The Hershey Bears were back in action on Saturday night to kick off a five-game homestand against the Cleveland Monsters. Hershey entered play after seeing their nine-game winning streak snapped a day earlier, and let it fuel a 6-0 win over visiting Cleveland. Clay Stevenson pitched his league leading fourth shutout of the season with 21 saves while Ethen Frank led all skaters with four points.
Sweet Scoring
The Bears got back on track with their special teams to make the difference early in this game. Power play goals from Frank and Alex Limoges got Hershey off and running early. A goal on a two-man advantage for Pierrick Dubé put an exclamation point on a game in which the Bears went three-for-six on the power play. It was an excellent showing for the Chocolate and White despite losing Mike Vecchione to a hit which drew one of those penalties. He was ruled out of the remainder of the game as well as for Sunday’s tilt with the Charlotte Checkers.
Three more goals at even strength left little doubt as to who took this game. A breakaway goal for Mike Sgarbossa, Dubé’s second of the night, and a goal for Hendrix Lapierre in his return to the Hershey lineup proved to be enough on this night. Lapierre’s goal was his first in a Hershey jersey since scoring the tying goal in Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals.
“I think (Lapierre) was excited to play and play big minutes,” Nelson said. “He was great tonight, as talented as we are, adding him to our lineup with his talent and speed, it gives us another potent line. Lappy wanted to play, he played in all situations and played well.”
Winning Ways
The win gives Hershey wins in ten of their last 11 games. Despite the loss on Friday, this year’s group can become the fastest team to hit 20 wins should they win again on Sunday. The 2008-09 squad reached the mark in 26 games, and the 2023-24 edition of the club can get there one game faster. Bears head coach Todd Nelson wanted his team to bounce back in this game.
“Last night, our special teams struggled and tonight they were good,” Nelson said. “Three power play goals, we killed off every penalty. Solid effort all the way around, Cleveland was a bit short staffed. They had some guys called up, others injured. We have to take advantage of these situations.”
Hershey’s two top scorers went at it again as Dubé and Frank share the team lead in goals with 12. The duo, along with Stevenson, represented the three stars of the game. The Bears cap off a stretch of three games in as many nights by hosting the Checkers on Sunday evening. The loss continues to cool the Monsters a bit, as they fall to 6-4-0-0 in their last ten games, but a loss for the Syracuse Crunch keeps them in first place.
As a bonus, it was military appreciation night at Giant Center. A few service members rappelled in from the rafters to drop the puck!
