WASHINGTON -- Hershey had a quick response to all three of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's goals in regulation on Saturday, then picked up the extra point to hand the Penguins a 4-3 overtime loss in the penultimate meeting between the two rivals this season.
For the second game in a row now the Penguins opened the scoring, starting a new streak in a positive direction after a 17-game run of allowing the game's first goal.
Sam Miletic opened the scoring 1:56 into the game with his second goal of the year. Billy Sweezey's shot went off the end boards and to Miletic, who then had a lot of space to aim for:
Less than three minutes later, the Bears responded when Cameron Schilling ripped a shot from the top of the left circle.
Felix Robert scored his fifth of the season at the 4:31 mark of the second period, redirecting Miletic's shot on the doorstep:
... only to have the Bears tie the game back up less than three minutes later again when Alexey Alexyev capitalized on a rebound chance.
The third period was a refrain of the first two. Will Reilly gave the Penguins a lead again at the 4:04 mark, his third of the year:
"It kind of felt like the play was dead there, then (Tim Schaller) came out with the puck," Reilly said. "Just an amazing play by him, just a perfect pass to me right in the slot there. I got a good shot off and was lucky enough for it to go in."
... and then the Bears tied the game less than three minutes later, with Kale Kessy's partial breakaway.
Connor McMichael scored the game-winner on a breakaway for the Bears in overtime.
"There was a couple of things there on the overtime goal that we could have done a better job of," J.D. Forrest said. "There were two or three things that happened in about a 25-second clip of time that we made poor decisions in, didn't do the things we should do in an overtime situation. And we paid for it. Disappointing."
The overtime loss didn't detract from the strong game of Max Lagace in net, making his first appearance since April 11 after spending the previous three weeks on Pittsburgh's taxi squad. He made 30 saves on 34 shots, including a number for the highlight reel:
"He was amazing," Reilly said of Lagace. "The odd-man rushes we gave up, and the breakaways, it's just not good enough on our part. Max literally just stood on his head there. He kept us in the game the whole way."
"Max was great tonight," Forrest said. "He's certainly a calming presence back there, he made some huge stops for us, actually right away in the first period there. You can go on and on about the saves he made. It's another night where we have really solid goaltending and we weren't able to get a win for him."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Jordy Bellerive is a wall:
• The Penguins went 0-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
• Kasper Bjorkqvist, who spent the year playing in Finland, re-joined Wilkes-Barre on Friday. He didn't play Friday or Saturday. Forrest said after Friday that they were taking things day-by-day with Bjorkqvist because he had been off the ice awhile quarantining.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza:
1. Connor McMichael, Bears
2. Kale Kessy, Bears
3. Sam Miletic, Penguins
THE INJURIES
• Defenseman Jesper Lindgren left the first preseason game after sliding into the boards and underwent successful shoulder surgery. He's out for the rest of the season.
• Defenseman Zach Trotman is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
THE LINEUPS
Forrest’s lines and pairings:
Tim Schaller-Drew O'Connor-Anthony Angello
Jonathan Gruden-Josh Currie-Nick Schilkey
Felix Robert-Jordy Bellerive-Sam Miletic
Luke Stevens-Chase Berger-Jan Drozg
P.O Joseph-Jon Lizotte
Cam Lee-Billy Sweezey
Kevin Czuczman-Will Reilly
And for Spencer Carbery's Bears:
Joe Snively-Philippe Maillet-Matt Moulson
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby-Connor McMichael-Damien Riat
Shane Gersich-Aliaksei Protas-Brett Leason
Kale Kessy-Riley Sutter-Mason Morelli
Alex-Alexeyev-Macoy Erkamps
Cameron Schilling-Reece Willcox
Eddie Wittchow-Andrew Nielsen
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will host the Binghamton Devils on Wednesday and Saturday. There are five games remaining in the season, and then that's the end of it all. No playoffs in the AHL this year.
THE CONTENT
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