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Another Democrat enters Wilkes-Barre mayor’s race

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Crestwood clamps down to reach boys basketball district finals

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; For the first two periods during Friday&#8217;s tilt against the Hershey Bears, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins played a strong game.At the end of the night, they had a few strong words for why they lost.After carrying a 2-1 lead into the third period, the Penguins allowed the Bears to score three times and lost a crucial Atlantic Division game, 4-2.The loss puts the Penguins six points behind the third-place Bears, and they remain four points behind Providence for the fourth and final playoff spot.&#8220;We&#8217;re playing to lose,&#8221; said Penguins veteran forward Ben Sexton regarding the third-period collapse. &#8220;We&#8217;re playing on our heels. To have a lead in the third period at home, that should be a win every time.&#8221;With 22 games left on the season, the Penguins are well aware that they&#8217;re running out of time to move up in the standings.And with each blown lead that results in a loss, a playoff push becomes more difficult to achieve.&#8220;Trying to gain four or five points on a team isn&#8217;t easy this time of year,&#8221; Penguins defenseman Zach Trotman said. &#8220;Those teams are ahead of you for a reason. We don&#8217;t have time to wait around and hope things get better.&#8220;We have to put the pieces together now or we&#8217;re going to find ourselves in a lot tougher situation.&#8221;After Hershey scored the first goal to gain a 1-0 lead early in the second period, Haggerty went to work.He tied the game midway through the period after stickhandling past Hershey&#8217;s Jim O&#8217;Brien and into the slot for a blazing wrist shot.Minutes later, Haggerty jumped on the ice during a line change and was met with a pass from Joseph Cramarossa, which he promptly fired into the net for a 2-1 lead.The goal was Haggerty&#8217;s ninth in his last 11 games, and his 12th point during the span.While Haggerty was busy carrying the Penguins&#8217; offense, the defense slipped to open the third period when they allowed Jayson Megna to skate in alone and beat Tristan Jarry to tie it up, 2-2.&#8220;It&#8217;s like the sea opens up and the guy is standing there all by himself,&#8221; said Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli about blowing leads late in games. &#8220;We just sit on our heels and don&#8217;t continue to play the same way.&#8221;The Bears stunned the Penguins late in the period when Riley Barber roofed a shot over Jarry for a 3-2 lead.Barber added an empty net goal for a hat trick to seal the 4-2 win.The loss drops the Penguins to a league-worst 10-12-2-0 at home. With nine home games in March, they&#8217;ll have plenty of opportunity to reverse the trend, but perhaps not much time for a playoff push.&#8220;I don&#8217;t think we have plenty of time. It needs to happen now,&#8221; Trotman said.<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom Veneskytvenesky@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>Hershey 4, Penguins 2Hershey`0`1`3 &#8212; `4Penguins`0`2`0 &#8212; `2First PeriodScoring &#8211; None. Penalties - None.Second PeriodScoring &#8211; 1. HER, Riley Barber 22 (Ness, Sgarbossa) power play 2:47. 2. WBS, Ryan Haggerty 14 (Scarfo, Prow) 9:08; WBS, Ryan Haggerty 15 (Cramarossa) 14:58.Third PeriodScoring &#8211; 5. HER, Riley Barber 23 (Sgarbossa, Gustafsson) 16:19. 6. HER, Riley Barber 24 unassisted, empty net 19:57. Penalties - None.Shots on goalHershey &#8211; 9-12-9-30Penguins &#8211; 7-13-12-32Power-play OpportunitiesHershey &#8211; 1 of 3Penguins &#8211; 0 of 1GoaltendersHershey &#8211; Vitek Vanecek 15-8-2 (30-32)Penguins &#8211; Tristan Jarry 15-10-5 (26-29)StartersHershey &#8211; G Vitek Vanecek, D Tyler Lewington, D Aaron Ness, LW Shane Gersich, C Jayson Megna, RW Brian PinhoPenguins &#8211; G Tristan Jarry, D Ethan Prow, D Matt Abt, LW Ryan Scarfo, C Jarrett Burton, RW Ryan HaggertyThree Stars1. HER, Riley Barber (hat trick) 2. WBS, Ryan Haggerty (two goals) 3. HER, Mike Sgarbossa (two assists)Referee &#8211; Andrew Bruggeman, Corey Syvret. Linesmen - Patrick Hanrahan, Bill Lyons.Attendance &#8211; 6,712</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</shirttailMeta></div>

WBS Pens’ playoff hopes take a hit in loss to Hershey