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AHL Hershey Bears

Snively Shines in Debut, Bears Beat Bruins 2-1

March 30, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


(Hershey, PA) - Joe Snively scored his first professional goal in his first pro game, and the Hershey Bears came from behind to top the Providence Bruins, 2-1, on Saturday night at Giant Center. Hershey's win over Providence closed the six-game season series with a 2-2-1-1 record against the P-Bruins. Both wins for the Chocolate and White occurred on home ice.

The Bruins tamed a sellout crowd of 10,511 fans only minutes after opening puck drop. On an offensive zone rush, Lee Stempniak scored his sixth goal of the season after snapping a shot past Ilya Samsonov's glove hand at 2:15. Hershey's penalty kill went 2-for-2 in the remainder of the first period to hold the deficit to one. Shots after 20 minutes were 10-8 Bruins.

Hershey's penalty kill and Samsonov continued to shine throughout the second period. The Bears special teams unit successfully killed a double minor high-sticking penalty and a tripping minor committed by Riley Barber. Shots after 40 minutes were 23-10 Providence, and the score remained 1-0.

After being held scoreless in the first 40 minutes, it only took 17 seconds for Hershey to draw even in the third period. From the right wing, Jayson Megna sent a perfect pass across to an open Devante Smith-Pelly. He buried his sixth goal of the season past Bruins goaltender Zane McIntyre to send the sellout Giant Center crowd into a frenzy.

The Bears were granted two power play opportunities in the third period to grab the lead, and they took advantage on the second chance. Kyle Cumiskey was called for charging at 9:10, and the Chocolate and White went to work on the ensuing man-advantage. At the 10:57 mark, Garrett Pilon threw the puck to the net front, and Snively waited McIntyre out of position and scored into an open net for his milestone goal. Snively's goal stood as the game-winner to help his team to a 2-1 win over the Providence Bruins.

Hershey's perfect night on the penalty kill continued late into regulation after successfully killing a Shane Gersich holding minor 17:24. The late kill marked a 7-for-7 night on the PK. Samsonov finished the night stopping 28 of 29 shots to backstop his 18th win of the season.

The Bears record on the season improved to 37-24-3-4 after the win. Hershey and Providence are both even in the Atlantic Division standings with 81 points, but the Bears have two games in hand on Providence.

The Hershey Bears return to action tomorrow, Mar. 31 with a 3 p.m. road tilt against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Voice of the Bears Zack Fisch will have the call on the Bears Radio Network.

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