Despite Early Lead, Bears Lose to Moose 5-4 (SO)
Kevin Connauton ends the shootout in the seventh round. Photo by Kyle Mace
It’s always an interesting game with the Manitoba Moose and the Hershey Bears meet.
Dmitry Kugryshev took control of the game early by blasting the puck past a moving goaltender. He sprawled to make the save, but Kugryshev was one step ahead of him. There was some pushing and shoving but the first period ended without scandal.
The second period held the majority of the action for this game. Kyle Greentree added a brief insurance goal after Hershey broke up a Manitoba play in their own zone and took off. The Moose briefly cut Hershey’s lead in half but Keith Aucoin got a shot in close on goaltender Eddie Lack to regain the two-goal lead.
After going through a scoring drought for most of December and January, Francois Bouchard seems to have his touch back. He had perfect placement to bang home a rebound less than a minute after Aucoin scored.
By the end of the period though, it was 4-3 Hershey when Manitoba fought back. They even scored with just 3.3 seconds left in the period to send the Bears to the locker room shaking their heads.
Things started getting chippy in the third period. Both Greentree and Andrew Gordon ended up on the wrong side of some hits in the corner. Each continued to play but they definitely looked rattled for a little bit. The Hershey crowd was already fuming after neither hit was penalized and it didn’t help that the Moose then tied it up after Aucoin was called for mouthing off to the referee.
The game went to overtime but the score didn’t change. It took seven rounds in the shoot out before either team could score. The coaches cycled through their players but the goalies stopped every one. That is until Kevin Connauton finally beat Todd Ford in the bottom of the seventh round. Moose win 5-4.
Tonight’s Notes:
- The injury list grows as Andrew Joudrey and Maxime Lacroix are out with upper body injuries. Joudrey is done for at least the weekend and Lacroix could be out for a couple of weeks but we have not heard what their specific inuries are.
- Stick tap to Tim Leone and John Walton for help with this stat: Since allowing Binghamton score on the first power play last Friday, the Bears killed off 22 straight penalties before the Moose capitalized on a third period man advantage.
- The Bears opted to play with seven defensemen and eleven forwards tonight.
Video Highlights:
Lines and Pairings:
Kane – Aucoin – Gordon
Greentree – Willsie – Pinizzotto
Bouchard – Rome – de Kastrozza
Bruess – Kugryshev
Souray – Miskovic
Wellar – Fahey
McNeill – Collins
Yeo
Actual three stars of the game:
1. Jordan Schroeder (MTB)
2. Bill Sweatt (MTB)
3. Boyd Kane (HER)
Sweetest Hockey On Earth’s three stars of the game:
1. Kane: two assists
2. Souray: one assist, strong game, lead the team in shots on goal
3. Kugryshev: first goal of the night