Bears Roll Monsters, 6-1

November 16, 2018

The Hershey Bears scored early and often to drown the Cleveland Monsters, 6-1 at Giant Center on Friday night. Bears goaltender Parker Milner stopped 30 of 31 shots and recorded an assist to win his second start in as many tries this season for the Chocolate and White.

Out of the starting gate, former Monsters forward Mike Sgarbossa opened the scoring for the Bears. At 4:55, Sgarbossa redirected a Colby Williams shot just inside the left post behind Cleveland goaltender Brad Thiessen. Cleveland tied the game six minutes later courtesy of a quick wrap around tally by Sonny Milano. The 2014 16th overall pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets won a puck battle in the offensive zone, and quickly danced around the net to stuff a quick shot past Milner at 10:55. 

Into the later stages of the period, Hershey scored twice in 1:39 despite being out shot 10-1. At 17:14, Nathan Walker used open ice to his advantage on a 4-on-4 and beat Thiessen from a sharp angle on an offensive zone rush. Soon after, the Bears were granted a power play after Dillon Simpson was called for boarding at 17:36. Riley Barber blasted a one-timer into the net from the bottom of the left face-off circle after receiving a crisp pass from Walker at 18:53. Hershey's late surge in the first period took a 10-1 shot total and improved it to 11-8 Cleveland after 20 minutes.

In the second period, Thiessen's night came to an end after only 2:23 into the frame. Jayson Megna scored his third goal of the season on a transition play to extend Hershey's cushion to 4-1. Matiss Kivlenieks replaced Thiessen in goal and stopped all five shots faced in the middle stanza. Shots were 21-14 Monsters after 40 minutes with the Bears in front by a field goal. 

Cleveland's penalty trouble in the third period allowed the Bears to tack on two more for good measure. At 3:59 on the power play, Shane Gersich whiffed on an open net after a centering feed, but scored seconds later in the blue paint on a second opportunity. Later in the period, Gersich scored his second of the period and team's third power play goal of the night. At 16:08, he tipped an Aaron Ness shot from the point to round out a 6-1 final. Hershey's special teams finished the night 3-for-9 on the man-advantage and a perfect 9-for-9 on the penalty kill. 

The Bears return to the ice tomorrow, November 17 for a 7 p.m. rematch against the Cleveland Monsters. It's Sara Lee & Canteen Vending Turkey Shoot and College Night Delivered By Papa John's. Ticket information is available online on HersheyBears.com.