Photo: Bridgeport Islanders

The Hershey Bears downed the Bridgeport Islanders, 4-2 Saturday night at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Bears’ goaltender Hunter Shepard stopped 42 of 44 shots faced in the win. The victory improves the Bears record to 25-16-3-3 (56 points) on the season.

The Bears started the scoring with a snipe from Axel Jonsson-Fjallby early in the first period and held the 1-0 lead at the first intermission. They extended their lead in the middle frame with goals from Marcus Vela, Brian Pinho and Beck Malenstyn for a 4-0 lead after two periods. Bears netminder Hunter Shepard made 30 saves in the first two periods.

The Islanders finally found the back of the net early in the final frame to make it 4-1 and would close the gap to 4-2 with just about five minutes to play, but that would be the final.

STARTERS

The visiting Bears started goaltender Hunter Shepard (4-1-0-1, 2.08 GAA, .909 sv%) in net, while the Islanders countered with Jakub Skarek (12-8-4-1, 2.76 GAA, .911 sv%) in goal. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Injuries: Garrett Pilon (upper-body injury), Mike Sgarbossa (upper-body injury), Matt Moulson (back surgery) and Bobby Nardella (lower-body injury).

Scratches:  Nick Isaacson, Christopher Brown, Drake Rymsha, Tobias Geisser (maintenance day).

Released: forward Colby McAuley and defenseman Tariq Hammond from their tryout agreements.

FIRST PERIOD

The Bears opened the scoring with goal from Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (15) at 16:42 of the first period. Aliaksei Protas (6) and Lucas Johansen (14) had the helpers.

Axel Jonsson-Fjallby from the top of the slot for his team-leading 15th goal of the season. Bears lead 1-0. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/jTu7ItMXJo

— Jon Sorensen (@jon_m_sorensen) February 20, 2022

The period would end with the Bears leading 1-0. Bridgeport outshot the Bears 18-8 in the first 20 minutes. There were no penalties called in the first stanza.

SECOND PERIOD

The Bears made it 2-0 on a snipe from Marcus Vela (5) at 6:36 of the middle frame. Beck Malenstyn (4) and Kody Clark (7) had the helpers.

Marcus Vela with his 5th. Bears lead 2-0. Vela heating up, been impressive. #HBH pic.twitter.com/XM7gZytRiE

— Jon Sorensen (@jon_m_sorensen) February 20, 2022

The Bears stretched their lead to 3-0 on a shorthanded tally from Brian Pinho (5) at 12:14 of the middle frame. Lucas Johansen (15), who made the steal and started the rush, had the lone assist on the goal.

Lucas Johansen to Brian Pinho for the shorthanded tally, the Bears 9th shorty of the season. Bears lead 3-0. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/RCbOYWfTYf

— Jon Sorensen (@jon_m_sorensen) February 20, 2022

Beck Malenstyn (5) would make it 4-0 with a deflection of a Cody Franson shot from the point at 19:42. Franson (19) and Kody Clark (8) had the assists.

Beck Malenstyn with the deflection for his 5th of the season. Bears leading 4-0 at second intermission. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/YfNdhsL54N

— Jon Sorensen (@jon_m_sorensen) February 20, 2022

The period would end with the Bears leading 4-0. Hershey led in shots 14-12 in the middle frame, with Bridgeport leading 30-22 after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD

The Islanders finally dented the twine with a tally from Andy Andreoff (10) at 7:09 of the third period. Parker Wotherspoon (10) and Robin Salo (8) had the assists.

The Islanders would close the gap to 4-2 with a goal from Felix Bibeau (1) at 14:55 of the third period. Richard Panik (4) and Parker Wotherspoon (11) had the helpers.

The Bears would hang on for the 4-2 win.

The Bears are back in action on Sunday when they return to Providence to face the Bruins. Puck drop is set for 3:05 PM.

SHAVINGS

• AHL box score
• Attendance: 3,237
• Stars of the game: 1) Beck Malenstyn, 2) Brian Pinho and 3) Parker Wotherspoon.
• Bridgeport led in shots 44-28.
• Mason Morelli and Beck Malenstyn led the Bears in shots with 4 each.
• Hunter Shepard stopped 42 of 44 shots faced for a .954 game save percentage.

SCENES FROM THE PORT

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