing attempt. He returned, finished the game, and ended up one of the night’s three stars.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton answered quickly in the third when Aidan McDonough cut the lead to 2-1 just 1:12 into the period, turning the final 19 minutes into a survival test for Hershey. The Penguins outshot the Bears 22-8 in the third and finished with a 37-26 shot edge overall, but Stevenson repeatedly closed the door as the game tightened. Sergei Murashov made 24 saves for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but Hershey’s goaltending was the difference between leaving with momentum and leaving with regret.
That is what made Stevenson’s performance feel series-saving. Game 1 had belonged to the Penguins, who had snapped a seven-game postseason losing streak and drawn confidence from Avery Hayes’ scoring touch and Murashov’s first career Calder Cup Playoff victory. Game 2 changed the emotional math. Hershey did not merely answer; it showed that the defending champion can still turn a road game into a goaltending clinic when the pressure peaks.
The Bears also leaned on the kind of playoff pedigree that has defined the franchise for years. Hershey won the 2024 Calder Cup, became the first AHL team to successfully defend a title since 2009-10, and owns 13 Calder Cups overall. In that context, Stevenson’s latest outing carried more than one win’s worth of value. Through two playoff appearances this spring, he is 2-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage.
The series now shifts back to Hershey with the Bears having already proven they can survive the Penguins’ surge on the road. That 2-1 result did more than even the score. It pushed the matchup onto the knife edge Hershey prefers, where one save can change everything.
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