Photo: Jackson Sokoloski
David Gucciardi broke a scoreless tie with 7:29 left in regulation and sent the Hershey Bears on to a 2-0 win over Bridgeport in Game 1 of their Atlantic Division first-round series on Tuesday evening.
The Bears take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series back home, where they will host Game 2 on Thursday.
Gucciardi, a rookie defenseman who scored three goals in 52 games during the regular-season, took a cross-crease pass from Henrik Rybinski and beat Islanders goaltender Marcus Högberg to end the stalemate.
Ilya Protas added an empty-net goal with 1.1 seconds remaining.
Clay Stevenson made 18 saves for Hershey for his first shutout of the season and the first of his Calder Cup Playoff career. Högberg stopped 21 of 22 shots for the Islanders, who had won 10 consecutive home games to end the regular season.
In AHL history, teams that win the opener of a best-of-three have gone on to win the series 75 of 89 times (84.3 percent).
(Hershey leads series, 1-0)
Game 1 – Tue., Apr. 21 – Hershey 2, BRIDGEPORT 0
Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 23 – Bridgeport at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 25 – Hershey at Bridgeport, 3:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
