Christian Djoos is your teddy bear goal scorer! Brett Leason scores his first career professional goal in overtime to win the game for Hershey.
Photos: Hershey Bears Collect World Record 45,650 Toys on Teddy Bear Toss Night
The story of the night will be who will score for The Hershey Bears to send all the teddy bears onto the ice. Last year, Hershey fans took the world record from the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL with 34,798 teddy bears. The Hitmen also play today and both team will look to top one another. Only time will tell who holds the record after tonight.
The moment we have all been waiting for. IT’S A NEW WORLD RECORD! THANK YOU! #TeddyBearTossHershey #HBH pic.twitter.com/D2ZFpj65WU
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 2, 2019
The Hershey Bears (8-9-2-3) host the Hartford Wolf Pack (11-4-1-5) at the Giant Center. The bears are looking to forget about November and turn a page after tonight. They went 4-6-1-2 overall and 0-4-1-1- on the road. They are hoping that tonight’s gave will give them the motivation to climb the standings.
1st Period:
The Bears started the scoring midway through the first period when Christian Djoos banged home a rebound. Joe Snively and Mike Sgarbossa received the assists on the goal. This sent the game into a long intermission and the video will show you why:
LET THE BEARS FLY!! @TheHersheyBears goal from Christian Djoos! Bears lead 1-0 with 11:49 left in the period @TheAHL @espn @barstoolsports @TwitterSports @YahooSports #TeddyBearToss #TeddyBearTossHershey #TeddyBearTossNight #HersheyBears #HBH @CapsOutsider #HFDvsHER pic.twitter.com/iEN6rZB1BK
— Cory Lyons (@CoryLyonsAHL) December 1, 2019
You can find coverage of the teddy bear toss here: https://capitalsoutsider.com/2019/12/01/christian-djoos-scores-hersheys-teddy-bear-toss-goal/
Once the action returned to the rink, Hartford tied the game. Wolf Pack Captain Steven Fogarty entered clean into the zone and beat Pheonix Copley with ease, erasing the deficit before going into the locker room.
1st Period Shots: HER – 13, HFD – 6
1st Period Scoring:
HER: – 8:11 – Goal: Christian Djoos (2), Assist(s): Joe Snively (3), Mike Sgarbossa (11)
HFD: 11:35 – Goal: Steven Fogarty (6) PP, Assist Joey Keane (8)
2nd Period:
Midway through the second period, Vincent LoVerde of the Wolf Pack scored from the point. The puck went off the post and past Copley. This gave Hartford a 2-1 lead.
Second goal of the night for @WolfPackAHL. Joey Keane with a blast from the point to give the Wolf Pack a 2-1 lead.#TeddyBearToss #TeddyBearTossHershey #TeddyBearTossNight #HBH #HersheyBears #DefendTheDen #HFDvsHER @CapsOutsider pic.twitter.com/QQZJN84YY8
— Cory Lyons (@CoryLyonsAHL) December 1, 2019
Hershey answered late in the period with Shane Gersich collecting a rebound in front of Adam Huska. This was Gersich’s third goal of the season.
BEARS GOAL! Shane Gersich collects the rebound and ties the game!
2-2 with just over 4 mins left to play in the second period.#TeddyBearToss #TeddyBearTossHershey #TeddyBearTossNight #HBH #HersheyBears #DefendTheDen #HFDvsHER @CapsOutsider pic.twitter.com/YYdXVTRVnk
— Cory Lyons (@CoryLyonsAHL) December 2, 2019
Both teams went into the locker room tied 2-2.
2nd Period Shots: HER – 22, HFD – 16
2nd Period Scoring:
HFD – 7:37 – Goal: Vincent LoVerde (3) – Assist(s): Phil Di Giuseppe (5), Nick Ebert (3)
HER: – 15:16 – Goal: Shane Gersich (3) – Liam O’Brien (5), Brett Leason (3)
3rd Period:
Beck Malenstyn returns to Hershey just in time to pick up his fourth goal of the season. This is his first game back since being called back from Washington. Liam O’Brien and Brett Leason picked up assists on the goal. Hershey took the lead 3-2.
BEARS GOAL! @malenstyn gives @TheHersheyBears a 3-2 lead in the third period!#TeddyBearToss #TeddyBearTossHershey #TeddyBearTossNight #HBH #HersheyBears #DefendTheDen #HFDvsHER @CapsOutsider pic.twitter.com/KobVNlS7zk
— Cory Lyons (@CoryLyonsAHL) December 2, 2019
Hartford’s captain led his team once again by evening the score late in the third period. Fogarty scored his second goal of the game and his seventh of the season by beating Copley through his five hole. This sent the game into overtime with the score 3-3.
— Cory Lyons (@CoryLyonsAHL) December 2, 2019
3rd Period Shots: HER – 10, HFD – 13
3rd Period Scoring:
HER – 5:08 – Goal: Beck Malenstyn (4): Assist(s): Brett Leason (4), Eddie Wittchow (1)
HFD – 17:57 – Goal: Steven Fogarty (7): Vinni Lettieri (10), Darren Raddysh (7)
Overtime:
Brett Leason scored his first career professional goal just at the right time. Leason collected his own rebound and put the puck past Huska to win the game for Hershey.
BEARS OVERTIME GOAL!! Brett Leason caps off a great night with the OT winner!@TheHersheyBears – 4@WolfPackAHL – 3 pic.twitter.com/tIRnEQkpW3
— Cory Lyons (@CoryLyonsAHL) December 2, 2019
The Hershey Bears went on to defeat the Hartford Wolf Pack 4-3 in overtime.
Overtime Shots: HER – 4, HFD – 0
Overall Shots: HER – 37, HFD – 29
Overtime Scoring:
HER – 2:21 – Goal: Brett Leason (1): Assist(s), Christian Djoos (11), Brian Pinho (6)
Three Stars:
- HER: Brett Leason – GWG, 2 Assists
- HFD: Steven Fogarty – 2 goals
- HER: Christian – 1 goal, 1 assist
Official Box Score: https://theahl.com/stats/game-center/1019951
More photos:
Photos: Hershey Bears Collect World Record 45,650 Toys on Teddy Bear Toss Night
