The Hershey Bears downed the Bridgeport Islanders, 4-3 (OT) Tuesday at the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport. The victory is the Bears’ 3,000th regular-season win in franchise history. They become just the fifth professional hockey franchise to accomplish the feat, joining the National Hockey League’s Montreal Canadiens (3,492), Boston Bruins (3,285), Toronto Maple Leafs (3,045), and Detroit Red Wings (3,015).
The Bears opened the scoring less than two minutes into the contest on Drake Rymsha’s first goal as a Bear and held the 1-0 lead at the first intermission.
The Islanders would answer with a pair of goals in the middle frame to take a 2-1 lead at the second break.
The Bears tied the game early in the final frame on Eddie Whittchow’s first score of the season and regained the lead on a snipe by Brett Leason. The Islanders tied the game late in regulation, sending the game to an extra frame where Kody Clark would win it in overtime for the Bears.
STARTERS
The Bears started goaltender Pheonix Copley (15-9-5-2, 2.36 GAA, .914 sv%) in net while the Islanders countered with Cory Schneider (10-10-3-1, 2.68 GAA, .921 sv%). The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Injuries: Brian Pinho (shoulder surgery), Matt Moulson (back surgery), Mike Sgarbossa (upper-body injury), Riley Sutter (upper-body injury).
Scratches: Jake Massie, Christopher Brown and Macoy Erkamps,
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears opened the scoring less than two minutes into the contest. Drake Rynsha (1) notched the game’s first tally at 1:38 of the period. It was Rymsha’s first goal as a Bear.
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) April 5, 2022
That would be all of the scoring in the first frame. Shots on goal were tied 10-10 in the first frame. Hershey was 0 for 1 on the power play. Bridgeport did not have a man advantage.
SECOND PERIOD
Lucas Johansen took a stick to the face early in the middle frame and had to leave the game for repairs. The Bears were subsequently awarded a double-minor on the play, but were unable to dent the twine on the four-minute man advantage.
— Bridgeport Islanders (@AHLIslanders) April 5, 2022
Then the Islanders would take their first lead of the game on Jeff Kubiak’s eighth goal of the season at 16:13 of the middle frame. Michael Dal Colle (11) and Parker Wotherspoon (17) had the assists.
— Bridgeport Islanders (@AHLIslanders) April 5, 2022
The period would end with the Islanders holding a 2-1 lead. Hershey led in shots 16-7 in the middle frame and 26-17 after two periods. Hershey was 0 for 3 on the power play after two periods, while the Islanders did not have a man advantage after two 40 minutes of play.
THIRD PERIOD
The Bears tied the game early in the third period on Eddie Whittchow’s first goal of the season at 4:28 of the period.
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) April 5, 2022
The Bears would then retake the lead on Brett Leason’s fourth goal of the season and second goal in his last two starts. Aliaksei Protas (10) and Alex Alexeyev (17) had the helpers.
Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
Photo: Bridgeport Islanders
Finally!
Good win, they stuck with it, rallied back, didn’t get discouraged when they trailed. Hopefully this carries on. The power play….that’s another story.
Way to go, Bears. Great way to get the milestone win (#1300). Clarkie with the OT winner. Hopefully, he is out of his long slump.