The beasts of the East collided in a Thanksgiving Eve showdown at Giant Center. The Hershey Bears and the Laval Rocket met up as the top two teams in their divisions. In an early playoff-like atmosphere, the teams traded blows in an entertaining game. Vincent Iorio broke a 3-3 deadlock in the third and the Bears finally clamped down for a 5-3 win. Hunter Shepard picked up the win with 22 saves.
Bears Tested at Home
The Bears returned home to Giant Center after collecting seven of eight points on a four-game road trip. Hershey looked to get back on the right foot on home ice and faced a major test against Laval. The Rocket boasts two of the AHL’s best netminders and have excelled early this season. Hershey got off to a solid start with Henrik Rybinski stealing the puck in the offensive zone. He’d find Spencer Smallman, who beat Jakub Dobes for an early Bears lead.
Hershey doubled the lead on a two-man advantage. Mike Sgarbossa put the puck right on the tape of Alex Limoges in front of the net. Limoges lifted the puck top shelf on the backhand to put the Bears ahead by two.
However, Laval got an important goal before the period was over. Tyler Wotherspoon kept the puck in at the blue line and found Rafael Harvey-Pinard all alone down low. He’d bury the chance to cut the deficit to just one goal. Harvey-Pinard tallied his first goal in his fourth game with Laval on a conditioning stint from the Montreal Canadiens.
Trading Tallies
Laval turned the momentum into the tying goal early in the second period. Alex Barre-Boult buried a perfect pass by Laurent Dauphin for his fifth goal of the season. The Rocket controlled play in the second period, nearly keeping the Bears off the board in terms of shots. Shepard kept the Bears in the game with the bulk of his work in the first half of the game.
Hershey was able to get back to their offensive game before the period ended, countering to take a 3-2 lead after two. Chase Priskie struck for a power play goal from the high slot through traffic. All four of Priskie’s goals have come on the power play, one of only two players to hit such a mark.
It was once again gut-check time for the Bears in the third period. The Rocket once again erased the lead on a power play goal for Logan Mailloux. Hershey’s inability to hold leads in recent time has been well documented, and it looked to be another photo finish for the Bears. However, Iorio put the home team ahead for good with his first goal since opening night and Hershey never looked back. Ethen Frank potted the empty net goal to finish the game in regulation.
“It was a really good hockey game, two good teams going at it,” Bears head coach Todd Nelson said. “I thought we had a strong first period, up 2-1, but at the second intermission I thought the ice had tilted in their favor at five-on-five. They hemmed us in quite a bit, but our special teams bailed us out. We found a way to get it done in the third. We expected a playoff-style game tonight.”
Bears Bites
Wednesday’s game marked the first in a Bears sweater for forward Dalton Smith. The rugged veteran signed an AHL contract with Hershey back on October 15 and waited patiently to get in the lineup. He was deployed on a fearsome line with Riley Sutter and Brennan Saulnier. Smith nearly scored on a breakaway in the second period and was given the “Bears Head” as the team MVP.
“It’s really tough when you haven’t played in a while,” Nelson said of Smith. “I thought he did a really good job tonight, played a simple game and finished his checks. He was really effective, and I thought he played really well, we’re happy with his contributions tonight.”
It’s a win the Bears will no doubt relish, even with a packed schedule for the Thanksgiving holiday. The win gives them three straight as well as at least a point (4-0-1-0) in their last five games. They still allowed three goals but became the first team to tally four times on Dobes after a similar feat in their last outing. Their strong outing added two more points to their total to stay hot.
With a day off for the Thanksgiving holiday, Nelson was asked what food he’s looking forward to the most. The answer? Bring on the buffet.
“All of the above. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, you name it. Any other goodies there too, for sure.”
