Milano, Anderson Power-play Goals Propel Bears to 4-1 Victory in Rockford

Sonny Milano led the way with three points, including a second-period power-play goal, and Andrew Cristall scored twice as the Hershey Bears defeated the Rockford IceHogs 4-1 at the BMO Center in Rockford. Hershey scored three times in the third period to turn a 1-1 game into a decisive victory.

Rockford struck first in the second period when Joey Anderson converted on the power play at 13:21 of the frame to make it 1-0. Hershey answered before the horn when Sonny Milano netted a power-play goal at 18:22 of the second, knotting the game at 1-1 and setting the stage for a tense third period. Special teams were pivotal: Hershey finished 2-for-6 on the power play while Rockford was 1-for-5.

Hershey seized control just 1:51 into the third period when Andrew Cristall finished a 2-on-1 rush to put the Bears ahead. The IceHogs pushed back and generated short-handed chances, including a breakaway for Dominic Toninato that Hershey goalie Garin Bjorklund stopped to preserve the lead. The stop came at a critical juncture as Rockford had applied pressure late in the period.

Ilya Protas extended Hershey’s cushion with a power-play tally at 17:03 of the third, a marker recorded as his 21st goal of the season. Cristall added an empty-net goal to close the scoring and secure the 4-1 final. Rink Live and the IceHogs’ recap both list Cristall with two goals, Milano with a goal and two assists, and Protas as a third-period power-play scorer.

Hershey head coach Derek King credited his goaltending and special teams for the win while acknowledging a physical night and some roster shakeups. "Our goaltending kept us in the game and special teams showed up at the right time," King said. "They got a lot of their shots on the double-minor penalty to Protas, and we were on our heels a little bit, and they put some pressure on us, but our conversation after the second was just getting back to the fundamentals and habits, and working together as a team. We lost a couple of guys, couple of banged-up bodies, the bench was rolled around a bit, but we stuck with it. [...]"

On Milano, King added, "I just left him alone, just told him to go play hockey. I mean, we could we give him the structure stuff we do, but it's already pretty close to what Washington does and he already knows it. It was nice to have a player like that, of his kind of caliber down here, I don't know how long we'll have him if he keeps playing like that, but we'll take him while we can." King also praised Bjorklund’s positioning and rebound control: "From the bench side of things, I've shot on a few goalies myself, so I can tell when a goalie's feeling it, and he was square to the puck all night. Whether it hit him or it rebounded, he was still square, he followed it well. He gave our guys a chance."

The win improved Hershey to 24-20-6-2 on the season while Rockford fell to 19-29-2-2. Hershey’s recap notes the victory marked the Bears’ first-ever win in Rockford after previously going 0-2-0-0 and pushed Hershey to 3-0-0-0 overall against the IceHogs this season. The teams are scheduled to meet again Saturday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. CST at the BMO Center.