The Hershey Bears, after being annihilated by the Houston Aeros 6-1 on Saturday night, their second straight setback in the Lone Star State, will probably not be disappointed if they never have to do the Texas two-step again.
After falling behind 1-0 into the contest on a goal by Houston’s Krys Kolanos at 5:02, Hershey tied the game at 1-1 on Kyle Wilson’s tenth goal of the campaign at 13:50. Quintin Laing and Patrick Wellar, his first point as a Bear, assisted on Wilson’s goal.
The first period ended in a 1-1 tie, with Hershey out shooting Houston, 10-4.
Kolanos’ second goal of the game, a power play marker at 10:58 of the second period, gave Houston a 2-1 lead and opened the floodgates for the hometown club. Within a 4:47 span after the Kolanos strike, Jason Deitsch, Corey Locke, Peter Olvecky and Jesse Schultz hit pay dirt for the Aeros to give them a 6-1 lead after two periods.
Hershey coach Bob Woods opted to replace starting goaltender Daren Machesney to start the third period, inserting Bobby Goepfert between the pipes for the final stanza. Machesney’s rocky outing, allowing six goals on only 19 shots, marked his second straight road outing that required relief.
Goepfert, recalled from the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays earlier in the week after Simeon Varlamov was recalled to Washington, was impressive in his abbreviated outing, stopping all 13 shots he faced.