The beat marches on for the Hershey Bears, who returned from the All-Star break this weekend. The Chocolate and White wrapped up their travel to Providence and Springfield, splitting the action with a win and a loss. Hershey suffered just its ninth regulation loss of the season on Saturday in Springfield. The week ahead offers some time to rest, possibly get health, and hit the ground running in Canada.
These Bears Are Best
Hershey opened up play against the Providence Bruins at Amica Mutual Pavilion on Friday. It was a light night for goaltender Hunter Shepard, who stopped 12 of 13 on the night. Despite a 27-13 shot edge in the game, it came down to the wire in a 3-1 Bears win. Alex Limoges broke a 1-1 deadlock with just over five minutes to play, and some friendly fire on the empty net sealed the game. It’s Hershey’s 37th win of the season and ends Providence’s win streak at six in a showdown of the AHL’s top two teams.
The win came at an enormous cost, as Ethen Frank exited the game early on with injury. Frank fell down hard on a net front drive with Providence’s Justin Brazeau and was slow to get up. When he got up, he didn’t put much weight on his right foot as a worrying sign. Frank attempted to make a comeback in the second, joining his teammates in hitting the ice before the frame. Unfortunately, he quickly turned back down the tunnel after a brief skate, not to play again on this night.
Crossover in Springfield
The Bears were the guest for the Springfield Ice-O-Topes on Saturday night. It was the annual crossover between the Thunderbirds and “The Simpsons” in which the team donned jerseys based on the fictional family. The specialty jerseys were a bright green with a font signature of the long-running animated show. Unfortunately for the Bears, the setup for the night powered up the T-Birds. It was the first time they beat the Bears in four tries by a 6-3 final.
Hershey struggled mightily in the second period, an unusual sentence this season. The worst of the frame was a goal for Hugh McGing on a miscommunication between Dylan McIlrath and Clay Stevenson. Three goals in the middle stanza for Springfield put Hershey down multiple goals. The Bears could not come back despite a valiant effort with 18 shots in the final frame. Hershey could not buy a bounce to pull closer to tying the game.
A Week of Rest
It’ll be a full week until the Bears are back in game action until they embark on a three-game trip through Canada. They’ll take on the Toronto Marlies, Belleville Senators, and the Laval Rocket in that order. The trip will cap off a five-game road trip for the team before returning to Giant Center ice. Todd Nelson’s bunch will get a chance to rest, perhaps allowing Frank to return to game action. He will be re-evaluated when the Bears return home.
The Bears were also without leading scorer Mike Sgarbossa, who is on recall to the Washington Capitals. Sgarbossa fills in at center with star forward Evgeny Kuznetsov away in the NHL’s Players Assistance program. Sgarbossa and Frank make up two of the team’s top three scorers in terms of points, and their absences were felt on Saturday. It’s unclear when Sgarbossa might be back, with Kuznetsov not having a timeline for a return. Washington does have Sonny Milano nearing a return from injury, but he’s not a natural center.
Evaluation Time
“We can evaluate where our team is at after these two games,” Nelson told FOX43 before the weekend. “Then we have a week to prepare and see what we need to fix. These two games will be a good indication of where our head space is at. The break came at a right time, I felt our team was getting stale. Now the guys are refreshed and we’ll see how the next two games go.”
The Bears will be able to get back at practice to bond a little more. Hershey is heading for the stretch run, with 24 games remaining in the regular season. It’s an opportunity to refine their game with March fast approaching. Nelson will be making a game plan for practice this week, and it’ll be up to the team to prove Saturday was a bump in the road. The coaching staff will be pushing them hard between games to be at their best when the puck drops in Toronto.
