It was the best of times, it was the worst of times in Springfield between the Thunderbirds and the visiting Hershey Bears. Two of the toughest teams in the Eastern Conference went at it for the second time in as many games, and this one went the distance. Hershey went up 3-0 on enemy ice in a dominant first half, but saw the lead evaporate as Springfield took over in the second half. Ultimately, Hunter Shepard was the difference in overtime and the shootout as the Bears took a 4-3 decision in the skills competition.
Starting With a Roar
In a tale of two halves at MassMutual Center, the Bears outshot the Thunderbirds 15-8 in the first period and tallied twice. Pierrick Dubé got the party started with his 15th of the year, peeling off the boards to the inside and beating Vadim Zherenko on the glove side. Dubé is one goal away from tying his goal count from a season ago. It’d be 2-0 when Lucas Johansen’s point shot was deflected in by Jimmy Huntington. Johansen played his first game in a Bears sweater since lifting the Calder Cup after clearing waivers earlier in the week. Despite a myriad of lineup changes for the Bears over the week, they controlled the play and seemed to have the edge.
That sweet start went into the second period. Ethen Frank got into the action with his 13th goal of the year on a turnover in front of Zherenko. The Bears pushed with some high-quality chances, but Zherenko had the answers with some ten bell saves to keep his team in it. The score was 3-0, but it very easily could have been more and kept the Thunderbirds in it.
Dial V for Vrana
The Thunderbirds got two goals in a span of 30 seconds to suddenly cut the deficit to one goal. Joe Duszak scored the first goal followed by former Bear Jakub Vrana haunting his old team with his first of the year. Vrana was held off the board on Sunday but has three points in three games since returning to the AHL. Springfield used the momentum to turn the game around, outshooting Hershey 15-7 in the final frame and forcing Shepard to stand on his head. Zach Dean scored the tying goal just before the frame was halfway over.
Springfield had the better of possession in overtime and forced Shepard to be at his best. The Calder Cup MVP of a summer ago forced the game to a shootout with a notable sequence of saves. Hershey took the skills competition as Vrana hit the crossbar and Dubé buried his chance to give the Bears the extra point.
Atlantic Action
The Bears took the win despite a flurry of roster moves this week. Talented youngsters Ivan Miroshnichenko and Hendrix Lapierre were called up to their NHL affiliate in Washington. Leading scorer Mike Sgarbossa was unavailable after a brief recall to the Caps, although he was reassigned on Friday. Hershey had just 12 forwards available to them even with the return of Joe Snively and Mike Vecchione but found a way to get scoring. The same is not true of the defense, which is now quite stacked with 11 healthy players available.
Friday’s win gives the Bears four in a row, just another win streak for the Chocolate and White. Hershey has one more game before Christmas, a holiday bout with the Providence Bruins on Saturday at Giant Center. The Bears’ record of 23-6-0-0 continues to be the top mark in the AHL by a strong margin as they hit the 30-game mark with their next game.
Springfield gained a valuable point in this game but battles a logjam of teams in the Atlantic Division. The gap from second place to being the last team to miss the postseason is a separation of six points. Lehigh Valley and Charlotte picked up some points to make the race interesting, while previously hot teams like Hartford and Springfield have cooled off a bit. There’s a ton of opportunity to be had for teams to win the prize of home ice and a bye in the first round. Every point is valuable even in the first half of the year.
