Avoiding their first five game losing streak in their most recent affiliation with the Washington Capitals, the Hershey Bears emerged from the Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter with a narrow 3-2 road victory over the Syracuse Crunch on Monday night.
The Crunch, coming off a 2-1 home shootout win over the Springfield Falcons on Saturday, took early advantage of the the Bears, who were still trying to find their legs after enduring the four hour game day bus trip from Hershey, getting a goal from former Norfolk Admiral, Michael Blunden, 13 seconds into the game.
Attempting to gain some momentum for his club, Hershey heavyweight, Kip Brennan, challenged Syracuse enforcer, Jon “Nasty” Mirasty, to drop the gloves shortly after the Blunden goal. Brennan, after getting off to a quick start in the tussle, felt the full brunt of three stiff right hands, with the last punch dropping Brennan to the ice, signaling a decisive win for Mirasty.
After failing to convert or register a shot on goal during their first power-play earlier in the game, Hershey found success on their second attempt, tying the game on Chris Bourque’s 13th goal of the season at 12:43. Bourque’s power play marker was the Bears’ first shot of the game against Syracuse netminder, Sebastian Dahm, who had allowed just one goal in each of his last two starts, stopping 67-of-69 shots.
Syracuse regained the lead on the power play at 6:03 of the second period when another former Norfolk Admiral, Craig MacDonald beat Hershey goaltender, Daren Machesney. MacDonald’s shot was Syracuse’s first shot of the stanza.
Alexandre Giroux’s short-handed goal at 14:25 tied the game at 2-2. Keith Aucoin, who picked up the lone assist on Giroux’s league-leading 38th goal, collected his league-leading 70th point of the season with the helper.
After the Giroux, goal, Machesney and Dahm did not allow another goal for almost twenty minutes, until Dahm blinked first, yielding the game-winning to goal to Andrew Gordon at 14:08 of the third period. Gordon’s goal, his 17th of the season and third game-winner, set a new career high for the second year pro. The Bears, improving to 36-16-0-4 on the season with the triumph, are a perfect 15-0 when Gordon lights the lamp.
Machesney, getting back in the win column after suffering losses in his last two outings, made 15 saves, including the last nine shots he faced.