It’s not a repeat of yesterday’s recap. The Hershey Bears defeated the Bridgeport Islanders by a 5-4 final score at Giant Center. Ivan Miroshnichenko had three points and was the first star for the second straight night. The story of the night, however, was much different. After falling behind 3-0, Hershey rattled off five of the next six goals on their way to victory. Despite a tough start, Clay Stevenson settled in and earned the win with 20 saves.
Tough Start in Hershey
Bridgeport jumped out to a big early lead based on a simple formula: getting pucks on net with traffic. Both their goals followed that plan with bounces on the way to Stevenson. Isaiah George got the first one from the left point that appeared to change directions on the way. George returns to Bridgeport for the first time in three months and had two points on Saturday.
Samuel Bolduc doubled the lead later in the frame as his point shot hit a defender’s leg, fooling Stevenson. Fresh off of three helpers on Friday, Bolduc maintains a stellar recent pace. He has points in seven of his last eight games. In that span, he has 12 points (two goals, ten assists) from the blue line. Bolduc ranks 14th in the AHL among defenders with 23 points.
Bridgeport made it three when Chris Terry deflected a shot from Aiden Fulp atop the crease. Terry extended his point streak to five games with eight points (five goals, three assists) after two helpers on Friday.
Power Play Prowess
Hershey got an important goal before the first intermission. The Bears got a power play late in the frame and tilted the ice in the Islanders’ zone. Although the advantage expired, Hershey kept working and eventually capitalized. Bogdan Trineyev deflected a pass from Miroshnichenko for his tenth goal of the season.
In the middle stanza, Hershey got a big chance to get back into the game. Alex Limoges took a high stick from Terry, giving the Bears four minutes on the advantage. They’d capitalize not once, but twice as Miroshnichenko and Spencer Smallman found twine. The two tallies were separated by just 16 seconds, giving the Bears goals on both halves of the power play.
“Getting that goal late in the first period after the power play sparked us a bit,” Bears head coach Todd Nelson said. “The two goals on the four-minute penalty was huge to tie it up. We were trying to complicate the game the first two periods. The first two goals went off of shin pads and in the net, that’s the way it’s going for us right now.”
“We have to play more of a boring style of hockey, we did that in the third period and got rewarded for it. It wasn’t sexy, by any stretch, but we didn’t give anything up.”
All-Stars All the Way from Hershey
Hershey answered another deficit in rapid succession. After Eetu Liukas scored, the Bears responded in 33 seconds courtesy of Alex Limoges. Hershey’s newest All-Star returned from taking a stick up high by banking a pass from Pierrick DubĂ© into the net. He’s worthy of the nod with six points (three goals, three assists) in four games.
Speaking of All-Stars, Hershey’s other player heading to Coachella Valley scored the game-winner. After another intense shift in the offensive zone, the Bears capitalized with a goal from Ethan Bear. He picked a corner through a bit of a screen on Hunter Miska to give the Bears a lead they would not surrender in this game.
After a tough start, Stevenson locked in to provide some timely saves in the win. A stat line of 20 saves on 24 shots won’t reflect well in numbers, but it was a good recovery in goal. Hershey has won many of their games recently by outscoring their opponents, something Nelson wants to change.
“He really settled in, made some big stops for us,” Nelson said of Stevenson. “I think he gave us confidence in the second period. It’s a time right now where some goals that are going in that shouldn’t be going in, just from bad breaks or bounces. We can eliminate those bounces by doing some smarter things beforehand. Turnovers at the blue line are going to cost you. We have to make sure we’re playing sound hockey.”
Bears Out of Hibernation
Nelson’s Bears are rising to the challenge a bit more of late. A six-point weekend from Ivan Miroshnichenko (four goals, two assists) stands out the most. Nelson challenged the sophomore sensation before Friday’s game to work hard, and points will follow. Miroshnichenko rose to the occasion, and his total effort did not go unnoticed by Nelson. Hershey’s bench boss deployed him in a defensive role with the game on the line late in the third.
“He worked hard again tonight,” Nelson said of Miroshnichenko. “This was the first time since I’ve coached Miro that I put him out there with the goalie pulled. The reason why I did that was that he built confidence in me that he deserved to be out there. He did a really good job. That’s the part of the game that has to be consistent for him to get back to the NHL. The points will follow.”
Among other noteworthy performances, defenseman Brad Hunt tallied three assists to give him four total this weekend. Mike Vecchione had two assists in both games to stay red hot. DubĂ© had three points on the weekend as well. Hershey’s offense continues to be stellar, and if their defense follows suit, they’re a scary team to play against.
Hershey is off until Saturday when they host the Syracuse Crunch. Their schedule is a little lighter in February with only five more games on their calendar this month. The Bears have points in nine of their last ten games, with a solid bounce back from a tough game on Wednesday.
