The last time the Hershey Bears and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers squared off for first place, Hershey was at the end of a 3-in-3 road journey, and Bridgeport took advantage of that situation and came out on top. In tonight’s game, however, the roles were reversed and the Bears pounced upon the opportunity, prevailing 4-1, thanks to three unanswered third period goals.
Hershey dominated the game early, outshooting their opponents 7 to 1 in the first five minutes of the game. However, Bridgeport’s Joe Joensuu, who scored a pair of goals in the only other game between the two teams this season, netted the first goal of the game at 10:34. The Bears, despite finding themselves trailing even though they outplayed the Sound Tigers, responded promptly with a goal of their own from Keith Aucoin, a power play tally at 12:08. Aucoin, who is known more for his role of a set-up man rather than a goal scorer, was in full goal scoring mode on this occasion, after gathering in an errant point shot from behind the goal line.
“I saw he was down on my side, and I didn’t see anybody on the other side. I thought if I got it over there quick enough I’d get it in, and lucky enough I got it in there quick enough,” he said.
The two teams would not score for the next 30 minutes of play, until Sami Lepisto’s power play goal at 3:07 of the third period. Lepisto, who scored four goals in 55 games last season, has already registered three goals in his 20 games so far this season. There has been a noticeable difference in Lepisto’s confidence in carrying the puck this season, and tonight’s goal was a perfect indication of that. After eluding a Bridgeport defender at the blue line, Lepisto proceeded to the right face off circle, and in a situation in which he most likely would have looked for a pass, he confidently launched a wrist shot that found its way behind goaltender Yann Danis.
“It took me a while to get used to the game here,” he said. I am feeling more confident and I’m feeling pretty confident in my wrist shot.”
After Lepisto’s goal, Oskar Osala and Graham Mink added two more goals, and Daren Machesney stopped all five shots he faced to give Hershey the victory. Machesney, who had struggled prior to last week’s 22 save shut out against Binghamton, seems to have found his game again with another solid effort, stopping 17 of 18 shots. Machesney was quick to give credit to his teammates who kept the shots on goal to a minimum by blocking many attempted Bridgeport efforts.
“The guys in front of me played great; we had the puck the whole night,” commented Machesney, who picked up his 7th win of the season. “They didn’t give them (Bridgeport) a chance to do anything special. Shot-blocking is one of those things in a game that’s overlooked, and in the last week or so we’ve been a lot better at that.”
At the quarter-pole of the season tonight, with the Bears finding themselves in full stride in the midst of their second five game winning streak of the season, Machesney knows that there is still a long way to go, and that the season is far from over.
“It’s a long haul; we’re not going for sprints, we’re going for a marathon.”