Regular Season Game 8: Hershey Bears 4, St. John's IceCaps 2 (10/31/15)

Box Score

Hershey (3-3-0-1) vs. St. John's (6-2-1-1)

Giant Center: Hershey, PA

Goalies: Peters (1-1-1, 1.65) vs. Fucale (4-0-0, 2.50)

1st Period

Scoring

3:51- STJ Goal: Dietz (2), Barberio & Eisenschmid

Penalties

4:00- HER Penalty: Stanton for High-Sticking (2:00)

5:29- HER Penalty: Burgdoerfer for Elbowing (2:00)

14:54- STJ Penalty: McCarron for Goaltender Interference (2:00)

17:36- STJ Penalty: Ellis for Delay of Game (2:00)

2nd Period

Scoring

1:09- STJ Goal: Hudon (4), Lernout & Andrighetto

3:50- HER Goal: Mitchell (2)

Penalties

5:48- HER Penalty: Ness for Cross-Checking (2:00)

9:39- STJ Penalty: de la Rose for Hooking (2:00)

3rd Period

Scoring

4:14- HER Goal: O'Brien (1), Gazley & Sill

8:58- HER Goal: Carey (2), Bourque & Djoos
19:35- HER Goal (EN): Gazley (3), Mitchell & Peters

Penalties

No Penalties

Shots
HER: 5-14-11=30
STJ: 14-7-4=25

Recap

That 2nd and 3rd period is the kind of hockey that the Bears need to play all season. Those periods were possibly the best they have looked in this early season. However, the 1st period was a struggle for the Bears. 3:51 into the period, St. John's got on the board. Darren Dietz scored his 2nd of the season, from Mark Barberio & Markus Eisenschmid. If it weren't for Justin Peters making some amazing saves, this game could have been 4-0 after the 1st. After the 1st, the IceCaps had the 14-5 shot advantage.

In the 2nd, at the 1:09 mark, the IceCaps would make it 2-0 on their 1st shot of the period. Charles Hudon scored his 4th of the season, from Brett Lernout & Sven Andrighetto. It was around this point that the game completely changed. From this point on, the Bears controlled most of the play. It started with a goal to make it 2-1 at the 3:50 mark. Garrett Mitchell scored his 2nd of the season. Even though there were no more goals, there was a sense of a changed momentum. After the 2nd, the IceCaps had the 21-19 shot advantage.

In the 3rd, the whistles would go away as there was no penalties in the period. However, the goals would come for the Bears. At the 4:14 mark, the game would be tied at 2. Liam O'Brien scored his 1st of the season, from Dustin Gazley & Zach Sill. A little less than 5 minutes later, with the momentum, the Bears took the lead. Paul Carey scored his 2nd of the season, from Chris Bourque & Christian Djoos. This was Bourque's 400th game in a Bears' jersey, and that assist was his 400th point with the team as well. The Bears would get another goal with an empty-netter to finish the game. Dustin Gazley scored his 3rd of the season (2nd point of night), from Garrett Mitchell (2nd point of night) & Justin Peters. Justin Peters finished with 24 saves on 25 shots (Hershey had 30 shots).

Next Game: Tomorrow vs. Lehigh Valley, 5:00