Boyd Lifts Bears Past Phantoms for First Win

Both teams went tit-for-tat in the opening stanza and totaled four goals combined on 21 total shots. Lehigh Valley struck first only 3:26 into the hockey game on a deflection in front of Bears goaltender Vitek Vanecek. Philippe Myers threw the puck near the net from the right point, and Maksim Sushko recorded his first goal of the season on a redirection. Only 2:09 later, Beck Malenstyn willed his way to the net to even the score at 5:35. After Matt Moulson was boxed for holding, Malenstyn found a loose puck and raced to the net on a shorthanded chance before beating Phantoms goaltender J.F. Berube on a backhand. 

The Phantoms regained a 2-1 advantage at 13:03 after Joel Farabee finished a cross-ice pass on a quick transition play. Hershey countered and tied the game once more after converting on the power play for the second time this season. At 16:40, Christian Djoos held the puck at the center point and drew two penalty killers out of position. Djoos setup Mike Sgarbossa all alone on the backdoor for the easy tap in. Shots after 20 minutes were 13-8 Hershey, and 22-17 Hershey after 40 minutes following a scoreless second period. 

Into the third period, the Bears would fall behind for a third time before rallying. Isaac Ratcliffe gave Lehigh Valley the lead on a delayed penalty at 3:54. Hershey's equalizer came at 11:57 after executing a transition play perfectly in the offensive zone. Sgarbossa and Matt Moulson setup Boyd on the backdoor for a highlight reel goal. The 3-3 deadlock carried into sudden-death overtime, where Boyd would provide the heroics. On the power play, Boyd blasted a shot past Berube at 4:59 to lift the Bears to a thrilling 4-3 win.

Hershey finished the night 2-for-6 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. Final shots were 32-26 in favor of the Bears. Hershey's record improved to 1-1-1-0 on the season with the victory. 

The Hershey Bears return to action tomorrow, Sunday, October 13 at 5 PM against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. It's Advance Auto Parts Car Magnet Night for the first 5,000 fans. Ticket information is available online at HersheyBears.com.