Photo: Tori Hartman

The Hershey Bears drummed the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5-1 Saturday night at Giant Center. The victory improves the Bears record to 35-22-3-4 (77 points) on  the season. The Bears are back in action Tuesday night when they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Giant Center. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM.

STARTERS
Ilya Samsonov (16-12-2-2, 2.83 GAA, .893 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Bears. Christopher Gibson (18-9-4-1, 2.89 GAA, .900 sv%) started in goal for the visiting Sound Tigers. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

O’Brien– Sgarbossa – Barber
Walker– Megna – Smith-Pelly
Gersich – Pilon – Whitney
Malenstyn– Pinho – Ikonen

Ness – Lewington
Siegenthaler – Sproul
Johansen – Hobbs

Scratches: Kris Bindulis (upper body) was the injury scratch. Colby Williams, Tobias Geisser, Max Kammerer, and Hampus Gustafsson were the healthy scratches. Mason Mitchell was re-assigned to South Carolina on Monday.

FIRST PERIOD
The Bears would open the scoring with a rebound goal from Garrett Pilon at 9:31 of the opening frame. Shane Gersich (14) and Ryan Sproul (15) had the helpers.

The Bears would stretch their lead to 2-0 with a power play goal from Aaron Ness shot from the left point. Juuso Ikonen 10) and Mike Sgarbossa (28) were credited with the assists.

The first period would end with the Bears leading 2-0. The Bears led in shots on goal 904 for the first 20 minutes. The Sound Tigers were 0 for 2 and the Bears 1 for 2 on the power play in the first period.

SECOND PERIOD
The Bears would stretch their lead to 3-0 with a power play goal from Riley Barber, his 30th of the season.

The Sound Tigers would get on the scoreboard. Steve Bernier would score at 3:17 of the second period, to make it 3-1 Bears.

Riley Barber would pot his second goal of the game to restore the three-goal lead, making it 4-1 at 4:48 of the second period. Mike Sgarbossa (30) was credited with the lone assist.

The Bears would make it 5-1 with a beautiful pass from Riley Barber to Mike Sgarbossa at 10:22 of the second period for the Bears fifth goal in less than two periods. Riley Barber (27) and Liam O’Brien (13) were credited with the assists.

The second period would end with the Bears leadin 5-1. The Bears outshot the Sound Tigers 11-8 for the middle frame, and 20-12 after two periods. The Sound Tigers were 0 for 2 and the Bears 2 for 3 on the power play after two periods of play.

THIRD PERIOD
Nathan Walker and Kyle Burroughs would drop the mitts midway through the final frame, with the game still 5-1.

SHAVINGS

• Stars of the game: 1) Mike Sgarbossa, 2) Riley Barber and 3) Aaron Ness
• Bears outshot the Sound Tigers 28-19.
• Ilya Samsonov staopped 18 of 19 for a .947 game save percentage.
• Riley Barber led the Bears in shots with six.
• Bridgeport was 0 for 4 and the Bears 2 for 7 on the power play.
• Michael Sgarbossa had four points.
• Attendance: 10,171
• The AHL box score is here.

HIGHLIGHTS

SCENES FROM CHOCOLATE TOWN

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