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Seven power plays later, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton couldn’t come up with a man-advantage goal.
And rival Hershey was happy to twist the knife on Friday night. The Bears scored the game-winning goal on a power play of their own midway through the third period for a 3-1 victory at Mohegan Sun Arena.
It sent the Penguins (5-6-3-1) to their sixth straight loss, a stretch in which they’ve dropped four in regulation and earned just two of 12 possible points.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was far more competitive on Friday than in the previous game, a 6-3 loss to Syracuse in which the Penguins trailed 6-0 after just 14 minutes, allowing those six goals on the game’s first 10 shots.
Against the Bears, the Penguins held a 31-26 edge in shots, played tighter defense and forged a 1-1 tie early in the third period on Jordy Bellerive’s team-leading sixth goal of the season.
But the Penguins couldn’t generate a second goal despite getting four power plays in the third after Bellerive’s marker. The final man-advantage, though, came with just 1:05 left and after the Bears had scored an empty-netter to go up 3-1.
Momentum looked to be on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s side thanks to a solid performance in net by Alex D’Orio, making just his second career AHL start.
With the Penguins shorthanded to open the third, D’Orio robbed Philippe Maillet — who had opened the scoring Friday on a first-period breakaway — with a pad save on a one-timer.
A Penguins counterattack after the save forced a faceoff in Hershey’s end. Good forechecking and a well-timed pinch by defenseman Cam Lee kept the play alive, and Sam Miletic found Bellerive in the slot for the game-tying goal.
Two minutes later, the Penguins earned a power play but couldn’t convert. And when defenseman Zach Trotman put the Penguins down a man with an interference penalty, former NHL standout Matt Moulson made them pay with what proved to be the winning goal.
Despite two more chances with the extra man after that, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton couldn’t tie it back up before Kody Clark scored into an empty net.
D’Orio finished with 23 saves on 25 shots and was named third star of the game behind Moulson and Hershey counterpart Zach Fucale, who stopped 30 of 31.
The teams will get together for a rematch on Sunday afternoon at the Giant Center in Hershey.