Sloppy Second Period Rises Syracuse, 3-2
HERSHEY, PA – Cameron Schilling looks on as Syracuse celebrates one of their three goals against Hershey Friday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Fans packed Giant Center for a rare Friday night game against the Syracuse Crunch. Ryan Potulny made his anticipated season debut with the Chocolate and White and was inserted on an offensive line with Jeff Taffe and Casey Wellman.
A lackadaisical second period for the Chocolate and White set the stage for a 3-2 defeat to the Crunch.
All the period’s scoring took place within a 17 second span leading to a 1-1 deadlock at intermission. After buzzing the net and throwing three shots on frame, Peter LeBlanc finally jammed a loose puck into the net for his seventh goal of the campaign at the 11:40 mark.
Brett Connolly evaporated the Bears’ lead seconds later after exposing David Leggio’s short side. Hershey faced one power play in the opening period and failed to fire a single shot on goal. Potulny did not hit the ice until about halfway through the man advantage.
Syracuse added two second period goals to take a 3-1 lead into the locker room after 40 minutes. Geoff Walker gave his club the lead on a delayed penalty in progress. With the extra attacker on the ice, the Crunch possessed until Walker sneaked into the low-slot to finish a combination play.
4:53 before break, Connolly tallied his second goal of the game. He walked the entire Hershey defensive zone before floating a shot past Leggio’s glove hand and inside the goal post. The Bears were given a glorious 5-on-3 power play stab for 1:41 in the dying minutes, but once again failed to capitalize.
Tyson Strachan earned one back for the Bears with 6:51 left in regulation, but the equalizer was not tallied with the extra attacker on the ice for the final 1:20. Due to the loss, the Hershey Bears have dropped back to last in the East Division standings under head coach Mike Haviland.
His team returns to the ice the next night for a home tilt against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.