The Hershey Bears completed their two-game set against the Chicago Wolves on Sunday at Giant Center. After dropping a narrow decision in overtime on Saturday, Hershey took a dominant win in a 5-0 shutout on Sunday. Hershey took three of four possible points on the weekend, with Todd Nelson earning his 100th win as the team’s head coach. Hunter Shepard made 26 saves for his ninth AHL shutout.
Bears Don’t Hibernate
Hershey suffered a narrow loss in overtime in the first game by a 3-2 final score. After both teams answered the other’s goals within seconds of each other, Scott Morrow’s first AHL goal decided the game in extra time. Both teams traded scoring chances, with Morrow’s goal breaking a deadlock in shots on goal with 35 for the Wolves. The Bears were challenged once again to bounce back in Sunday’s game.
The Chocolate and White answered the call, tallying five goals. Their big guns came to play, with Ethen Frank and Ivan Miroshnichenko tallying three points each. Bogdan Trineyev added his third goal of the season to continue a strong start. Brad Hunt had his first goal as a Bear and the team went two-for-four on the power play.
“They played at such a high pace last night,” Nelson said. “That’s hard to keep up for any team, no matter what shape you’re in. Their tempo went down, and we were better today. We won puck battles, got some scoring, and special teams were excellent. I liked the way we played tonight. Can we get better? Yes, and we will, but that was the kind of game I was looking for from the start of the season.”
Let Me Be Frank with You
Frank got the scoring started and capped it off to bring his goal count to five. His goals were nearly identical, with his lethal shot picking the same corner both times. He added an assist on Hunt’s goal for a three-point night. Frank is starting the season on fire after tallying a hat trick on opening night for the Bears. He’s tied for third in goals in the early stages of league scoing.
Another player tied for third in goal scoring is Ivan Miroshnichenko. He stayed red hot, adding a power play goal to his count to make it 2-0. Hershey moved the puck around in the offensive zone, with Miroshnichenko ripping a perfect pass from Alex Limoges to the back of the net. Limoges picked up his sixth assist of the young season, bringing his overall point count to seven.
Hunt’s first goal as a Bear came exactly as the team likely envisioned it when they signed him in the offseason. He took a pass from Miroshnichenko and wound up for a big slap shot with a little traffic in front. The shot beat rookie goalie Yaniv Perets in his first AHL start to put the Bears ahead by three.
The Kids Are Alright
Hershey got a big contribution from a trio Nelson referred to as the “Kid Line”. Miroshnichenko teamed up with Henrik Rybinski to feed Trineyev for his third goal of the young season. Trineyev already has four points in five games as he looks to smash his previous bests and provide scoring for the Bears.
Frank capped off the scoring with his second of the game. Hardy Haman Aktell found him with a perfect stretch pass, giving Frank time and space to tee up a shot. He’d beat the goalie for the last tally of the game. Mike Sgarbossa earned his second assist of the day to give him six points (one goal, five assists) in five games.
“That line likes playing together. It’s the ‘Kid Line’, right? They’re all really young guys, (Trineyev) and Miro like playing together. (Rybinski) compliments them fine. The line does some special things when all three players are working hard. It was nice to see them contribute tonight.”
Shepard to Victory
Hunter Shepard picked up Hershey’s first shutout of the season and ninth for him at the AHL level. He made a few game-changing stops in Sunday’s game, including a stop on Skyler Brind’Amour in the first period. Brind’Amour was able to take a perfect pass and go to the backhand, where Shepard stretched out his pad and stopped him twice.
Shepard’s other big sequence came late in the second period. A point shot hit a stick on the way to the goal, with the puck launching up off of Shepard’s blocker. The puck dropped down and Shepard collected it in his glove to stop the play. Shepard’s puck control was excellent in the game, not giving up rebounds and allowing the Wolves any breaks.
“He was in the zone tonight,” Nelson said of Shepard. “There were some early tests with some pucks bouncing around and he was there to make the save. He was really dialed in, it’s tough at the start of the year with such scrambling play. Shep’s been really sharp so far.”
One Hundred
The win marks the 100th for Nelson behind the bench for the Bears in just his 149th game. Nelson is the second-fastest coach to reach triple digits in terms of wins. He passed Scott Gordon for seventh in AHL history, with this being his 409th win all-time. In the locker room video posted by the Bears, Nelson quipped, “it would have been the fastest if we hadn’t messed around the last couple games.”
The Bears have a bit of a break before their next action later this week. Nelson mentioned the team will be having a gathering away from the ice, likely his annual pig roast early in the season. Hershey’s bench boss makes an early tradition of getting the players and their families together to get to know each other in a non-hockey environment. The Bears famously did the same type of event prior to Game Seven of the 2023 Calder Cup Finals as their last day together as a group.
Hershey is idle for a few days before embarking on a challenging road trip. The Chocolate and White will be in Providence on Friday to take on the Bruins. They’ll play a set of three games in as many days, visiting the Springfield Thunderbirds on Saturday before returning to take on the Bruins again on Sunday. It’s one of just two sets of three games in as many days.
