Game 1 ended 4-0, but the Hershey Bears lost to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins off the opening faceoff. Only 39 seconds in, Kael Mouillierat popped the puck to Dustin Jeffery, who then flipped it by three Bears defenders for Daniel Sprong for the first Penguins goal. Three goals later, and Wilkes-Barre went to win their 100th franchise Calder Cup Playoff victory.
The Penguins fired off 18 total shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes at Bears starter Justin Peters. Peters ended the night with 27 saves total. Penguins rookie Casey DeSmith stopped 33 en route to his first shutout of these playoffs.
The Bears may have flipped the script on shots in the second period, but the damage was done, again, in the first minute. Ryan Parent stepped in from the point after the visitors won the first faceoff of the period. After a tip from Carter Rowney, the Penguins’ lead doubled.
Nathan Walker, with only one goal in the playoffs, broke in for Hershey’s best chance of the game and got hauled down by Tim Erixon. A penalty shot was awarded, but Walker’s bid went into DeSmith’s pads. After Peters saved Jake Guentzel’s first period penalty shot, Game 1 marked the first time a game featured two penalty shots since May 5, 1999 (Rochester vs. Hamilton).
Sprong fired home a slap shot of his own on the power play to make the lead three. By this time, hope seemed lost on the Bears. It was so lost that with 4:30 left to play head coach Troy Mann pulled Peters for the extra attacker. With a six-on-four power play, the Bears allowed a short handed empty net goal to Tom Kostopoulous.
Liam O’Brien charged Dominki Simon with 31.4 seconds to play, triggering a brawl in the corner next to Peters. He received a five minute major for the hit and got sent to the locker room early for good measure.
The teams will rematch on Friday night at GIANT Center for Game 2.
