Kicking off the ninth all-time Calder Cup Playoff series between the in-state rivals, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton held on for a 4-2 win over Hershey in Game 1 of the teams’ Atlantic Division semifinal at Mohegan Arena on Thursday night.
The Penguins will take their 1-0 lead in the best-of-five matchup into Game 2 on Saturday evening.
Atley Calvert, Aidan McDonough and Owen Pickering scored as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton built a 3-0 lead by the midway point of the second period.
The Bears climbed back into the game as Ilya Protas scored at 10:48 of the second, and Henrik Rybinski cut the deficit to 3-2 just 1:09 into the third.
Avery Hayes scored into an empty net with 54.1 seconds left to seal the win as the Penguins ended a seven-game postseason losing streak going back to 2022. It was Hayes’ eighth goal in eight games against Hershey this season.
Former Bears defenseman Alexander Alexeyev registered two assists for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Sergei Murashov made 31 saves for his first career Calder Cup Playoff victory.
Clay Stevenson (2-1) turned away 27 of 30 shots for Hershey.
(Wilkes-Barre/Scranton leads series, 1-0)
Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 30 – W-B/SCRANTON 4, Hershey 2
Game 2 – Sat., May 2 – Hershey at W-B/Scranton, 6:05
Game 3 – Tue., May 5 – W-B/Scranton at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 4 – Thu., May 7 – W-B/Scranton at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 9 – Hershey at W-B/Scranton, 6:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern
