The skills competition has not been kind to the Hershey Bears of late. After winning their first two games to go beyond 65 minutes, the Bears have hit a rut of sorts. Friday in Utica, the host Comets sent the Bears to a shootout loss for the fifth straight time. The two teams traded goals through regulation, but Timur Ibragimov scored the only shootout goal to lift Utica to a 4-3 win. Hershey picks up a valuable point, but the team can rest easy knowing shootouts won’t be appearing in the playoffs.
U-ti-ca!
The Comets got off to a flying start before a crowd of 2,912, tallying twice early in the first. Utica had a steady diet of low shots on Hunter Shepard, burying two goals off of rebounds in close. Filip Engaras scored his fourth goal of season less than two minutes into play to open the lead. That goal was followed up less than four minutes later by Xavier Parent’s 11th of the campaign. Both goals followed a similar formula of getting pucks in close and burying quick chances on Shepard.
Hershey responded before the period was over, setting the stage for a momentum shift. With less than a minute to play in the period, Matt Strome put the puck towards the net from the left point. Riley Sutter got a piece of the puck on the way to deflect it past Isaac Poulter to cut the lead in half. Sutter tallied for the first time since December and earned a nice reward since returning from injury.
I’ll Take Goals For $200, Alex
Momentum shifted to start the second period. The Bears got two goals separated by 24 seconds, both off the stick of Alex Limoges. Lucas Johansen made a perfect pass to Limoges with some space, and he beat Poulter on the blocker side to even the count at two. Seconds afterward, Limoges made a great play to stay on-sides at the blue line and swatted in a pass from Aaron Ness atop the crease. Limoges tallied goals 17 and 18 on the season to suddenly put Hershey in front.
The lead was not meant to last, however. Utica tied the game at three all in the third when Kyle Criscuolo was able to swat a puck past Shepard. Brian Halonen drove to the crease, and the poke check went right to Criscuolo for the goal. He has 12 on the season and it sent the game to extra time where Ibragimov had the only goal in a shootout.
Bank It
Both teams banked valuable points in the game. For Utica, the win keeps them hanging around in the North Division playoff hunt. They’re up to 58 points with the win and are only four points out of a playoff spot to the Laval Rocket. The North Division has been notoriously difficult to gain a foothold in, but the Comets are one of many teams pushing for more.
The Bears bank a point with the shootout loss, bringing them to 89 on the season. Hershey’s record in their last ten games sits at 5-2-0-3 to keep their point total climbing. It’s not quite the stellar record they’ve had for most of the season, but still find ways to earn points. Key performances from players like Johansen (two assists) and Limoges continue to be encouraging for the Chocolate and White. Hershey will be back in action at home on Saturday against the Syracuse Crunch.
