David Gucciardi scored the only goal in regulation as the Hershey Bears defeated the Bridgeport Islanders 2-0 in Game 1 of their Atlantic Division first-round series on Tuesday evening. The victory gives Hershey a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three matchup. Ilya Protas added an empty-netter to seal the win.
Gucciardi, a rookie defenseman who netted three goals over 52 regular-season games, broke a scoreless tie with 7:29 remaining in regulation. He tipped a cross-crease pass from Henrik Rybinski past Bridgeport goaltender Marcus Högberg in the Bridgeport arena. Protas then scored into an empty net with 1.1 seconds left to make it 2-0. Hershey goaltender Clay Stevenson earned his first shutout of the season and his playoff career, stopping all 18 shots he faced. Högberg made 21 saves on 22 shots for Bridgeport, which had won its previous 10 home games to close out the regular season. The Bears now head home for Game 2 on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET, with a potential Game 3 set for Saturday in Bridgeport if necessary. Historically, teams winning the opener in best-of-three AHL series have advanced 84.3 percent of the time, prevailing in 75 of 89 such matchups.