The Penguins threw everything they had at Clay Stevenson in the third period. It wasn’t enough.
Hershey’s goaltender withstood a barrage from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the final frame on Saturday night at Mohegan Arena, willing the Bears to a 2-1 win that evened up the Atlantic Division semifinal series at 1-1.
After managing just 15 shots through the first two periods, the Penguins woke up in the third while trailing 2-0, peppering Stevenson with 22 shots to give them a 37-26 edge for the game.
But only one got past Stevenson as Aidan McDonough scored for the second straight game just 72 seconds into the third period. Assists went to Rafael Harvey-Pinard and former Bears defenseman Alex Alexeyev.
Hershey never trailed as Brett Leason opened the scoring late in the first period with a power play goal. Bogdan Trineyev got what proved to be the game-winner with 2:49 left in the second. Ilya Protas and Andrew Cristall each had a pair of assists for the Bears.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton couldn’t take advantage of an early opportunity as Aaron Ness was whistled for a double-minor for high sticking just 3:41 into the contest. But the Penguins couldn’t convert in four minutes of power play time and went 0-for-4 with the extra man for the night.
Hershey’s first goal came with rookie defenseman Finn Harding in the box on a high sticking penalty of his own.
Sergei Murashov stopped 24 of 26 shots in net for the Penguins.
The series now shifts to Hershey for the next two matchups with Game 3 on Tuesday and Game 4 set for Thursday at Giant Center. The Penguins will host Game 5, if necessary, next Saturday.
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