Griffins Double up Bears, 6-3

October 12, 2018

(Grand Rapids, MI - October 12, 2018)- Sergei Shumakov scored his first two AHL goals and Garrett Pilon earned his first AHL point, but the Hershey Bears dropped a 6-3 contest to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday night at Van Andel Arena. 

Grand Rapids opened the scoring minutes into their home opener with a long-range bullet past Bears goaltender Ilya Samsonov. Following a defensive turnover, Wade Megan unleashed a drive from the point past the glove side of Samsonov at the 7:42 mark. The Chocolate and White went to the power play for the first time in the game at 15:09 and drew even seconds after the man-advantage expired. After Megan was penalized for tripping, Shumakov cut to the front of the net from the left-wing and beat Griffins' Harri Sateri at 17:19.

When it appeared Hershey had the momentum late in the opening frame, the Griffins answered with a pair of goals less than a minute after Hershey's equalizer. Filip Zadina also scored his first career AHL goal after beating Samsonov with a perfectly placed shot at 17:42. On a broken play, Zadina's rip glanced off the inside of the goal post to give Grand Rapids a 2-1. Only 30 seconds later, Matt Puempel blasted another long-range shot into the cage to make it 3-1 Griffins before first intermission. Shots after 20 minutes were 9-7 Grand Rapids. 

Both teams added four more goals in the second stanza, and the Griffins retained a two-goal edge into second intermission. Only 1:28 into the new period, Shumakov was rewarded for a hard forecheck and earned his second goal of the night. Shumakov created a turnover near the Griffins net, and the puck took a fortunate bounce through Sateri's five-hole to pull Hershey within one. Grand Rapids answered at 12:13 following a defensive zone turnover. Carter Camper intercepted a pass all alone in the slot and buried a quick shot past Samsonov. 

The Bears found an answer with their first power play goal of the season at 14:38. After an offensive zone face-off win, Connor Hobbs slapped a bullet from the left-point into the net to again cut his team's deficit to one. Once again, the Griffins went tit-for-tat and answered back on a power play strike of their own. Zadina scored his second of the night at 16:51 after the initial shot rainbowed over Samsonov and trickled across the goal line. 

Dominic Turgeon added the empty net goal at 19:23 to seal a 6-3 win for Grand Rapids over Hershey. Final shots on goal were 27-22 Griffins. The Chocolate and White fall to 0-3-0-0 on the season with their defeat. Hershey continues their three games in three nights stretch tomorrow night at 8 p.m. against the Milwaukee Admirals. Voice of the Bears Zack Fisch will have the call on the Bears Radio Network.