Make no mistake about Saturday’s 7-3 loss to the Toronto Marlies: it’s a deceptive score. The Hershey Bears were in this game for a while, but a late flurry of goals inflated the score. It’s the latest debacle for Hershey on home ice as the Bears will look to get back on track on Sunday. The Bears saw a 3-3 tie in the third period turn into an ugly score.
Threadbare Bears
Hershey got more bad news on their rapidly growing injured list, one long enough to rival Santa’s list. Not only did they lose Henrik Rybinski on recall to the Washington Capitals, but defender Ethan Bear left injured as well. He joins Alex Limoges, Mike Sgarbossa, Pierrick Dubé, and Jake Massie on the sideline. Others, like Ivan Miroshnichenko, have been up in Washington for some time now.
“It’s a lower-body injury,” Nelson said of Bear. “He tried to come back but got re-evaluated in the second intermission and we pulled him. When it rains, it pours with injuries. He’s probably not going to play tomorrow. It gives a chance for guys to step up. Everyone wants more ice time and to play higher in the lineup, here’s your chance. They have to take it.”
Bear’s injury allows the Bears to dress forward Dalton Smith due to the development rule. It’s the only good aspect of the injury as it allows Hershey to have a full complement of forwards. Smith was the only healthy extra forward due to the rule as Hershey went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen on Saturday.
“We will because that’s all we have for forwards. We’re right at 12 forwards, trying to get through tomorrow’s game because we should be getting some guys back after Christmas. It’s funny how it works, right? We had 16, 17 forwards at the start of the year. Right now, we’re limping into Christmas.”
Right now, Hershey does have some players in South Carolina who could come up. However, those players are in the midst of playing three games in as many days and won’t have much gas in the tank. As Nelson mentioned, the Bears will be going with this group to get to the Christmas break.
And It’s Gone
The two teams traded goals, with Bogdan Trineyev evening the score at three five minutes into the third. Suddenly, Toronto took over the second half of the final frame with four goals in just over eight minutes. One of the tallies came on the empty net, giving Clay Stevenson 20 saves on 26 shots. It’s an unfair nod to his performance which included some big saves earlier in the game.
“Mud (Stevenson) had to make some big saves in the second period when they found their player on the far dot. He had to get across to stop a one-timer two or three times. It’s blown coverage by our team; he made some big saves and gave us a chance. The game got away from us.”
“Giving up that many goals in our own building, that’s unacceptable. It’s a shame because we were right there and then things went the wrong way for us.”
The loss drops Hershey to a paltry 7-7-1-0 record on home ice. Giant Center has not been nearly as much of a strength as it has been in recent time. The Bears only lost seven times on home ice all of last season, going 29-7-0-0 in that span. A year prior to that, they boasted a record of 23-9-2-2. Home ice is rapidly becoming a disadvantage to the Bears this season. Hershey has already opened their eight-game homestand with two losses.
Christmas Clash
The Bears will look to get back on track and get to the Christmas break on a high note. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will be in town for their third matchup of the regular season. Hershey took the last matchup between the two teams, but Wilkes-Barre is riding in on a high note. The Penguins took a 7-2 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday and are creeping up in the standings. As the Bears stall, teams will be breathing down their necks in the division race.
Like the fruitcake everyone pretends to like at the holidays, the two teams will meet again after the break. It’ll be separated by nearly a full week as the teams play at Giant Center on December 28. The matchup proves to be a good measuring stick for both teams even if the Bears will likely look different in the second game.
