A hat trick from Capitals 2019 first-round pick Connor McMichael were the only goals scored by the Bears in Saturday's afternoon matchup with the Penguins.
That's all the Bears needed, as the Penguins fell 3-1 and dropped to a record of 1-2-1 to start the season.
Penguins forward Zach Nastasiuk opened the scoring with a power play goal, redirecting a shot from Jon Lizotte. It was his first as a Penguin:
McMichael answered with a power play goal of his own two minutes later, and extended the lead just over a minute into the second period. He capped off the hat trick with an empty netter in the third period, squashing a late push for a comeback by the Penguins.
With the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker when the score was 2-1 with under two minutes remaining the game, forward Nick Schilkey hit the post with a shot from the left circle:
"It was good to see," Forrest said of his team's push near the end of the third. "We're an inch or two away from taking that to overtime. A lot of chances, a lot of offense generated. ... There's a lot of positives to take away from this game, even though it was a loss."
Even after striking iron, Schilkey played his best game of the season, and with his assist on the opening goal now has points in all four games to start the season. He led the Penguins in shots in this game with six.
"He's been really solid," Forrest said of Schilkey. "He's got a lot of playmaking ability, he hit the post in the last part of the game. A lot of two-on-ones. He's smart, he plays on the right side of things, and he uses his skill when he has the opportunity."
The trio of new additions to the lineup after being sent down from Pittsburgh's taxi squad -- goaltender Max Lagace, and forwards Anthony Angello and Freddy Gaudreau -- fared well being thrown right into the fire in their first games in nearly a year.
Lagace stopped 27 of 29 shots, and made some key saves to keep the game as close as it was, including on this shorthanded breakaway attempt from Hershey after Cam Lee whiffed on a pass and turned the puck over at the blue line:
"I thought he was great," Forrest said of Lagace. "He made a ton of huge stops, especially in the first period. You can't really fault him on either of those goals. He's a big guy, he's confident back there. I thought it was a solid game from him."
Angello and Gaudreau debuted on the top line, and were inserted right on the top power play. Neither player had a point in the game, but each had two shots on goal, and Gaudreau drew the penalty that led to Nastasiuk's power play goal.
"Those are the kinds of players they are," Forrest said. "They should be in big roles. I know it's been awhile since they've played a full game, but I thought they did well considering. You could see the playmaking ability there, you could see Ang's size and speed, how it affects the game. It'll just take a little bit to acclimate to all the bodies on the ice and just playing a five-on-five game. As far as the first one goes, it's nice to get it under your belt, and I thought they did a nice job."
With Gaudreau and Angello joining the team, and Josh Currie and Jordy Bellerive up in Pittsburgh's taxi squad, the power play units were shuffled. The top unit was Lee, Angello, Gaudreau, Schaller, and Zohorna, and the second unit was Lizotte, Gruden, Drozg, Schilkey, and Nastasiuk. Wilkes-Barre entered the game with the No. 6-ranked power play in the league, but only went 1-for-6 in this game. Forrest said that he thought the power play would improve after more time together, since the new units were only put together in Friday's practice after the roster moves were made.
"It takes a little bit to understand what different guys are going to do out there, and to get a bit of a rhythm," Forrest said. "The one goal was nice with the second unit on the deflection there. But any time you have some change, some new bodies, some guys in different spots, it's going to take a little bit to adjust there. Hopefully we can make tweaks in the next couple of days and be more effective next game."
This was perhaps the tightest game of the season Wilkes-Barre played, and the shot totals reflect that. Wilkes-Barre led in shots at the end, 35-30, but the first two periods the teams were within a shot of each other.
This was also the first time that Wilkes-Barre has played an opponent in the regular season that they had already previously played this season. With all teams playing only intra-division games this year, we could continue to see more tight games like this as teams become more familiar with each other.
"Everybody has a feel for each other," Forrest said. "There's no more guess-work after that first game. We've got a couple of games to pre-scout, so you have a better idea and hope that your game plan works, just better executed than the other teams. There's good coaches on the side, there's good players, and every game from here on out is going to be a battle."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• With captain Currie up in Pittsburgh, Gaudreau wore the extra 'A' on his sweater, joining Lizotte and Tim Schaller, with Schaller getting an 'A' after Jordan Nolan took an indefinite leave from the team due to family reasons.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Giant Center:
1. Connor McMichael, Bears
2. Zach Fucale, Bears
3. Garrett Pilon, Bears
THE INJURIES
• Forward Sam Miletic remains day-to-day recovering from mono, but is back to practicing. Forrest said that they'd like Miletic to be closer to 100 percent strength before he gets back into the lineup.
• Defenseman Zach Trotman underwent right knee surgery Jan. 14 to repair a torn meniscus and is off of Pittsburgh's injured reserve and officially on Wilkes-Barre's roster. He's day-to-day.
• Defenseman Jesper Lindgren left the first preseason game after sliding into the boards and underwent successful shoulder surgery this week. He's out indefinitely for the rest of the season.
THE LINEUPS
Forrest’s lines and pairings:
Tim Schaller-Freddy Gaudreau-Anthony Angello
Felix Robert-Radim Zohorna-Nick Schilkey
Jonathan Gruden-Chase Berger-Jan Drozg
Luke Stevens-Zach Nastasiuk-Kyle Olson
Jon Lizotte-Billy Sweezey
Cam Lee-Dylan MacPherson
Matt Miller-Will Reilly
And for Spencer Carbery's Bears:
Joe Snively-Mike Sgarbossa-Garrett Pilon
Blake Pietila-Connor McMichael-Matt Moulson
Brett Leason-Shane Gersich-Damien Riat
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby-Riley Sutter-Kody Clark
Lucas Johansen-Reece Willcox
Cameron Schilling-Macoy Erkamps
Rob O'Gara-Will Graber
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will get a rematch with the Bears at home on Wednesday.
THE CONTENT
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