Hershey dominates Bridgeport with the score 5-1. Sgarbossa with 4 points, Barber now leads the AHL in goals with 31 while Ness leads the defensemen in the AHL with 47 assists.
Follow Cory Lyons on Twitter for live game updates of the Hershey Bears at @CoryLyonsAHL.
The Hershey Bears (34-22-3-4) once again host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (36-19-5-2) to the Giant Center. This is the fourth time these two teams have played each other. The Bears are currently 1-3-0-0 against the Sound Tigers so far this year but have a chance to turn things around starting tonight.
Before the game, Bridgeport is four points ahead of Hershey in the standings with one extra game in hand. If the season were to end tonight, Bridgeport would host Hershey in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs.
Starting in net for Hershey was Ilya Samsonov while Bridgeport started Christopher Gibson.
1st Period:
The game had a playoff atmosphere in the arena. Both teams started with hard hits and strong defense. Half way through the period, Garrett Pilon put home a rebound to give Hershey an early 1-0 lead. Both Shane Gersich and Ryan Sproul tried to shoot the puck on the left side of Gibson until the puck bounced out front which found Pilon alone. This was Pilon’s 9th goal of the season.
Nothing like getting to those dirty areas to score goals! @gpilon41 has his 9th goal of the season to put the Bears up 1-0 #HBH #DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/Gg0HTUqMwU
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) March 16, 2019
Before the period ended, Hershey was rewarded a power play when John Stevens went off for slashing. On the power play, the puck was worked around the point until Aaron Ness shot the puck towards Gibson and into the net. Garrett Pilon was screening Gibson who could not find the shot. This was Ness’ 4th goal of the season and a 2-0 Bears lead going into the locker room.
1st Period Shots: HER – 9, BRI – 4
1st Period Scoring:
9:31 – HER: Garrett Pilon(9) ASST: Shane Gersich(14), Ryan Sproul(15)
18:30 – HER: Aaron Ness(4) ASST: Juuso Ikonen(10), Mike Sgarbossa(28)(PP)
2nd Period:
The period started off with fire for Hershey. While on the power play, the puck was cycled around until it found Riley Barber. Barber shot the puck which hit the post, freezing Gibson and in the net. This was Barber’s 30th goal of the season and a 3-0 lead for Hershey.
CONGRATULATIONS to Riley Barber (@rileybarber94) on his FIRST 3⃣0⃣goal season of his pro career! It happened on this SNIPE early in the 2nd period to give Hershey a 3-0 lead! #HBH #DefendTheDen pic.twitter.com/mAJdhIohnT
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) March 17, 2019
Bridgeport finally got on the board with Steve Bernier scoring his 21st goal of the season. The net was knocked off just before the puck crossed the line but the referee determined the puck was going to cross either way. Travis St. Denis and John Stevens were awarded the assists on the play. This cut the lead down to two with Hershey leading 3-1.
Just over a minute later, Riley Barber added to his now AHL leading goal total with his 31st of the season. Mike Sgarbossa tossed over a nice pass to Barber who was waiting backdoor to tap it in. This gave Hershey a 4-1 lead.
Before the period was over, Hershey added one more goal to the total. Riley Barber passed up a chance at a hat trick and fed the puck over to Mike Sgarbossa who was alone in front. Sgarbossa tapped the easy goal past Gibson, scoring his 27th goal of the season. Hershey took a 5-1 lead going into the third period.
2nd Period Shots: HER – 11, BRI – 8
2nd Period Scoring:
1:33 – HER: Riley Barber(30) ASST: Aaron Ness(43), Mike Sgarbossa(29)(PP)
3:17 – BRI: Steve Bernier(21) ASST: Travis St. Denis(21), John Stevens(3)
4:48 – HER: Riley Barber(31) ASST: Mike Sgarbossa(30)
10:22 – HER: Mike Sgarbossa(27) ASST: Riley Barber(27), Liam O’Brien(13)
3rd Period:
Hershey played it safe, staying away from the frustration of Bridgeport. The only real action to talk about was the fight from Nathan Walker. The video is below.
Never shying away from a fight @NathanWalks10 answers the call. #HBH #HersheyBears #DefendTheDen @CapsOutsider pic.twitter.com/JXPcXKZiy2
— Cory Lyons (@CoryLyonsAHL) March 17, 2019
3rd Period Shots: HER – 8, BRI – 7
Overall Shots: HER – 28, BRI – 19
3rd Period Scoring:
N/A
Three Stars:
- HER – Mike Sgarbossa – 1 goal, 3 assists
- HER – Riley Barber – 2 goals, 1 assist
- HER – Aaron Ness – 1 goal, 1 assist
Official Box Score: https://theahl.com/stats/game-summary/1019296
All photos in this post are courtesy of Cory Lyons. You can follow Cory on Twitter at @CoryLyonsAHL and on Instagram at @CoryLyonsPhoto.
