SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — After giving up the game's first two goals to the Springfield Thunderbirds, the Hershey Bears stormed back with six unanswered goals for a 6-2 win.
The win lifts the Bears to 5-1-1-0 on the season.
Springfield’s Reece Newkirk and Matthew Peca put Hershey at a 2-0 deficit in the first period.
Alex Limoges started the comeback with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 11:08 of the first period.
Chase Priskie then scored back-to-back power play goals in the second period, giving the Bears a 3-2 lead. It was Priskie's third multi-goal game in his AHL career.
“Our unit moved the puck really well. Just trying to find open spots on the ice, trying to find open ice and our flanks did a great job finding me and I was on the beneficial end of just putting the puck in the net, but a lot of credit goes to those guys making plays,” Priskie said.
Aaron Ness, Limoges, and Riley Sutter added three more goals in the third period.
Although the Bears won the game, Head Coach Todd Nelson was not happy with his team's start to the game.
“Well, it feels like a broken record right now. It’s like when we play these hockey teams, they come out after us, they play with high intensity, and I give Springfield credit – they came out ready to play and our guys weren’t putting in the work ethic that we needed to have. So we had a healthy discussion after the first period and then in the second and third periods, we started working and then the game turned in our favor,” Nelson said.
Goaltender Mitch Gibson won in his season debut. He's now 3-0 in his AHL career.
Rookie forward Alex Suzdalev also made his North American pro debut.
The Bears are back in action Sunday against the Bruins in Providence. Nelson said there could be more changes to the lineup.
“We’re going to put some fresh guys in again tomorrow. Zac Funk’s a possibility to go in tomorrow, so is Dmitry Osipov, Mike Vecchione, and Matt Strome. So we have options heading into Sunday,” Nelson said.
Tomorrow's game is on FOX43.2 Antenna TV. Coverage begins at 3pm.