Sound Tigers Force Game 5, Beat Bears 3-2 in OT

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Posted April 25, 2019

Hershey loses lead in the third period, then the game in overtime.  Vanecek makes 37 saves while Jayson Megna scores short handed. 

Follow Cory Lyons on Twitter @CoryLyonsAHL for live updates of the Hershey Bears as they fight for their 12th Calder Cup!

 

 

The Hershey Bears welcomed the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for game 4 of their series.  Hershey currently leads the series 2-1.  In the last game, the Bears defeated the Sound Tigers 2-1 with the work of Ilya Samsonov and his 26 saves.

Hershey has struggled in game 4 situations in their history.  The Bears lost their last five games previous to this game.  Their last win was in 2016 when they battled Portland.

 

1st Period:

Hershey took full advantage of Bridgeport’s slow start.  Beck Malenstyn and Brian Pinho worked the puck in the corner before throwing a shot on Christopher Gibson.  The puck snuck through Gibson’s pads and Ryan Sproul flew in to clean up the rebound.  This gave Hershey a 1-0 lead early in the game.

 

Things got heated after Riley Barber got called for boarding:

 

1st Period Shots: HER – 10, BRI – 9

 

1st Period Scoring:

5:47 – HER: Ryan Sproul(2) ASST: Brian Pinho(1), Beck Malenstyn(2)

 

2nd Period:

Bridgeport started to take control of the game during the second period.  The Bears did not register a shot on net for the first five minutes.  During that period of time, Stephen Gionta scored his first goal of the playoffs.  Gionta pounded home a rebound that was created by Kyle Burroughs.  This tied the game 1-1 early in the second period.

 

Late in the second, Steve Whitney took a high sticking penalty but that did not stop Jayson Megna from scoring on a breakaway.  The puck bounced over Chris Bourque’s stick and Megna took off.  With his speed, Megna placed the puck through Gibson’s legs to give Hershey a 2-1 lead going into the locker room.

 

2nd Period Shots: HER – 6, BRI – 13

 

2nd Period Scoring:

2:18 – BRI: Stephen Gionta(1) ASST: Kyle Burroughs(1), John Stevens(1)

15:22 – HER: Jayson Megna(2) ASST: None(SH)

 

3rd Period:

While in the locker room, Bridgeport came out with a plan.  That plan was to jump all over Hershey and get everything on net.  Two minutes into the period, the planned worked.  Oliver Wahlstrom tipped home Kyle Burroughs’ shot and tied the game at 2.  This was Wahlstrom’s first goal of the playoffs and Burroughs’ second assist of the night.

 

The Bears struggled to muster any offense and the game went into overtime.

 

3rd Period Shots: HER – 5, BRI – 17

 

3rd Period Scoring:

2:15 – BRI: Oliver Wahlstrom(1) ASST: Kyle Burroughs(2), Otto Koivula(2)

 

Overtime:

It did not take long for Bridgeport to send this series to game 5.  Matt Lorito threw a soft shot on net that some how beat Vitek Vanecek.  The puck went under Vanecek’s glove on the 40th shot he faced.

 

Bridgeport wins 3-2 in overtime.

 

Overtime Shots: HER – 3, BRI – 1

 

Overtime Scoring:

1:13 – BRI: Matt Lorito(1) ASST: Josh Ho-Sang(1), Seth Helgeson(1)

 

Three Stars:

  1. BRI: Matt Lorito – GWG
  2. HER: Vitek Vanecek – 37 saves
  3. BRI: Oliver Wahlstrom – 1 goal

 

Official Box Score: https://theahl.com/stats/game-summary/1019537

 

Photos in this post are courtesy of Cory Lyons.  You can follow him on Twitter @CoryLyonsAHL and on Instagram @CoryLyonsPhoto.