Hershey comes out flat and loses in overtime.
1st Period:
Pheonix Copley gets the nod tonight after taking the last game off against the Checkers.
The Bears started out with speed and a great forecheck. The Thunderbirds did not have a shot for the first eight minutes.
Hershey was granted the power play a few times but nothing came from it except a short handed goal from Grenier at 7:50. Grenier shot it close to the goal line in the corner. The puck went short side, in the corner for a perfect snipe. This was their second shot of the game. It caught Copley off guard, but none the less, it gives Springfield a 1-0 lead.
The rest of the period was sloppy play from the Bears until they went into the tunnel.
1st Period Shots: HER: 10, SPR: 8
2nd Period:
Sloppy play continues as the Thunderbirds come out strong. Springfield controlled most of the game with strong board play.
No goals to report this period, but the Bears finally started having some life during a power play, which was caused by Byron tripping a Bears player.
2nd Period Shots: HER: 7, SPR: 9
3rd Period:
The Bears come out flat once again getting trapped at the blue line and struggling to get into he offensive zone.
The Thunderbirds won every puck battle on the boards for the first half of the period. When the Bears finally cracked the puzzle of getting into the zone, no one would camp the crease and cause trouble for Thunderbirds goaltender, Montembeault.
Bears finally cracked Montembeault however, when John Albert made a beautiful pass on a two on one and connected to Gazley. Their first goal of the game came with 5:22 left in the third.
Momentum shifted and the Bears poured it on. But Montembeault stood his ground and didn’t let anything else in.
3rd Periods Shots – HER:17, SPR: 4
Overtime:
Chances were minimal as both teams played man on man defense. That is when controversy struck. Copley covered the puck to the right side of the net when a Springfield player crashes and pokes the puck free from under his glove making contact with Copley’s head and pulling him out of the net. This causes a mess in front of the net where Farnham buried it home after Copley was panicking to get back in the crease.
Multiple bears come on the ice and complain to the ref that there was interference to no avail as no replay was granted. This ended the night and left both players and fans frustrated, losing to a team like the Thunderbirds after playing so well against the Checkers this past weekend.
Overtime Shots: HER: 2, SPR 2
Total Shots: HER 36, SPR 23
Three Stars:
- SPR – Samuel Montembeault – 35 saves, 1 goal against.
- SPR – Bobby Farnham – Game winning goal.
- HER – Dustin Gazley – 1 goal.
Attendance: 10,319
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