The Utica Comets made their first trip to Giant Center in almost 500 days to take on the Hershey Bears. It’s the first time the two teams met up in 2023-24. The matchup lived up to the billing of a low scoring contest, with only one goal in the game. Robbie Russo had the only goal in the third, and Isaac Poulter had 27 saves for the shutout, his fourth of the year. Utica snaps a seven-game win streak for Hershey on home ice with the decision.
Battered Bears
The Bears iced every healthy player under contract for Saturday’s contest. Hershey was without Ethen Frank for the game despite some progress over the week. Frank has been out since leaving a game on February 9 with injury. With other key scorers like Mike Sgarbossa, Pierrick Dubé, and Hendrix Lapierre on recall to the Washington Capitals, the firepower isn’t there right now. The Bears are missing other players like Riley Sutter and Lucas Johansen on the injured list but have been winning of late in their absence.
“Those guys are elite scorers in this league,” head coach Todd Nelson said of those missing players. “It’s nice to see all of our boys doing well (in Washington). It gives the guys who don’t get these opportunities a chance to provide some offense for us. I thought the guys played well away from the puck tonight, that wasn’t an issue except on the goal against. Our guys played hard tonight; I have no complaints about our effort tonight.”
Fight Night
Despite the rarity of matchups between the Bears and the Comets, the two teams renewed rivalries easily. Tyson Empey and Will MacKinnon dropped the gloves nine seconds into the game in a spirited fight. Later in the second period, Dmitry Osipov and Colin Felix dropped the gloves after the former ran over the latter. The fisticuffs filled in for goals on this night, but the contributions didn’t go unnoticed.
“Two guys who don’t play a whole lot went to war for us tonight,” Nelson said of the scraps. “Couple fights, you’ve got to tip your hat to them. The guys tried hard, it was one of those games.”
One Goal
The only goal of the game happened just over halfway through the third period. Utica’s Ryan Schmelzer won a puck battle on the boards and threw the puck across the top of the crease. Waiting on the other side was Robbie Russo, who beat Hunter Shepard on the move for his third goal of the year. The goal stung a little extra as Hershey’s Joe Snively hit the crossbar moments prior.
Hershey pulled Shepard to try and find the equalizer in this one but could not find the back of the net. The loss is just their tenth in regulation this season. A lack of firepower combined with an inability to finish for a sour night at the rink for the league-leading Bears. It’s a situation that’s bound to happen over the course of 72 games for every team in the AHL.
Away to Allentown
The Bears will be right back in action on Sunday afternoon with their last trip to PPL Center this year. It’ll be a chance to end the weekend on a high note for the Chocolate and White. The game kicks off a stretch of four consecutive nights on the road for the Bears, who will make a trip to Charlotte next weekend. Hershey is not anticipated to get any players back off the injured list until that trip.
One bit of news to keep an eye on originates from parent club Washington. The Capitals announced on Saturday that forward Evgeny Kuznetsov was placed on waivers. Other NHL teams will have a 24-hour period of time to put in a claim on the star player. If he clears, the Caps intend to send him to the Sweetest Place on Earth, provided he reports there. Kuznetsov has not played since entering the NHL’s Player Assistance Program.
