THE CANADIAN PRESS
HERSHEY, Pa. — Derek Meech scored a power-play goal in the third period to lift the St. John’s IceCaps to a 2-1 win over the Hershey Bears on Saturday in American Hockey League action.
Meech’s slapshot from the point, on a nice passing play with Ray Sawada and John Albert, gave the IceCaps the lead at 6:56 of the third period.
Eric O’Dell scored in the second period for St. John’s (6-7-0), while Mark Dekanich made 18 saves for the win.
Barry Almeida replied for Hershey (5-5-1). Dany Sabourin stopped 25 shots for the Bears.
Meech’s power-play goal broke a 1-for-42 slump for the IceCaps. St. John’s had the man advantage after a four-minute double minor by Matt Pope for his high stick on Carl Klingberg.
Ray Sawada carried the puck in to the Bears’ zone and dropped it back to John Albert, who fed Meech with a tape-to-tape pass, and the blue-liner blasted a slapshot past Sabourin.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for St. John’s and sends the team back to Newfoundland with two wins on their five-game road trip.
The IceCaps played a solid first period, outshooting the Bears 10-8 and showing some good jump in all three zones. The teams finished the first 20 minutes in a scoreless tie.
St. John’s got on the board first at 5:18 of the second on a great effort by O’Dell. Meech’s point shot was turned aside by Sabourin, but the puck bounced right to O’Dell, who banged home a rebound as he was falling to the ice to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Hershey tied the game late in the second period after forcing an IceCaps turnover on a hard forecheck. Jeff Taffe dug the puck out and Pope grabbed it at the side of the net, centring a pass to Almeida.
St. John’s went 1-for-6 on the power play while Hershey went 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
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