Bears Rally in Third, Fall in Overtime to Marlies

March 15, 2019

The Hershey Bears played host to the Toronto Marlies for the lone time this season, and dropped a 5-4 overtime decision on Friday night at Giant Center. The Bears erased two separate one-goal deficits in the second period, and rallied from two goals down in the third period to force overtime. 

After a scoreless opening stanza where the Bears went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, both teams exploded for six combined goals in the second period. Riley Barber was whistled for tripping at 7:03, and Adam Brooks capitalized on Toronto's fifth power play chance of the game. Brooks buried a centering pass in the slot from Chris Mueller for his 17th goal of the season only 25 seconds after Barber's penalty. 

Hershey bounced back and evened the score after perfectly executing a transition play only 1:11 later. Garrett Pilon earned his 20th assist of his rookie season after finding Jayson Megna on the cross-ice feed for a one-timer past Marlies goaltender Michael Hutchinson. Jeremy Brocco scored his team's second power play goal of the night at 10:33 to restore Toronto's advantage, but Nathan Walker retaliated for the Bears on another transition play at 12:13. Driving the net, Megna connected with Walker and beat Hutchinson on a redirect to tie the game. 

The Marlies took control of momentum late in the second period and hit pay-dirt twice in 59 seconds on Vitek Vanecek to grab a 4-2 lead. Michael Carcone at 14:03 and Jordan Subban at 15:02 both finished cross-ice passes in the low-slot for the advantage. Subban's goal came during 4-on-4 play with Steve Whitney and Dmytro Timashov each assessed unsportsmanlike minors at the 14:56 mark. Shots after 40 minutes were 22-17 Toronto with a 4-2 lead in hand. 

The Bears were resilient once again, and rallied from a third period deficit to force overtime. At 10:34, Pilon redirected his eighth goal of the season into the cage on a perfect pass from Walker near the net front. Hershey pressed offensively and cashed in minutes later on a Marlies defensive zone turnover. After a flubbed attempt to exit the Toronto zone, Devante Smith-Pelly scored on the ensuing turnover to even the score at 4-4 at the 12:05 mark. 

In a contest dictated by penalties throughout 60 minutes, the Marlies earned their ninth power play of the night in sudden-death overtime. Mike Sgarbossa was whistled for tripping, and Chris Mueller scored the overtime winner at 1:39 to finish a 5-4 overtime final. Hershey is now 5-19-1-1 when trailing after 40 minutes, and 3-7-1-0 on home ice.  

The Chocolate and White finished the night 6-for-9 on the penalty kill and 0-for-4 on the power play. The Bears record shifts to 34-22-3-4 in the overtime loss, but stretch their current point streak to five games. 

The Hershey Bears return to action tomorrow, Mar. 16 in a 7 p.m. tilt against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. It's Ames Janitorial Services Rally Towel Night for the first 8,000 fans, and Autism Acceptance Night. Bears players will be wearing specialty Autism Acceptance jerseys, which will be auctioned off post game at Giant Center. Proceeds will benefit the Vista School in Hershey and The Tommy Foundation. Ticket information is available online at HersheyBears.com.