Mateiko returns to lineup as Hershey rally from two-goal deficit
Latvian forward Eriks Mateiko came back from injury for the AHL's Hershey Bears, who overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4-3 in overtime.
In the American Hockey League (AHL, North America's top development league below the NHL), the Hershey Bears beat the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4-3 in overtime at home after trailing 3-1. Latvian forward Eriks Mateiko returned to the Hershey lineup in the game, having missed time with an upper-body injury.
Mateiko's return
Mateiko took one shot on goal, recorded no points and had no penalty minutes. His plus-minus finished at zero. This season the Latvian forward has two goals and two assists in 12 games. With four points, he ranks 15th among the team's scorers. He averages 0.33 points per game, has 15 shots on goal in total, two penalty minutes and a plus-minus of -2.
How the game unfolded
The visitors opened the scoring in the 11th minute of the first period, with Hugh McGing scoring on the power play. Hershey equalized less than five minutes later: Lindens Lakovics, set up by Theodor Niederbach, beat two opponents and scored to make it 1-1. In the second period Harrison Brunick put the Penguins back in front, and early in the third Avery Hayes made it 3-1 while shorthanded. The Bears failed to convert any of their six power plays.
Hershey kept pushing and put 15 shots on goal in the third period. After Taylor Gauthier saved Andrew Cristall's shot from close range, Spencer Smallman reached the rebound and cut the gap to 2-3. Less than six minutes later, following a faceoff won by Josh Dunne, captain Louis Belpedio tied it at 3-3 with a slap shot.
In the fourth minute of overtime, Gauthier left his net to reach a loose puck, but his pass was intercepted by Dunne, who sent the puck into the empty net. Hershey outshot the opponent 47-29, a season high. Gauthier stopped 43 shots, while Kel Pietersen at the other end saved 26 of 29.
