Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's season will be on the line in Monday's Game 3 against Hershey in the best-of-three first round of the AHL playoffs.
After the Penguins won Game 1 on Friday with a decisive 3-0 victory at home, the Bears staved off elimination on Sunday evening in Hershey, handing the Penguins a 2-1 loss to force a Game 3 to be held Monday night in Wilkes-Barre.
The Bears outshot the Penguins 12-6 in the first period and went into the first intermission up 1-0 after a power play goal. The Bears extended their lead with a goal midway through the second period, and Felix Robert quickly responded with a goal 30 seconds later with a redirect of a shot-pass from Alex Nylander to cut Hershey's lead back to one goal:
Wilkes-Barre was unable to find the tying goal in the third period, and Hershey evened the series, 1-1.
"We played hard," coach J.D. Forrest said afterward. "We played really hard, start to finish. A couple bounces maybe didn't go our way. We knew they were going to have their backs against the wall. We knew we were going to get their best, and they played a solid game. We just couldn't find a way to put another one behind the goalie. But I thought the effort was was solid."
Wilkes-Barre's best player in this game was goaltender Tommy Nappier, who stopped 30 of 32 shots to keep this game as close as it was. Nappier has stepped up as the starter with both Louis Domingue and Alex D'Orio in Pittsburgh, and through two games has posted a 1.01 goals-against average and a .964 save percentage.
"He was calm, he was under control," Forrest said of Nappier. "He was talking to the guys. That's a big area of growth for all these guys playing in playoff games. He responds the way that he has, you know he's improving there, and you can tell that he rises to the occasion. So it's good to see from Tommy."
With the only other goaltender on Wilkes-Barre's roster being Sam Harvey, signed to a tryout contract out of the ECHL's Fort Wayne Komets earlier in the week, it'll be Nappier in net again as Wilkes-Barre looks to eliminate the Bears and advance to the second round on Monday.
Home ice certainly has brought Wilkes-Barre a big advantage in the second half of the season. Since Jan. 21, the Penguins have a .795 points percentage on home ice, going 16-3-2-1 in the last 21 games of the regular season.
They aren't banking on any of that regular-season success carrying over into tomorrow's must-win Game 3.
"We battled for the home ice and we feel like for us it's an advantage for sure," Forrest said. "But it's a reset every day. We can't look at our past record at home and think that's going to take care of business for us."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Wilkes-Barre was without two of their top penalty-killing forwards in this one. Michael Chaput remains sidelined with a lower-body injury suffered in the next-to-last game of the regular season. Jonathan Gruden was serving a one-game suspension in this game as a result of his actions in Game 1. Gruden took a minor penalty for elbowing in the game:
After the game ended, league officials reviewed the elbow and decided that the penalty should have been a game misconduct. In the AHL, if a player receives two penalties over the course of the season for physical fouls, he is given an automatic one-game suspension. Gruden got a game misconduct for boarding way back in January, so this review ultimately resulted in Gruden's automatic suspension.
"You know, that's how they saw it," Forrest said. "I'm not going to really comment on their judgment call, the league makes those decisions. We have to live with them. So whether I agree or not, it doesn't really matter. The other guy got hurt, I hope he's okay. Butthat's the way they saw it. They make those decisions."
The forwards on the penalty kill in this game were Jordy Bellerive, Kasper Bjorkqvist, Kyle Olson and Filip Hallander, and they were put to work in the first period. Sam Poulin put the Penguins on the penalty kill 2:29 into the first period with a tripping minor, and Hershey's Beck Malenstyn capitalized on the ensuing power play with a deflection goal:
Wilkes-Barre went on the penalty kill twice more in the first period -- once for an Anthony Angello interference minor at 11:48 and then again when Poulin got called for boarding at 19:09 -- and the Penguins killed off both penalties.
The loss of Gruden was a significant one (for comparison's sake, Gruden is closest to Teddy Blueger in terms of both style and role), but Forrest liked how his team stepped up in his absence.
"(Gruden) is a big part of our team," Forrest said. "When he's out, it's felt up and down the lineup, he brings a lot to the table. On the PK, I thought our guys did a great job. The one shot there, I don't know if it hit the guy in the pants or what. Overall, especially having all those in the first period kind of right away, the guys responded well."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Giant Center:
1. Dylan McIlrath, Bears D
2. Beck Malenstyn, Bears LW
3. Pheonix Copley, Bears G
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• Goaltender Filip Lindberg is out "longer-term" with an ankle injury sustained during the game on Nov. 12. Director of player development Scott Young told me that they don't expect Lindberg to play again this season.
• Defenseman Taylor Fedun is "week-to-week" with a lower-body injury. He has resumed skating.
• Forward Michael Chaput suffered a lower-body injury in Wilkes-Barre's penultimate game of the regular season. He's week-to-week.
THE LINEUPS
Forrest's lines and pairings:
Filip Hallander - Sam Poulin - Valtteri Puustinen
Felix Robert - Radim Zohorna - Alex Nylander
Kasper Bjorkqvist - Jordy Bellerive - Anthony Angello
Jamie Devane - Sam Houde - Kyle Olson
Juuso Riikola - Mitch Reinke
P.O Joseph - Will Reilly
Cam Lee - Matt Bartkowski
And for Scott Allen's Bears:
Garrett Pilon - Mike Sgarbossa - Bogdan Trineyev
Alexei Protas - Mike Vecchione - Brett Leason
Beck Malenstyn - Mason Morelli - Marcus Vela
Eddie Wittchow - Drake Rymsha - Kale Kessy
Lucas Johanse - Alex Alexeyev
Tobias Geisser - Dylan McIlrath
Bobby Nardella - Cody Franson
THE SCHEDULE
Game 3 is Monday in Wilkes-Barre at 7:05 p.m. If they advance, they would play Springfield in the second round, with Game 1 being on the road on Tuesday.
THE CONTENT
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