Bears Leave Bridgeport with 5-4 Win

November 12, 2024

Spencer Smallman scored with seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Hershey Bears (10-3-1-0) to a 5-4 win over the Bridgeport Islanders (2-9-1-1) on Tuesday afternoon at Total Mortgage Arena and give the team its fourth consecutive victory, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.

Smallman's goal came off a failed breakout by the Islanders in their own zone, as the forward redirected Vincent Iorio's shot from the right point past Jakub Skarek with 7.3 seconds remaining to break a 4-4 tie. Smallman also chipped in an assist for his first multi-point game of the season.

The game featured lead changes for both teams, as Hershey rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits. Garrett Roe led the way by scoring a pair of goals in a 47-second span in the second period to tie the score at 3-3 and then put the Bears in front 4-3 as part of a season-high four goals in the second frame for Hershey.

Through 14 games, the Bears are off to a better record than last season's squad (9-4-1-0).

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Ivan Miroshnichenko got the Bears on the board with his seventh of the season from Chase Priskie and Mike Vecchione 44 seconds into the second period; Vecchione's helper extended his point streak to four games (1g, 3a).
• Ethen Frank scored two seconds after a Bears power play had expired at 4:06, with Brad Hunt and Luke Philp assisting.
• Frank was awarded a penalty shot at 17:27, his second of the season, but failed to score on Jakub Skarek.
• Julien Gauthier scored a shorthanded goal for Bridgeport at 7:51 of the second period, marking the first shorthanded goal allowed by Hershey this season.
• Pierrick Dube had a pair of assists for the second consecutive game.
• Ethan Bear assisted on Roe's second goal, extending his point streak to four games (1g, 3a).
• Smallman's goal marked his second straight game with a goal.
• Hunter Shepard made his 89th career appearance for Hershey, passing Dany Sabourin for sole possession of 23rd in franchise history; Shepard's victory was his eighth of the season and 63rd overall, tying him with John Henderson for 13th in franchise history.
• Hershey's record against Bridgeport this season improved to 2-0-0-0.

SHOTS: HER 22, BRI 20

GOALTENDING: HER - Hunter Shepard, 16-for-20; BRI - Jakub Skarek, 17-for-22

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-2; BRI - 0-for-3

THEY SAID IT:

"Obviously the start was pretty poor. And [Bridgeport] is a very hungry team. We know what they're going through. They're struggling to get points, so we expected them to come out hard, but obviously we didn't match that at all. I loved the response from our room. The first intermission there was some tough words and ultimately the leadership group in that room took over and said, 'That's enough.' And the response was excellent in the second period, then the third was a toss-up. It was good hockey and we defended, we had good offensive zone time and ultimately we got the bounce that we wanted at the end. A lot of valuable lessons to be learned there, and we're just thankful that we were able to get out with two points too." - Assistant coach Patrick Wellar on the team battling through a game that featured multiple lead changes

"It's a tribute to the guys in the room. We have a great room, we have great people, and then they're winners. They want to win; there's no nights off. Unfortunately we didn't get that start today, but just to have that response - we're never out of the fight. And that belief and that mentality, it's going to really bode well, and there's a reason why this team has been so successful because of that room, because of that belief and desire. Again, we'll learn a lot from it. We'll move on and we'll be very happy and thankful once we get our head coach back." - Wellar on the quality of the locker room and staff posting a 3-0-0-0 record while head coach Todd Nelson is absent tending to a family matter

NEXT GAME:

The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they return home to face the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.