Bears Drop Preseason Opener to Pens 4-3 in Shootout

October 3, 2024

The Hershey Bears (0-0-0-1) opened the 2024 preseason with a 4-3 shootout loss against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (2-0-0-0) on Thursday afternoon at Mohegan Sun Arena.

BOX SCORE

The Bears established a 2-0 lead early in the first period with goals from Ryan Leibold at 1:15 on Hershey's first shot of the contest, and Grant Cruikshank at 6:32.

The Penguins responded at 18:42 with a strike from Jordan Martel, and Matthew Querica leveled the score at 2-2 at 3:12 of the second.

Leibold stole the puck for a shorthanded breakaway and beat Sergei Murashov at 6:52 for his second of the day to put Hershey in front 3-2.

At the 10:34 mark, the Bears rotated goaltenders, sending in Seth Eisele to take over for starter Garin Bjorklund.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton evened it up at 14:09 via a goal from Mats Lindgren.

The score remained tied 3-3 through the end of regulation and overtime. With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton electing to shoot first in the shootout, the only goal came off the stick of Logan Pietila in the second round to secure the win for the hosts.

Shots finished 35-20 in favor of the Penguins. Bjorklund posted a 12-for-14 performance, while Eisele took the shootout loss with a 19-for-20 effort; Murashov got the win for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a 17-for-20 effort. The Bears went 0-for-1 on the power play; the Penguins went 0-for-2 with the man advantage.

The Bears continue the preseason when they host the Penguins on Friday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center. Purchase tickets for this game by CLICKING HERE. Hershey opens the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they host the Cleveland Monsters on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.