Chris Bourque scored twice and Chandler Stephenson recorded three assists as the visiting Hershey Bears blitzed the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 5-2, in a chippy Game 3 of the Atlantic Division Finals on Saturday night.
Hershey now leads the best-of-seven series, two games to one. Game 4 is set for Monday night in Wilkes-Barre (7:05 p.m. ET, AHL Live).
The victory snapped the Bears’ 10-game playoff losing streak at Mohegan Sun Arena; Hershey had not won in Wilkes-Barre during the postseason since May 5, 2007.
Hershey jumped in front with 1:20 left in the opening period as Aaron Ness found Dustin Gazley down low and Gazley backhanded a shot past Casey DeSmith for his first goal of the playoffs.
The Bears doubled their lead at 12:34 of the second period, two seconds into their fifth power play of the night. Off a draw to the right of DeSmith, Chandler Stephenson won it clean back to Chris Bourque, who rocketed a shot home for his second goal of the playoffs and his first point of the series.
Jakub Vrana then made it 3-0 just 1:34 later, putting a shot home off a back-door pass from Carter Camper.
Bourque found a loose puck in the offensive zone and gave Hershey a 4-0 lead with his second goal of the night just 32 seconds into the third period. It was the 100th point of Bourque’s Calder Cup Playoff career, making him the seventh player in history to reach that plateau.
Thirty seconds later, Niclas Andersen one-timed a pass from Carter Rowney to get the Penguins on the board for the first time since Game 1, cutting the deficit to 4-1 and ending Justin Peters’ personal shutout streak at 112:10.
Liam O’Brien got free in the slot and put a shot home at 2:52 of the third, making it 5-1 in favor of the Bears and ending DeSmith’s night.
A penalty-filled stretch resulted in a five-on-three for the Penguins, and Jake Guentzel converted at 8:52 with his fourth goal of the postseason.
Peters (5-2) finished with 22 saves on the night, allowing two goals or fewer for the sixth time in seven playoff starts.
Atlantic Division Finals – Series “I” (best-of-7)
A1-Hershey Bears vs. A3-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Game 1 – Wed., May 4 – W-B/Scranton 4, HERSHEY 0
Game 2 – Fri., May 6 – HERSHEY 2, W-B/Scranton 0
Game 3 – Sat., May 7 – Hershey 5, W-B/SCRANTON 2
Game 4 – Mon., May 9 – Hershey at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Game 5 – Wed., May 11 – W-B/Scranton at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 6 – Fri., May 13 – Hershey at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 7 – Sun., May 15 – W-B/Scranton at Hershey, 5:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
.@cbourque17 with a #HERvsWBS pic.twitter.com/emPBYhylGJ
— AHL (@TheAHL) May 8, 2016
