Point streak continues to 12 games (11-0-0-1). Samsonov with 29 saves and Barber scores his 21st goal of the season.
All Photos in this post are courtesy of Just Sports Photography.
Please follow Cory Lyons for live game updates of the Hershey Bears on Twitter at @CoryLyonsAHL.
The Hershey Bears (25-20-0-3) welcome back the AHL’s best team, the Charlotte Checkers (32-12-6-1) for the second straight night. Last night, the Bears defeated the Checkers in come back fashion, 3-2 in a shootout. Read last night’s article here.
The Bears are riding an eleven game point streak (10-0-0-1) coming into tonight’s game. They trail the Lehigh Valley Phantoms by two points for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division after being close to the bottom of the division before the streak started.
Ilya Samsonov was named starter for Hershey who has been hot of late as well. Samsonov changed his number from 1 to 35 and since then, he has posted great numbers that are turning his season around. Alex Nedeljkovic got the start for the second straight night for Charlotte.
1st Period:
Charlotte dominated the first five minutes of the game with Hershey registering zero shots in that period. Ilya Samsonov had to make several difficult saves early in the game to keep it tied.
The game would be delayed because Beck Malenstyn hit Jake Bean so hard, it cracked the glass.
Big hit from @malenstyn of @TheHersheyBears on Jake Bean from @CheckersHockey. Game is back on with the glass being replaced. Thank you @anvtrademark for the photo!#HBH #HersheyBears #DefendTheDen #HERvsCHA @CapsOutsider pic.twitter.com/lhodl3Ql53
— Cory Lyons (@CoryLyonsAHL) February 10, 2019
Hershey started to find their speed half way through the period. Fast breaks out of the defensive zone were showing signs of success for the Bears and that lead to the first goal.
Shane Gerisch started a rush by chipping it past Checkers defensemen Dennis Robertson and sped right past him. The puck was passed to Brian Pinho along the board. Pinho then found Jayson Megna alone in the slot who put the puck past Alex Nedeljkovic to give Hershey a 1-0 lead.
LIQUID. HOT. MEGNA. 🔥🔥🔥 #HBH #DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/ziUfw5EGx0
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) February 10, 2019
1st Period Shots: HER – 10, CHA – 12
1st Period Scoring:
16:01 – HER: Jayson Megna(10) ASST: Brian Pinho(5), Shane Gersich(11)
2nd Period:
Hershey was granted a power play which they could not take advantage of. Directly after the penalty was over, Charlotte rushed up the ice with four skaters. Each one touched the puck before Nicolas Roy scored an easy back door play. This tied the game at 1-1.
That passing 😍 pic.twitter.com/wEiZL8hIBe
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) February 10, 2019
Hershey had a goal taken away while on the power play. Jayson Megna tipped the puck into the net but was later called that the puck was tipped with a high stick.
During the same power play, Mike Sgarbossa was tripped when entering the zone, rewarding Hershey with a 5 on 3 man advantage. Riley Barber blasted home a power play goal, breaking the long drought for Hershey of not scoring on the power play. This gave the Bears a 2-1 lead late in the second period and was Barber’s 21st goal of the season.
A BARBER 💣 #HBH #DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/cDRebW6IIW
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) February 10, 2019
2nd Period Shots: HER – 6, CHA – 8
2nd Period Scoring:
10:09 – CHA: Nicolas Roy(14) ASST: Nick Schilkey(12), Dan Renouf(13)
18:29 – HER: Riley Barber(21) ASST: Mike Sgarbossa(20), Aaron Ness(30)(PP)
3rd Period:
Holding onto a 2-1 lead, the Bears did a great job not giving up too many quality chances to Charlotte. Ilya Samsonov made saves look easy and was hardly caught out of position.
Hershey went on to defeat Charlotte 2-1 in regulation!
The point streak continues to twelve games (11-0-0-1).
3rd Period Shots: HER – 5 , CHA – 10
Overall Shots: HER – 21, CHA – 30
3rd Period Scoring:
None
Three Stars:
- HER – Ilya Samsonov (29 saves, win)
- HER – Riley Barber (GWG)
- HER – Jayson Megna (1 goal)
Official Box Score: https://theahl.com/stats/game-summary/1019089
All photos courtesy of Just Sports Photography.
