Hershey finishes strong with a 5-3 win over Springfield. Jayson Megna scores the game winning goal with Devante Smith-Pelly scoring his 4th goal in 2 games.
Follow Cory Lyons on Twitter for live updates of Hershey Bears games at @CoryLyonsAHL.
The Hershey Bears (33-22-2-4) opened the Giant Center on a Wednesday night and welcomed the Springfield Thunderbirds (26-24-7-5). This will be the final showdown between the two teams this season with Hershey only going 2-3-0 against the Thunderbirds so far this season.
Starting in goal for Hershey was Ilya Samsonov and for Springfield was Chris Driedger.
The National Anthem was the story of the pregame. Just watch below and find out why!
This needs to happen EVERY SINGLE TIME! Kid was amazing singing for @TheHersheyBears crowd! Reception at the end was awesome as well. #HBH #DefendTheDen #HersheyBears @CapsOutsider pic.twitter.com/iieiVdp3LL
— Cory Lyons (@CoryLyonsAHL) March 13, 2019
1st Period:
The Hershey Bears had some prime scoring chances early in the period with Riley Barber making moves to the middle of the offensive zone. Unfortunately Barber missed the net both times and did not give the Bears a lead.
Springfield took advantage of a mistake from Ilya Samsonov before the period ended. Samsonov went behind the net to play the puck but Thunderbirds forward Juho Lammikko poked the puck off of Samsonov’s stick. The puck went right in front of the empty net and Sebastian Repo scored his 12th goal of the season. This gave Springfield a 1-0 lead going into the locker room.
1st Period Shots: HER – 6, SPR – 13
1st Period Scoring:
17:45 – SPR: Sebastian Repo(12) ASST: Juho Lammikko(8)
2nd Period:
Springfield took advantage of a mistake by Hershey that led to a breakaway with the help of Paul Thomas that led Jean-Sebastien Dea on the break. Colby Williams did what he could to stop Dea but with no success. Dea put the puck over Samsonov’s shoulder and gave Springfield a 2-0 lead.
Not bad J-S Dea… NOT. BAD. AT. ALL. #SCTop10 @espn #SPRvsHER pic.twitter.com/4smODgfQrL
— Springfield Thunderbirds (@ThunderbirdsAHL) March 14, 2019
Hershey started to bring the pressure in the second period. Ryan Sproul got the scoring started for the Bears with a slap shot from the point that beat Thunderbirds goaltender Chris Driedger under the blocker. This cut the lead to 2-1.
Jayson Megna was pulled down during a breakaway but was not award a penalty shot. Either way, this put Hershey on the power play and they capitalized. Devante Smith-Pelly scored while standing backdoor. Mike Sgarbossa fed the puck through the Springfield penalty kill and hit Smith-Pelly right on the stick. This tied the game at 2 as both teams went into the locker room.
That smile from DSP is just priceless, eh? #HBH #DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/DVCnThRzp0
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) March 14, 2019
2nd Period Shots: HER – 18, SPR – 6
2nd Period Scoring:
6:04 – HER: Jean-Sebastien Dea(11) ASST: Paul Thompson(25), Jonathan Ang(19)
17:18 – HER: Ryan Sproul(9) ASST: Nathan Walker(16), Jayson Megna(17)
18:27 – HER: Devante Smith-Pelly(4) ASST: Mike Sgarbossa(27), Aaron Ness(41)(PP)
3rd Period:
Hershey left off where they started. Aaron Ness had a beautiful pass along the board that went across the offensive zone and right to Mike Sgarbossa. Sgarbossa then scored his 25th goal of the season and gave Hershey a 3-2 lead.
Two minutes later, Riley Barber found Jayson Megna in what looked like a replay from the last goal. Megna shot the puck like a laser over the shoulder of Driedger and under the cross bar. Hershey now led 4-2.
Springfield did not back down. Vinvent Praplan found fan favorite Bobby Farnham all by himself. Farnham went on a breakaway (Hershey’s second given up breakaway of the game) and scored. This was Farnham’s third goal of the season that cut the lead for Hershey to 4-3.
With the goalie pulled, Mike Sgarbossa scored his second goal of the game (26th of the season) to seal the game.
Hershey defeated Springfield 5-3!
3rd Period Shots: HER – 7, SPR – 10
Overall Shots: HER – 31, SPR – 29
3rd Period Scoring:
7:00 – HER: Mike Sgarbossa(25) ASST: Aaron Ness(42), Tyler Lewington(10)
9:10 – HER: Jayson Megna(16) ASST: Riley Barber(26)
10:39 – SPR: Bobby Farnham(3) ASST: Vincent Praplan(15)
19:53 – HER: Mike Sgarbossa(26) ASST: Jayson Megna(18), Jonas Siegenthaler(4)(EN)
Three Stars:
- HER – Jayson Megna (GWG, 1 A)
- HER – Aaron Ness (2 A)
- HER – Mike Sgarbossa (2G, 1 A)
Official Box Score: https://theahl.com/stats/game-summary/1019275
Photos are courtesy of Cory Lyons. You can follow Cory on Twitter at @CoryLyonsAHL and on Instagram at @CoryLyonsPhoto.
