Bears Fall to Sound Tigers 3-1 on Wednesday

December 27, 2017

Liam O'Brien scored less than two minutes into the game, but the Bridgeport Sound Tigers responded with three consecutive power play goals on their way to a 3-1 win over the Hershey Bears on Wednesday night at the Webster Bank Arena. Bridgeport finished the night 3-for-7 on the power play as they earned their second win over the Bears this season.

O'Brien's marker came on Hershey's first chance of the game. Chris Bourque fed a pass to O'Brien, and the forward snapped a shot from the slot. Bridgeport netminder Christopher Gibson bobbled the puck as O'Brien crashed the net. The puck came loose and fell behind Gibson, and O'Brien cashed in on his second shot to make it 1-0 Hershey. The goal was O'Brien's eighth tally of the season.

Bridgeport responded to O'Brien's marker with a pair of power play tallies in a span of just 2:17. Scott Eansor tallied his team-leading 13th goal of the season at 3:06 to tie the game. After Hershey goaltender Vitek Vanecek knocked a Casey Bailey shot aside, Eansor popped the rebound over the goaltender to make it 1-1.

At 5:23, Bridgeport's Michael Dal Colle scored a power play goal, beating Vanecek through the five-hole from the right wing for his fourth goal of the season. Mitchell Vande Sompel and Josh Ho-Sang assisted on the strike that made it 2-1 Bridgeport.

The Sound Tigers added the lone goal of the middle stanza. On a mad scramble in front of the Hershey goal, Tanner Fritz hit pay-dirt, catching Vanecek down on the ice, and flipping a backhand shot over the netminder for his ninth goal of the season. The marker was Bridgeport's third power play goal of the night.

Neither team struck in the third period, and Gibson earned the win in goal, stopping 21 shots on his 25th birthday. The Bears outshot Bridgeport 22-20, but were 0-for-4 on the power play. With the loss, Hershey fell to 14-16-0-3.

The Bears hit the ice on Friday in Springfield as they visit the MassMutual Center. Puck drop between the Bears and Thunderbirds is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and the game may be heard on the Bears Radio Network.