The Hershey Bears downed the Bridgeport Islanders, 3-2 (OT) Sunday afternoon at the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Mitch Gibson stopped 18 of 20 shots he faced in his AHL debut for the victory. The win improves the Bears record to 4-1-0 on the season.
Mitch Gibson (0-0-0) got the start in goal for the visiting Bears. It was his first career AHL game. Jakub Skarek (2-1-0, 2.46 GAA, .909 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Islanders. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Mike Vecchione – Mike Sgarbossa – Ethen Frank
Joe Snively – Jimmy Huntington – Alex Limoges
Ivan Miroshnichenko – Hendrix Lapierre – Pierrick Dube
Bogdan Trineyev – Riley Sutter – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Swoyer – Dylan McIlrath
Jake Massie – Logan Day
Chase Priskie – Vincent Iorio
Mitch Gibson
Hunter Shepard
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears opened the scoring on Ivan Miroshnichenkko‘s second goal of the season at 7:33 of the first period. Pierrick Dubé (3) and Hendrix Lapierre (3) had the helpers.
Ivan Miroshnichenko with his second goal of the season. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/HaU6oFXaBB
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) October 22, 2023
And that was it, as the first period concluded with the Bears holding the 1-0 lead. Bears led in shots 6-3 in the first 20 minutes. Bridgeport was 0 for 1 on the power play while Hershey did not have a man advantage in the first period.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bears made it 2-0 on Alex Limoges first goal with the Bears at 2:47 of the middle frame. Joe Snively (3) and Colin Swoyer (1) had the helpers.
Alex Limoges with his first goal for the Bears. Joe Snively with the assist. Little Caps doing work. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/crzvc42oYr
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) October 22, 2023
The Islanders closed the gap to 2-1 on a power play goal from Matthew Maggio (2) with less than two minutes remaining in the period. Ruslan Iskhakov (4) and former Capital Dennis Cholowski (3) had the assists.
WHAT A WEEKEND FOR MATTHEW MAGGIO! 🤩#SupremePort | #Isles pic.twitter.com/KYZWudzKP6
— Bridgeport Islanders (@AHLIslanders) October 22, 2023
The second period concluded with the Bears leading 2-1. Bears led in shots 7-4 in the second period and 13-7 after two periods of play.
THIRD PERIOD
The Islanders tied the game midway through the final frame. Tanner Fritz (1) notched the tying tally at 10:21 of the final frame. William Dufour (1) and Travis Mitchell (1) had the assists.
FRITZ! FRITZ! FRITZ!#SupremePort | #Isles pic.twitter.com/VlxYthvnj4
— Bridgeport Islanders (@AHLIslanders) October 22, 2023
Regulation concluded with the game tied 2-2. Bridgeport led in shots 13-6 in the third period and 20-19 after three periods of play. Hershey was 0 for 4 and Bridgeport 1 for 4 on the power play.
OVERTIME
The Bears won it on a goal from Mike Sgarbossa with 1:27 left in overtime.
Sgarbs called game.
🍎Swoyer
🍏Vecchione pic.twitter.com/lQOkuTdEEe— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) October 22, 2023
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Jimmy Huntington, Chase Priskie and Mike Sgarbossa led all Bears in shots with 3 ea.
- Stars of the game: Mike Sgarbossa, 2) Tanner Fritz and 3) Matthew Maggio.
- The Bears have now won four straight, since losing the season opener on home ice.