Falcons exact revenge, defeat Bears in Overtime

January 17, 2016

HERSHEY, Pa. – Travis Boyd’s third-period goal forced overtime for the second time on the weekend, but Dustin Jeffrey scored 41 seconds into the three-on-three and the Springfield Falcons claimed a 3-2 victory over the Hershey Bears on Sunday evening at GIANT Center.

A furious forecheck allowed the Bears to grab the first goal of the game.  The line of Dustin Gazley, Caleb Herbert and Chris Brown would work the puck below the goal line, turning the Falcons’ defense around.  Brown banked a pass around the net where Gazley collected it in the left corner.  He promptly turned and fired a shot toward the net, and the puck banked in off of goaltender Niklas Treutle at 6:39.

But only 29 seconds later, the Falcons tied the game.  A failed clear was blocked by Greg Carey, who then carried down the right wing and let a shot go that beat Justin Peters.

Alex Grant gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead, which they held for a long time.  Alex Grant’s center-point slap shot sailed through a screen and past Peters at 7:24 of the middle frame.

The Bears turned up the pressure in the third and were rewarded with the tying goal.  Boyd headed to the crease and batted in the rebound of an Erik Burgdoerfer shot out of mid-air at 12:18 for his seventh goal of the season.

In overtime, after the Bears had the first possession, Jeffrey held the puck on the right boards and waited for Philip Samuelsson to come off the bench.  Jeffrey headed to the net after passing, and banged in the rebound of Samuelsson’s shot for the winner.

Peters stopped 22 of 25 shots but fell to 9-6-4 on the season.  Treutle improved to 8-10-2 with 29 saves on 31 shots.  The Bears finished the night 0-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Hershey heads to New York’s Southern Tier for the first time this season to take on the Binghamton Senators on Friday, January 22.  Face-off from the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena is set for 7:05 PM.  Fans may listen to the broadcast beginning at 6:25 PM on the Bears Radio Network of affiliates WQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460, via the iHeartRadio App (Fox Sports 1460 AM) and online at FoxSports1460.com.  Fans may watch the game for a small fee at AHLLive.com.

The Bears return home to host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday, January 23 at 7:00 PM.  Tickets are available at the GIANT Center box office, by calling 717-508-BEAR or online at TicketMaster.com.

NOTES:  The Bears scratched C Carter Camper, D Tyler Lewington, C Chandler Stephenson and LW Jakub Vrana…The Falcons scratched D Justin Hache, LW Phil Lane, RW Domenic Monardo, LW Henrik Samuelsson, C Brendan Shinnimin and D Derek Smith…The Bears extended their point streak to four games (3-0-1-0)...The setback was the first overtime loss for the Bears on home ice this season (14-5-1-3).