Beary Thrilling: Chris Bourque’s Overtime Goal Gives Hershey Bears 4-3 Win Over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Teddy Bear Toss Night

Posted on December 3, 2017 by

zajac-bourque

After losing Friday night on the road at Lehigh Valley, the Bears got a shutout win over Milwaukee on Saturday and looked to take two of three from the weekend set of games as they hosted the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Penguins on Sunday. Hershey would go on to beat their rivals in a 4-3 overtime thriller at Giant Center to win the weekend. Sunday also marked Hershey’s annual Teddy Bear Toss night. 

Prior to the game, the Capitals recalled Travis Boyd. Dating back to April 18, 2015, Boyd has been in the Bears lineup for 176 consecutive regular season games. Including the playoffs, that number stretches to 208 consecutive games which is the longest active streak in the AHL. As a result of the recall, Hampus Gustafsson was placed into the lineup as a center on the second line.

BEARS LINES

FIRST PERIOD
After the Penguins put some early pressure on Bears goaltender Pheonix Copley, they broke through just 2:12 into the game with a goal by Gage Quinney for his fifth goal of the season. The Penguins outshot the Bears 5-2 in the first five minutes.

The Bears went to the power play at 7:25 as the Penguins were whistled for too many men on the ice. They registered three shots but none of them would go through. The Penguins got a power play of their own when Colby Williams was sent to the box for holding but couldn’t score.

The Penguins went up 2-0 at 11:18 in the second period. Quinney came down the ice and as he was on the right side of the net, he whiffed a quick pass to Daniel Sprong and he buried it in for his 10th goal of the season.

As tradition, Teddy Bears are thrown on the ice after the Bears first goal on this special night. The last three Teddy Bear tosses came after Hershey scored in the first period. Fans would have to wait at least another period as the Penguins took a 2-0 lead to the first intermission. The Penguins outshot the Bears 14-8.

SECOND PERIOD
In the first 20 minutes, the momentum was towards the visitors. In the middle period, it was all Hershey. The period began when Jonas Seigenthaler laid out a vicious hit on Zach Aston-Reese along the boards. Aston-Resse retaliated and there was a brief scrum that was quickly broken up by the officials. All of this happened just 29 seconds into the period and both players headed to the box. Siegenthaler was called for cross-checking while Aston-Reese was called for slashing.

Nobody scored on the four-on-four but Hershey got a power play opportunity when Jarred Tinordi was called for tripping. The Bears couldn’t cash in. Fans were on th edge of their seat throughout the middle stanza, just waiting in anticipation to throw their teddy bears onto the ice.

At 13:27, Gustafsson had the puck from behind the net on the left side and fed a charging Liam O’Brien to make Giant Center rain teddy bears. For O’Brien, it was his fifth goal of the season.

At the end of two, the Bears trailed the Penguins 2-1 but outshot them 13-5.

THIRD PERIOD
As if the excitement of the Teddy Bear Toss in the second period wasn’t enough, the final period was a complete thriller. Hershey fought and broke even with O’Brien’s second goal of the game at 8:49. Chris Bourque assisted on O’Brien’s tally.

The Bears would shortly take the lead with a goal by Jonas Siegenthaler at 13:50. Siegenthaler fired a shot through the legs of defensemen Andrey Pedan.

Just 55 seconds later, the Penguins tied it as Josh Archibald found Tom Sestito ahead of the defense.

Nobody would score the rest of the third but the Bears got a gift. Garrett Wilson flipped the puck over the boards and got called for a delay of game with 38.4 seconds left. That sent the Bears to the power play and even though they wouldn’t score before regulation ended, they got to start the overtime with the man advantage.

After 60, the Bears and the Penguins were tied at three. The shots were dead even 6-6.

OVERTIME
The Bears started the overtime with 1:22 left of power play time. Chris Bourque would win it in overtime with eight seconds left. After receiving a pass from Aaron Ness, Bourque moved his stick with the puck to his right, then to his left, and fired it home.

The Bears would go on to win 4-3 to improve their record to 11-10-0. Hershey outshot Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 29-25. The announced attendance was 9,403. The fans set a record with the Teddy Bear Toss as the official count was 25,017 stuffed animals.

By Michael Marzzacco

This entry was posted in Hershey Bears, News and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to Beary Thrilling: Chris Bourque’s Overtime Goal Gives Hershey Bears 4-3 Win Over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Teddy Bear Toss Night

  1. Pingback: Teddy Bears Everywhere! Liam O’Brien’s Goal Commences Hershey’s Annual Teddy Bear Toss | NoVa Caps

  2. Pingback: Hershey Bears Earn Thrilling OT Win on Teddy Bear Toss Night (Photos) | NoVa Caps

  3. Pingback: Lehigh Valley Phantoms Defend Home Ice in 5-4 Victory Over the Hershey Bears | NoVa Caps

  4. Pingback: Hershey Bears Visit the Charlotte Checkers for a Two-Game Set | NoVa Caps

Leave a Reply