After struggling in a pair of home victories against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Giant Center, the Hershey Bears made themselves right at home in their first road outing of the playoffs on Saturday night at the Arena at Harbor Hard, soundly whipping the Tigers, 7-2.
With the victory, the Bears take a commanding 3-0 series lead and have a chance to close out the series on Sunday afternoon in Bridgeport.
After a first period in which they had no solid scoring chances and registered only five shots on goal against Bridgeport backstopper, Scott Munroe, the Bears netted the first goal of the game when Andrew Gordon scored his first goal of the playoffs at 5:19 of the middle frame. Gordon’s marker marked the first time in the series that the Bears tallied the first goal of the game.
Twenty-five seconds after his initial conquest of Munroe, Gordon converted from close range to make it 2-0, Hershey.
Midway through the second period, the rout was officially on when Alexandre Giroux, Gordon, and Steve Pinizzotto scored within a 2:12 span to make it 5-0 and end the night for Munroe who was replaced in net by Mikko Koskinen.
Giroux finished out the goal scoring in the second period, generating his second goal of the game, this one on the power play to give the Bears a 6-0 lead. Giroux’s goal established a new Hershey record for goals in a period with six, eclipsing the previous record of five set in the 1998 playoffs against the Kentucky Throughblades in Kentucky.
Bridgeport’s Greg Mauldin ruined Bears goltender, Michal Neuvirth’s, bid for his fifth career playoff shutout when he beat Neuvirth to the short side at 9:11 of the third period.
Hershey’s Kyle Wilson and Bridgeport’s Jeremy Reich exchanged goals late in the third period to finish out the scoring in the game. Wilson, who entered the game with no shots on goal in the series, now has 11 career playoff goals with the Chocolate and White over four playoff seasons.
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