The Hershey Bears got back in the win column on Saturday night with a 6-3 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Hershey rose to the challenge after a humbling loss on home ice a day prior with a fresh lineup and some resiliency. The Bears saw a 3-1 lead evaporate in the third period but had the next three goals on their way to the win. Hershey had six goals from six players in addition to Zac Funk’s first professional goal. Hunter Shepard made 24 saves for his league-leading ninth win of the season.
Bears Lineup Changes
Hershey employed a new look to their lines as head coach Todd Nelson mentioned on Friday. The most notable change saw Alex Limoges out of the lineup due to injury in addition to Chase Priskie, Brad Hunt, and Luke Philp not getting sweaters. Energy players Garrett Roe and Brennan Saulnier joined the lineup while Nicky Leivermann and Jake Massie checked in defensively. The moves paid dividends as all four players factored in on the game in some way.
The Bears have struggled to take command of their recent games early on. They’ve only taken a lead to the locker room after one period just two times this season. Hershey broke the scoring aspect of their first period as Roe scored his third goal of the campaign. The elder statesman of the team picked up right where he left off as he has four points (three goals, one assist) in his last two games.
Lehigh Valley, fresh off of a loss to Springfield on Friday, fought back to even the score at one. Samu Tuomaala buried a pass from Elliot Desnoyers on the rush for his sixth goal of the season. Lehigh Valley’s All-Star added two assists as the only player with three points on this night.
Trading Goals
The second period belonged to the Bears in this game. Hershey put 20 shots on goal during the frame and tallied twice, with Pierrick Dubé breaking through. Opposing teams have put a target on Dubé this season, making it harder for him to score. He’d bury a series of passes from Spencer Smallman and Zac Funk to put the Bears ahead. The goal is just the third of the year from Dubé as he got back in the goal column.
Funk broke through for his first goal in the AHL to lift the Bear ahead by two. Hershey’s rookie forward is a noted goal scorer at the junior level and his solid play was noticed by Nelson. Funk moved up to the second line and beat Eetu Makiniemi on the rush for the first of hopefully many goals as a Bear. Makiniemi’s night ended on the goal as he left due to an injury sustained on the play.
However, it wasn’t meant to be an easy night for the Bears. Cal Petersen made a key sequence of saves on a penalty kill in relief to keep the Phantoms in it. In the third period, Lehigh Valley got goals in rapid succession from Rodrigo Abols and Ethan Samson. Suddenly, Lehigh Valley pulled even and it seemed like the game might slip away from Hershey.
Offensive Outburst
However, the Bears did not hang their heads and got back to work. The Bears battled in the offensive zone, taking a couple hits to draw a penalty. On the delayed call, Hardy Haman Aktell made a brilliant pass to Ethan Bear down low. Bear beat Petersen to put the Bears back ahead with his third goal of the season.
The Bears did not let up and sent the fans to the exits with two more goals from former Phantoms. Mike Vecchione buried his second goal of the season off a great pass from Henrik Rybinski to put the Bears back up by two. Matt Strome capped off the scoring with his first goal since his Calder Cup winner to make it 6-3. It might not be as iconic as his last goal, but it counts all the same.
Hershey improves to 11-4-1-0 and starts off a series of four straight games away from home on a winning note. It’s an important bounce back game for the Bears to not only win but find their scoring touch. The Bears will take on the Toronto Marlies, Rochester Americans, and Syracuse Crunch next week. This win is an important one that the team will look to build upon in this stretch.
