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Local roundup: Berwick girls defeat Nanticoke Area to stay tied for first place

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Remember When: Mayor Hart presided over the 1920s

WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; Goals were about as hard to come by Friday night as home-ice wins have been lately for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.The Penguins and Hershey Bears went through the last 27:33 of regulation, five minutes of overtime and the first 11 combined shootout tries locked in a tie.Shane Gersich finally ended the game, scoring after Penguins goalie Dustin Tokarski had stopped five straight Bears attempts and giving Hershey a 2-1 victory.The Penguins outshot the Bears 30-15 in regulation, but after Jamie Devane tied the game 12:27 into the second period, it did not matter whether they were skating 5-on-5, 5-on-4, 3-on-3, 4-on-3 or 4-on-4. Despite numerous chances, they could not get the goal needed to produce the first win of the homestand.&#8220;I think the (scoring) chances ended up being 20-11 for us,&#8221; Penguins coach Mike Vellucci said. &#8220;We had chances on the power play. I think we had four in overtime to their two. We gave it all we had.&#8221;After falling to 0-3-0-2 since their last road game, the Penguins will have one last shot at Mohegan Sun Arena tonight against the Hartford Wolfpack before heading out again and going 19 days without a home game.Unlike some of the other efforts during the homestand, however, Vellucci came away pleased with the team&#8217;s performance.&#8220;I thought we had a great game,&#8221; Vellucci said. &#8220;I thought we competed; we played hard; we took it to them.&#8221;Defenseman David Warsofsky agreed.&#8220;A complete 180 from how we&#8217;ve been playing lately,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If we keep playing that way, we&#8217;ll come out with two points.&#8220;It&#8217;s important to get on a little streak here where we&#8217;re playing hard and we&#8217;re had to play against. We gave a real good effort tonight. The way we&#8217;ve been playing lately hasn&#8217;t been what we want to do.&#8221;The sixth-place Penguins made things hard on the second-place Bears in the Atlantic Division matchup.Axel Jonsson-Fjallby scored for Hershey 42 seconds into the second period.Devane beat Hershey defenseman Tyler Lewington down the left wing to convert defenseman Niclas Almari&#8217;s pass on a rush up ice that was started by Jordy Bellerive&#8217;s pass from the neutral zone.Earlier Friday, the Penguins added forward Christopher Brown from ECHL Wheeling, where he had seven goals and three assists in his last 11 games. The 23-year-old from Boston College had a goal and an assist in three games with the Penguins at the end of last season.&#8220;We wanted more energy, guys who are going to compete,&#8221; said Vellucci, who was concerned that complacency could be setting in without extra players fighting for spots in the lineup on a nightly basis. &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t good enough. We&#8217;re 0-3-1 in the last four games at home and the competing wasn&#8217;t good enough.&#8221;That was not the case Friday.&#8220;We deserved much better tonight,&#8221; Vellucci said.NOTES: Gersich was named first star, followed by winning goalie Pheonix Copley and Devane. &#8230; The Penguins lost defenseman Jon Lizotte, the team plus-minus leader, to a head injury midway through the second period. He&#8217;ll be evaluated to determine his status. &#8230; The state Class 3A champion Wyoming Area football team was honored on the ice during the first intermission. &#8230; The Toronto at Texas AHL game Friday night was called off Friday night and the Marlies forfeited when their players chose not to play following 39-year-old assistant Rob Davison suffering a medical emergency in the locker room prior to the game and being rushed to a local hospital.Hershey 2, Penguins 1Hershey`0`1`0`0`1 &#8212; 2Penguins`0`1`0`0`0 &#8212; 1First Period &#8212; No scoring. Penalties &#8212; Burgdoerfer, Hershey (tripping), 9:21; Bellerive, Penguins (slashing) 18:11.Second Period &#8212; 1, Hershey, Jonsson-Fjallby 8 (O&#8217;Brien, Nardella), 0:42; 2, Penguins, Devane 2 (Almari, Bellerive), 12:27. Penalties &#8212; Wittchow, Hershey (elbowing), 6:43; Lewington, Hershey (holding), 12:52; Malenstyn, Hershey (holding), 14:52.Third Period &#8212; No scoring. Penalties &#8212; None.Overtime &#8212; No scoring. Penalty &#8212; Lewington, Hershey (slashing), 2:28.Shootout &#8212; Hershey 1 (Maillet NG, Jonsson-Fjallby NG, Moulson NG, Pilon NG, Pinho NG, Gersich Goal), Penguins 0 (Cassels NG, Warsofsky NG, Bellerive NG, Roy NG, Johnson NG, Brown NG).Shots on Goal &#8212; Hershey 6-6-3-4-1&#8212;20. Penguins 10-11-9-4-0-34.Power-play opportunities &#8212; Hershey 0 of 1; Penguins 0 of 5.Goalies &#8212; Hershey, Copley 9-5-4 (34 shots-33 saves). Penguins, Tokarski 6-3-2 (19 shots-18 saves).Referees &#8212; Terry Koharski, Dan Kelly. Linesmen &#8212; Tyler Loftus, Bill Lyons.A &#8212; 5,714.<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom RobinsonFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div>

WBS Penguins’ play improves but skid continues in shootout loss to Hershey