The Hershey Bears, after losing their last two road games and being outscored 9 to 1, started a five game road trip in the win column with a 2-0 shutout victory over the Springfield Falcons.
After failing to convert on a couple of 5-on-3 power play chances, Hershey struck first at 12:10 of the first period when Matthieu Perreault tallied on the power play. All three of Perreault’s power play strikes have been acquired on foreign ice. Four of his five goals overall have been potted on the road.
The newly formed energy line of Kip Brennan, Steve Pinizzotto, and Andrew Joudrey gave the Bears a spark at 7:53 of the third period when Pinizzotto lit the lamp. Pinizzotto camped out on the doorstep of Springfield goaltender, Jeff Deslauriers, and deposited the rebound of Joudrey’s turnaround shot behind the former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin to give Hershey a 2-0 lead.
Just a minute and 20 seconds after the Pinizzotto goal, former Philadelphia Phantom, Ryan Potulny, came within inches of breaking Bears’ netminder, Simeon Varlamov’s, shutout, but his shot rang off the post and trickled harmlessly away from the cage.
Despite pulling Deslauriers at 18:14 in hopes of cracking the goose egg on their side of the scoreboard, the Falcons could not dent the armor of Varlomov, and he was able to collect his second shutout of the season, with both whitewashes attained on the road.