The shift in momentum came long before Andrew Joudrey broke the scoreless tie with a re-direction past Providence goalie Tuukka Rask early in the third period, long before Alexandre Giroux beat Rask on a power-play goal that proved to be the game-winner, and long before Michal Neuvirth made a sweeping glove save on Vladimir Sobotka with 4.9 seconds left to preserve a needed win for Hershey.
By all accounts, Sunday's Game 2 of the Calder Cup Eastern Finals between the Bears and Bruins in Hershey's Giant Center became irrevocably altered in the second period.
"I thought in the second period we did everything but score," Bears boss Bob Woods said in the aftermath of a 2-1 win that ties the best-of-7 series at a game apiece. "I knew (a change in momentum) was starting to come."
Bruins coach Rob Murray knew it, too.
"I thought our strongest period was the first," he said. "They generated more of a push in the second period and we expended a lot of energy on penalty shifts. It gives the other team momentum to be on the power play. I think that had a lot to do with (the outcome)."
It was a reversal of roles from Saturday night's series opener, won by Providence 3-2 after a pair of first-period power-play goals put Hershey back on its heels.
For much of the first period, Sunday night seemed to offer more of the same.
The Bruins' defense, which began the game not having surrendered a power-play goal on the road in these playoffs, didn't even allow the Bears their first shot on goal until some 16 minutes of ice time had elapsed.
"They're really good defensively," said Giroux, whose game-winning goal marked the sixth time he's found the net in these playoffs. "They're aggressive and they're big. They didn't give us much time in the (offensive) zone."
As a group, Bruin defensemen Andrew Bodnarchuk, Johnny Boychuk, Jeff Penner, Kevin Schaeffer, Adam McQuaid and Dave Kolomatis helped limit the Bears to just five shots on goal in the first 20 minutes of play. Four of those came courtesy of a power-play flurry in the final four minutes.
"The key for us," Joudrey said, "was to keep putting the puck on net."
The Bears did that in the second, raining rubber on Rask to the tune of 21 shots on goal. Hershey failed to score, but did succeed in dictating tempo and tiring out the Bruin defense.
"Rask was getting a little gassed," Woods said. "Their defensemen, too."
It didn't take long for the Bears to break through in the third. Joudrey picked a most opportune moment to score his first playoff goal, the Bears' center tipping in the laser beam off Tyler Sloan's stick 3:21 into the period.
"We knew if we kept putting pucks on net," Joudrey said, "we'd squeeze one by."
Having needed more than 43 minutes to score its first goal of the game, Hershey took less than three minutes to net its second. Giroux beat Rask from the left circle, the sixth time the Bears' winger has lit the lamp this postseason. The score came on Hershey's 32nd shot; by night's end, they had outshot Providence, 39-26.
The rest of the game belonged to Neuvirth. He had withstood several Bruin rushes when the game was still scoreless and had a shutout going until just 36 seconds remained, when right winger Brad Marchand scored on a two-man advantage.
"Every time they got pressure," Woods said of Neuvirth, "he came up big."
Neuvirth finished with 25 saves, and when his name came up in the Bears' locker room, Joudrey, sitting in front of his stall and still dressed in his dark uniform pants and sweat-soaked undershirt, offered no small amount of praise.
"He's been great for us in the playoffs," he said. "He gives us a lot of confidence. We know if we make a mistake, he'll cover up for us."
The series continues Friday night with Game 3 in Rhode Island. It's the first of three games in Providence, and with the first two games having been decided by a single goal, neither side will be surprised to see Game 6, and possibly 7, here come May 27-28.
"I expect the whole series to be tight," Murray said. "That's playoff hockey. That's how it goes."
Notes: Stars of the game were Neuvirth, Joudrey and Chris Bourque. … After being held scoreless for only the second time in the playoffs on Saturday, Bourque registered an assist on Giroux's game-winner. … Along with Bourque and Sloan, Oskar Osala and Graham Mink each had an assist Sunday night.
E-mail: egruver@lnpnews.com