Bears hang on to beat Sound Tigers 3-2

In honor of Bridgeport’s 10th anniversary, Rick DiPietro (along with Trent Hunter and Jeremy Colliton) drops the puck for the ceremonial face-off.

Tonight was the final game of February for the Hershey Bears. They took to the road last night after their win against Albany to make it in time to play the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Connecticut.

There was no score after twenty minutes, which isn’t surprising when you see that Bridgeport led the shots on goal six to three. After the second period, the Bears still only had nine shots on goal but they had started making efficient use of them.

It took a power play in the early in the second period to put the Bears on the board. Keith Aucoin set up Kyle Greentree right in between the face-off circles.

Dmitri Orlov continues to impress everyone. When you watch him play, it’s really hard to believe that he hasn’t been with the team all season. The second period was probably his best so far. He gave a nice primary assist to Dmitri Kugryshev, who scored his sixth goal of the season. Orlov also showed off his physicality, got some penalty kill time, and almost scored a goal himself. The coaches and his teammates are showing confidence in him and deservedly so.

The Sound Tigers finally broke the shutout late in the second period with a power play goal from Rhett Rakhshani. Later in the third period, the Bears were whistled for two penalties and the Sound Tigers had a little over a minute and a half to tie it up…which they did.

Thankfully, the Bears regained their lead on a play where David de Kastrozza deserves a lot of credit. It started with him breaking up a pass in the Bears’ zone. He streaked down the ice where he got at least two shots off on goaltender Joel Martin. Eventually the puck bounced out to Maxime Lacroix who was to the side and had an open net to shoot at.

Despite some last minute penalties and great offensive rushes from Bridgeport, the Bears hung on and won 3-2.

Tonight’s Notes:

• Another two referee game. That seems about right since both teams were whistled for a lot of minors. It was a penalty parade.
• Aucoin has six assists in the past two games. Lacroix’s goal was the first one that he did not assist on this weekend.
• Todd Ford started this game after being sent down by Washington. It remains to be seen how long he will be the Bears. The Caps might just have sent him down to help out the Bears since the Caps don’t play again until Tuesday.
• Even after getting speared in the ribs last night, Joel Rechlicz got in another fight tonight, this time with Benn Olson. Decision: Rechlicz.

Lines and Pairings:

Kane – Aucoin – Pinnizzotto
Greentree – Willsie – Bouchard
Lacroix – Joudrey – de Kastrozza
Kugryshev – Carroll – Rechlicz

Souray – Collins
Orlov – Wellar
McNeill – Fahey

Actual three stars of the game:

1. Maxime Lacroix (HER)
2. Justin DiBenedetto (BRI)
3. Keith Aucoin (HER)

Sweetest Hockey On Earth’s three stars of the game:

1. Aucoin: two assists
2. Lacroix: game-winning goal
3. Orlov: great game, one assist