BY DON SCOTT

Despite posting a 44-22 advantage in shots, the Hershey Bears fell to the Toronto Marlies 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night.

Bear Jonsson-Fjallby’s sixth goal of the season, at 16:39 was the only marker in the first period. He finished a shorthanded rush after taking a pass from Lucas Johansen with Brian Pinho getting the secondary assist.

Filip Kral made it 1-1 at 5:21 of the middle period on a set play following a face-off to the left of Hershey goaltender Zach Fucale. Garrett Pilon regained lead for the Bears with a power play strike at 7:12 finishing a give-and-go play with Jonsson-Fjallby.

The Marlies pulled even on Alex Steeve’s tenth goal of the season at 14:10.

“They were exactly what we thought they would be, but their attention to the defensive side of the puck, in my opinion, leaves a lot to be desired, but they certainly threaten when they get over the blue line,” Hershey coach Scott Allen said. “It was disappointing for sure, so we have to find more ways to generate more offense five-on-five.”

Josh Ho-Sang scored on the power play for the Marlies 50 seconds into the third period, and then Tobias Geisser answered for Herhsey, on a blast from inside the blue line at 7:10. Joe Snively and Pinho had the assists.

In the sudden-death overtime, Steeves buried his second goal at the 1:21 mark on a rebound following Kral’s initial shot.

The Bears finished one-for-three on the power play and three-for-four on the penalty kill. 

Bears Notes:

Hershey registered a season-high 44 shots in the game, half of them in the first period.  

The Hershey record for total shots in a game is 63, against Jacksonville on Dec. 28, 1973.

The Bears have scored the game’s first goal 20 times this season, a mark that ties Manitoba for the most in the AHL. Hershey is 12-4-3-1 when scoring first.

Alex Alexeyev played his 100th game for Hershey, posting 36 points (6g, 30a), a +21 rating, and 51 penalty minutes.

This was the Marlies first visit to Hershey since March 15, 2019, a 5-4 overtime win for the Marlies. They were scheduled to play at Giant Center on March 14, 2020, but the AHL season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic one day prior.

On Sunday, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins finally claimed a 2-1 victory over the Bears to end a 0-7-0-0 string of losses to the Chocolate and White, after being outscored outscored 32-12 in the eight contests.

The game was scoreless until Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took a 1-0 lead at 5:25 of the second stanza, when Alexander Nylander beat Pheonix Copley on a power play, while Mason Morelli was serving a slashing penalty.

Seconds before the middle period ended, Shane Gersich tied the score following an offensive zone faceoff win. On the play, Gersich squeezed a loose puck lying in the crease across the goal line at 19:54. Morelli and Lucas Johansen recorded the assists.

In the final period, the Penguins capitalized on a neutral zone turnover and Patrick Watling scored the eventual game-winner at 9:17 when Nathan Legare fed Watling for the solo effort for his first goal as a Penguin and third of his AHL career.

Hershey is idle until the weekend when they host the Hartford Wolf Pack Saturday in the annual Teddy Bear Toss game, followed by a Sunday 3 p.m. start against the Wolfpack again.