The Hershey Bears hosted the Providence Bruins at the Giant Center on Tuesday, March 26th for a game full of fights and penalties, and were in hopes of continuing their four-game win streak. However, the Bruins were able to snap that win streak for a 4-1 victory. It had been the first time this season Providence was able to dominate Hershey and pull through for a victory. Brandon Bussi made a total of 26 saves for the Bruins, and Logan Day scored the lone goal for the Bears to avoid a possible shutout.
Starting Lineup for Providence:
Steen – Brown – McLaughlin
Callahan – Walsh
Bussi
Hershey lineup against Providence:
Snively – Vecchione – Frank
Dube – Huntington – Phillips
Limoges – Rybinski – Trineyev
Hofer – Sutter – Strome
Ness – McIlrath
Day – Iorio
Haman Aktell – Priskie
Stevenson
Shepard
Late into the opening 20 at 3:53, Jayson Megna scored his 15th goal of the season to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. While falling to the ice, he tucked the puck around Clay Stevenson on the power play after collecting the rebound from above the crease. Logan Day tied it up 1-1 with about less than 48 seconds remaining in the first period for his third goal of the season. Day received a pass from Joe Snively and sent a one-timer past Brandon Bussi from beneath the goal line. Mike Vecchione had earned the secondary assist on the goal.
Michael Callahan put the Bruins ahead 2-1 to break the tie early into the middle frame when he snuck a shot through Clay Stevenson’s pads during a 4-on-4 after catching a feed from Georgii Merkulov. At 8:34 on the power play, Anthony Richard extended the lead to put Providence up 3-1 off a pass from Jayson Megna, hammering a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle. Later on into the second, Marc McLaughlin intercepted a pass in the offensive zone to then go on to fire a missile into the top right corner for the 4-1 final.
Brandon Bussi on the team’s 4-1 victory and defeating the Bears for the first time this season: “Our team played a really solid 60 minutes of a playoff hockey-like atmosphere. Our ability to box out and allow me to see a lot of shots was key for us to succeed tonight,” – “It feels good. Obviously, they have the record they do because they’re a very good team. We’ve had a lot of really close matchups, we just haven’t been able to find a way to win. So, it feels good to get it done here.”
Notes:
– Jayson Megna had one goal and recorded two assists, and Gerogii Meruklov recorded two assists.
Megna’s three-point night had been his second-highest point total of the season… Meruklov’s two assists gave him a season total of 58 points.
– Riley Duran made his professional debut.
Bears stats before this game:
– Matt Strome has a five-game point streak, and Ethen Frank has a three-game point streak.
– On Saturday against the Cleveland Monsters, Alex Limoges played his 200th AHL game… Mike Vecchione is two games away from playing in his 400th professional game.
– Bogdan Trineyev’s three short-handed goals are currently tied for fifth in the AHL and are tied for the most by a Hershey Bear since Chris Bourque’s five in 2011-12.
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