Win Streak Snapped in 4-3 Loss to St. John's

March 25, 2017

(St. John's, NL- March 25, 2017)-Keegan Lowe’s goal with under 16 seconds to play ended the Hershey Bears six-game winning streak, and gave the St. John’s IceCaps a 4-3 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Mile One Centre. The IceCaps scored three unanswered goals to overcome a 3-1 deficit en route to the win. 

A back-and-forth game saw the score tied 3-3 going in the third period. The Bears had the better of the opportunities in the game’s final frame, but St. John’s netminder Charlie Lindgren stole the show. Lindgren made three highlight-reel saves to keep Hershey off the scoreboard. He made a pair of impressive glove saves, then minutes later, stretched out to deny a shot by Mattias Backman that looked like a sure goal. 

Lowe rewarded his netminder with his fifth goal of the season in the closing seconds. The IceCaps worked the puck in the offensive zone and gained an advantage when Hershey defender Hubert Labrie lost his stick. Lowe got the puck at the left point and wired a shot over Hershey goaltender Pheonix Copley to give St. John’s the lead at 19:44. 

St. John’s started the scoring on Saturday. Former Bear Julien Brouillette opened the scoring just 4:20 into the game. The defender accepted a Nikita Sherbak pass along the right wing and snapped a shot under the pad of Copley to make it 1-0. 

The Bears responded with three goals before the end of the period to jump out front. Defender Tyler Lewington scored his first goal since Feb. 4, scoring on a slap shot at 7:50. Jakub Vrana stole the puck in the corner, and centered to Lewington in the high slot. The defender’s slap shot beat Lindgren over the glove to make it 1-1.

Less than a minute later, Travis Boyd gave Hershey the lead. The forward raced down the left wing and beat Lindgren under the left arm for his 14th goal of the season. Christian Djoos and Backman assisted on the goal at 8:44. 

With just four minutes remaining in the opening period, Chris Bourque extended Hershey’s lead to 3-1. Chander Stephenson’s dump-in hit the far boards and popped to Bourque. The veteran snapped a shot past Lindgren for his 18th goal of the season. 

St. John’s started its comeback in the second period with goals from Jeremy Gregoire at 3:49 and Yannick Veilluex at 8:25 to tie the score 3-3, and setup the dramatic finish. 

Both teams failed to score on the power play on Saturday afternoon. St. John’s was 0-for-2 while Hershey was 0-for-3. The IceCaps outshot the Bears, 31-29, on the afternoon. 

The two teams meet again tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. ET at the Mile One Centre. The game may be heard on the Bears Radio Network and viewed on AHL Live.