Shepard Stops 42, Bears Score 4-2 Win in Bridgeport
February 19, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
(Bridgeport, CT) - Backed by 42 saves from goaltender Hunter Shepard, the Hershey Bears earned a 4-2 win over the Bridgeport Islanders on Saturday night at the Webster Bank Arena. With the win, Hershey improved to 25-16-3-3 on the season, and snapped a three-game losing streak away from home.
Shepard stood on his head all night long, but the Hershey goaltender was a standout particularly in the game's opening period. Bridgeport outshot Hershey 18-8 in the first 20 minutes, but Shepard was perfect in the frame, making several highlight reel saves. The 18 shots were the most Hershey had allowed in a single period this year.
After two stops from Shepard on one end, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby opened the scoring for the Bears at 16:42 of the first period with a beautiful shot from the slot, set up by Aliaksei Protas and Lucas Johansen to give Hershey the 1-0 lead. The goal was Jonsson-Fjallby's team-leading 15th marker of the season.
In the second period, Hershey would score three times to open up a sizable lead. Marcus Vela would grab his fifth goal of the season with a wrist shot off of a Beck Malenstyn pass 6:36 into the middle frame. Kody Clark would add the secondary helper on Vela's goal from the left circle.
Mid-way through the middle frame, Johansen would poke a puck out of the zone for a shorthanded rush with Brian Pinho. The blue liner found Pinho on a crisp feed at the back post, and Pinho tapped in fifth goal of the season at 12:14 of the second period. It was his second shorthanded goal of the year, and his fifth goal of the season.
With 18 seconds remaining in the second period, Hershey's Cody Franson would shoot from the point, and Malenstyn would tip the shot over the glove of Bridgeport goaltender Jakub Skarek to make it 4-0 Hershey. Clark added his second secondary assist of the night on the goal.
In the third period, Bridgeport would finally solve Shepard and find the back of the net for the first time all night with a deflection of their own. Andy Andreoff redirected a Parker Wotherspoon shot at 7:09 of the third, slipping the puck past Shepard for his 10th goal of the season.
The Islanders would add a second goal at 14:55 of the third with Felix Bibeau scoring from the right circle to cut the lead to 4-2 Hershey.
However, Shepard stood tall in the closing minutes and stopped 12 Bridgeport shots in the third period to secure his fifth straight win. The 42 stops were an AHL career-best for Shepard who improved to 5-1-0 on the season. Shots finished 44-28 Bridgeport.
Hershey is back in action tomorrow afternoon in Providence. The puck drops at the Dunkin' Donuts Center at 3:05 p.m. and the game may be heard on the Highmark Bears Radio Network and viewed on AHLTV.
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