Bears Beat Sound Tigers 4-1; Shane Gersich Scores Hat Trick

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Jon Sorensen
Photo: Bridgeport Sound Tigers

The Hershey Bears beat the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4-1 Friday night at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut. After a scoreless first frame, The Bears would strike first with a goal from Shane Gersich. The Sound Tigers would answer less than a minute later to tie the game. Shane Gersich would pot his second goal of the period and Kody Clark would score a late tally for a 3-1 lead at the second intermission. Shane Gersich would add an empty net goal for the hat trick and the 4-1 victory. The win improves the Bears record to 28-14-2-3 (61 points) on the season. The Bears remain tied with the Hartford Wolf Pack for first place in the Atlantic Division. The Wolf Pack have two games in hand.

STARTERS
Pheonix Copley (13-6-4-1, 2.47 GAA, .906 sv%) started between the pipes for the visiting Bears. Christopher Gibson (5-4-3-2, 2.54 GAA, .913 sv%) got the start in goal for the Sound Tigers. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Scratches: Mike Sgarbossa (lower-body injury, day-to-day), Joe Snively (upper-body injury, week-to-week), Steve Whitney (upper body injury, week-to-week), Lucas Johansen, Brett Leason, and Connor Hobbs (shoulder surgery this week, out indefinitely) were the injury scratches. Matt Weis, Kale Kessy and Eddie Whitchow  were the healthy scratches.

FIRST PERIOD
The Sound Tigers and Bears were both awarded power plays in the first half of the opening frame, but were unable to capitalize. Shots on goal were 8-5 in favor of the Bears at the 10-minute mark.

The first period would be scoreless with the Bears leading in shots on goal 9-5. Both teams were 0 for 1 on the power play in the opening stanza.

SECOND PERIOD
The Bears would strike first with a goal from Shane Gersich (7) at 2:15 of the middle frame. Garrett Pilon (14) and Kody Clark (3) had the helpers.

The Sound Tigers would answer less than a minute later with a goal from Kieffer Bellows (16) at 2:52 of the middle frame.

The Bears would retake the lead with a goal from Shane Gersich (8) at 6:38 of the second period. It was his second tally of the game. Christian Djoos (18) and Kody Clark (4) had the assists.

Kody Clark would give the Bears a 3-1 late in the period. Brian Pinho (14) and Liam O’Brien (16) had the helpers.

The second period would end with the Bears leading 3-1. Bears led in shots 17-9 for the middle frame, and 26-14 after two periods. The Bears were 0 for 4 and the Sound Tigers 0 for 1 on the power play after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD
The Bears’ Colby Williams would lay a heavy hit early in the final frame that led to general unpleasnatries.  As the disturbance evolved in front of the Bears bench, Liam O’Brien and Tyler Lewington would assist in separating the Bridgeport player from Williams.

Shane Gersich would add an empty net goal late to complete the hat trick, as the Bears win 4-1.

The Bears are back in action on Saturday when they host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Giant Center. Puck drop is set for just after 7:00 pm.

SHAVINGS

  • AHL box score
  • Attendnace: 3,368
  • Stars of the game: 1) Shane Gersich, 2) Kody Clark and 3) Kieffer Bellows.
  • Bears led in shots 35-20.
  • Pheonix Copley stopped 19 of 20 shots for a .950 game save percentage.
  • Shane Gersich led the Bears in shots with 5.
  • Kody Clark had 1g, 2a.
  • Hershey was 0 for 4 and Bridgeport 0 for 3 on the power play.

SCENES FROM BRIDGEPORT

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His passion for the Caps has grown over the decades, which has included time as a season ticket holder, social media and community organizer, and most recently led to the founding of NoVa Caps in 2014. Jon earned a Bachelor's of Science in Civil Engineering at Old Dominion University, and is a Systems Engineer during intermissions, which has been instrumental in supporting his Capitals habit.
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1 Response to Bears Beat Sound Tigers 4-1; Shane Gersich Scores Hat Trick

  1. Jon Sorensen says:
    January 31, 2020 at 11:53 pm

    Kody Clark with an impressive game. He missed the front half of the season, so seeing him begin to excel is somewhat surprising, he’s already looking pretty comfortable in the AHL game.

    Reply

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