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WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Fresh off a loss to division foe Lehigh Valley, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins showed their other rival who’s boss on Saturday.
Led by a two-goal effort from Ryan Haggerty, the Penguins (30-9-3-0) dominated the Hershey Bears 5-1 in front of a soldout Mohegan Sun Arena. Jean-Sebastien Dea, Carter Rowney and Tom Kostopoulos each added a goal and an assist while Casey DeSmith stopped 20-of-21 shots for the win.
The Penguins, who became the first team in the AHL with 30 wins, admittedly put in a better effort than the 5-3 loss to the Phantoms on Friday.
“We played way more intense. We were a better team from the start tonight than last night,” Haggerty said. “It may have been a little bit of a wake up call last night.”
The Penguins seized momentum in the first period and never let it go. After a Rowney power-play goal in the first period gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead, they took over the game in the second period.
And quickly.
Dea converted a Dominik Simon pass in front to make it 2-0 just over a minute into the second period, and Haggerty notched his first soon after when he raced into the slot and took a pass from Teddy Blueger.
Haggerty said the momentum was building for the Penguins through the period.
“Putting a couple in and carrying the momentum gives a lot of confidence to the guys,” he said. “You have an upbeat bench and it’s contagious.”
Down 3-0, Hershey used its timeout, but the Penguins continued to apply pressure, forcing the Bears into three straight penalties.
“We didn’t want to give them any life,” Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli said.
While the Penguins didn’t convert, they did go up 4-0 during five-on-five play when Haggerty beat Hershey netminder Vitek Vanecek from the high slot. Shavertown’s Patrick McGrath assisted on the goal for his second point of the season.
Hershey head coach Troy Mann pulled Vanecek after the goal, marking the second straight start at the Mohegan Sun Arena that he failed to finish.
The Bears ruined DeSmith’s bid for a shutout when Zach Sanford put home a rebound early in the third period to make it 4-1
Kostopoulos made it 5-1 when he skated into the slot and swept in a loose puck for the 498th point of his AHL career.
The Penguins are now 7-2 against the Bears this season and have won the last five meetings between the two teams.
“It’s a rival,” Haggerty said. “It’s about whatever team comes out harder. Momentum switches real quick in these series and it’s a fun game that you look forward to.”
NOTES
• Oskar Sundqvist sat out Saturday’s game and is day-to-day with an upper body injury.
• D Tim Erixon, LW Sahir Gill, D Lukas Bengtsson and C Thomas Di Pauli (injury) were scratched for the Penguins.