Penguins shut out in Hershey

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins lost 2-0 to the Hershey Bears at Giant Center on Sunday afternoon.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (7-8-3-2) thought it scored a third-period equalizer, only for the goal to be disallowed. The Penguins couldn’t generate any more offense, and Pheonix Copley was credited with a 21-save shutout.

Max Lagacé fended off an early barrage by the Bears, stopping six quality shots before the game was six minutes old. However, Hershey broke through eventually, using Aliaksei Protas’ first AHL goal to seize a 1-0 lead.

The 1-0 score persisted through the second period and into the third.

Six and a half minutes into the final frame, the Bears were called for a delay of game penalty that sent the Penguins to the power-play. Roughly a minute later, Jordy Bellerive collected his own rebound in the slot and roofed the puck past Copley and into the top corner.

The goal did not count.

Brian Pinho sealed the win for Hershey with an empty netter with 11.3 seconds left in regulation.

Lagacé made 20 saves on the 21 shots he faced while manning the crease for the Penguins.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is Friday, Apr. 16 against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Puck drop between the Penguins and Phantoms is slated for 7:00 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. Tickets to the Penguins’ remaining home games in April are available to the general public now and can be purchased by calling (570) 208-7367.