Hershey comes back, defeats Wilkes-Barre Scranton 4-3 in a shootout. Vitek Vanecek with 33 saves and Jayson Megna scores in his 400th professional game.

All photos in this post are courtesy of Just Sports Photography.

Follow Cory Lyons on Twitter for live updates of Hershey Bears games at @CoryLyons AHL.

The Hershey Bears (26-20-0-3) welcome I-81 rival Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins (24-21-4-1) to the Giant Center for a rare Wednesday night hockey game.

Hershey is riding a 12 game point streak, going 11-0-0-1 in that stretch. This has propelled the Bears from being five games under .500 to six games over and now just two points out of the final playoff spot (currently held by Lehigh Valley).

This game marked the 400th professional game for Jayson Megna. Megna has skated in 113 NHL games along with 286 AHL games (Wilkes-Barre Scranton, Hartford, Utica and Hershey).

1st Period:

The period started with a lot of high flying action. Mike Sgarbossa had a breakaway chance but Penguins Goaltender Tristian Jarry turned it away.

Hershey got the scoring started early in the game. The Penguins could not get the puck out of their zone when Garrett Pilon put pressure on the puck. Beck Malenstyn poked the puck away from Macoy Erkamps and right to Nathan Walker’s stick. Walker put a wrist shot on net in the high slot and the puck went past Jarry, under the glove. This gave the Bears a 1-0 lead.

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE! 11:22 left in the 1st period 🐻- 1

🐧- 0#HBH #DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/CaaO94wHGY — Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) February 14, 2019

Wilkes-Barre Scranton tied up the game on the power play. The puck was dumped into the zone and Vitek Vanecek had a chance to cover it. He elected not to and it paid dearly. The puck was pushed to the point from Ben Sexton to Ryan Haggerty. Haggerty pushed the puck over to Kevin Czuczman for a one timer. The puck stayed low to the ice and beat Vitek Vanecek blocker side. This tied the game 1-1 going into the locker room.

#WBSPENS GOAL GIF – @gotoczucz with the slapper to tie the game up, 1-1 pic.twitter.com/bXEx866nco — WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 14, 2019

1st Period Shots: HER – 4, WBS – 14

1st Period Scoring:

3:38 – HER: Nathan Walker(12) ASST: Beck Malenstyn(6), Garrett Pilon(16)

11:45 – WBS: Kevin Czuczman(4) ASST: Ryan Haggerty(15), Ben Sexton(10)(PP)

2nd Period:

Hershey struggled to create any offense. They were beat to most pucks throughout the period. The one time that the Bears had pressure Conner Hobbs had a shot blocked at the point. This created a breakaway opportunity for Jimmy Hayes who scored on a slap shot that beat Vanecek blocker side. This gave Wilkes-Barre Scranton a 2-1 lead.

#WBSPENS GOAL GIF – Jimmy Hayes skates down Broadway and unleashes to put the Penguins up, 2-1 pic.twitter.com/Eyc7fWUeIF — WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 14, 2019

2nd Period Shots: HER – 9, WBS – 6

2nd Period Scoring:

16:29 – WBS: Jimmy Hayes(7) ASST: Anthony Angello(11)

3rd Period:

After another rough start to the period, Hershey finally found a way to enter the zone on the Penguins. The puck was cycled around the boards to Aaron Ness. Ness tossed the puck over to Tyler Lewington who blasted home a one timer from the point and tied the game 2-2.

Wilkes-Barre Scranton responded quickly once again. After a bad pinch from Jonas Siegenthaler, Ryan Haggerty skated to the corner, passed the puck through the crease and the puck was deflected into the net. Haggerty was credited for the goal. This gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead.

#WBSPENS GOAL GIF – Ryan Haggerty's cross-crease pass deflects off a Bears defender and in, and the Penguins are back in front, 3-2 pic.twitter.com/X35TYdxg1q — WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 14, 2019

Ryan Haggerty then took a tripping penalty which gave Hershey another power play. After struggling through most of this winning streak, the Bears finally broke through. Jayson Megna tipped a puck past Jarry, scoring this 11th goal of the season. The puck was tipped by Nathan Walker before the puck got to Megna. This tied the game at 3 and we would go to overtime!

3rd Period Shots: HER – 5, WBS – 4

3rd Period Scoring:

4:04 – HER: Tyler Lewington(3) ASST: Aaron Ness(31), Mike Sgarbossa(21)

8:43 – WBS: Ryan Haggerty(11) ASST: Ethan Prow(23), Chris Summers(11)

11:42 – HER: Jayson Megna(11) ASST: Nathan Walker(10), Aaron Ness(32)(PP)

Overtime:

During the overtime Wilkes-Barre Scranton was the closest to scoring when they shot a puck off of the cross bar.

We would go into a shootout!

Overtime Shots: HER – 1, WBS – 0

Overall Shots: HER – 32, WBS – 36

Shootout:

HER – Riley Barber – O

WBS – Sam Miletic – X

HER – Nathan Walker – O

WBS – Jimmy Hayes – X

HERSHEY WINS IN A SHOOTOUT 4-3!

Three Stars:

HER: Nathan Walker (1g, 1a) HER: Vitek Vanecek (33 saves, win) HER: Aaron Ness (2 a)

Official Box Score: https://theahl.com/stats/game-summary/1019104

Photos in this post are courtesy of Just Sports Photography.