It didn’t take long for the interstate rivalry between the Hershey Bears and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to heat up on Saturday at Giant Center. The teams duked it out in the first matchup of 12 in the regular season and featured a lot of special teams play. Hershey’s penalty kill was pushed to its limit but did not break behind a 32 save effort from rookie goaltender Clay Stevenson, his first American Hockey League shutout. The Bears added four goals in a 4-0 final score.
Rocketing to an Early Lead
Stevenson would see a quiet start to his big night as the Bears limited the Phantoms to just three shots on goal in the first period. Hershey got on the board first on the power play late in the first as Joe Snively set up Pierrick Dube for a big blast inside the faceoff circle. It’s Dube’s second goal as a Bear and would be the only goal scored on special teams in this game.
Lehigh Valley would push in the second and third periods, pouring 29 shots on goal in the final 40 minutes. Much of their pressure was assisted by eight power play opportunities including an extended two-man advantage. Hershey tallied the only goal of the second period on the rush after Lehigh Valley defenseman Ronnie Attard stepped up to hit Mike Sgarbossa. The veteran Bears forward bounced back to his feet and joined the rush as Aaron Ness set up Mike Vecchione for his third goal of the season. Sgarbossa’s secondary assist was his 400th AHL point while Ness tallied his 300th AHL point on the primary helper.
The Kids Are Alright
The Bears have had a habit of bending but not breaking in the third period recently, and Saturday was no exception. The Chocolate and White killed off the duration of a double minor penalty as well as a slashing penalty separated by only two seconds of game time. A Phantoms penalty helped negate the majority of the two-man disadvantage, but Stevenson stood tall with 18 saves in the final frame alone. Hershey went eight-for-eight on the penalty kill as a major reason for the team’s win.
Hershey was stuck on a single shot on goal for the first half of the third period until rookie forward Ivan Miroshnichenko flew down the wing on a rush. Dropping his shoulder and driving the net, his shot was stopped by Cal Petersen but the rebound was stashed in by Dube for his second goal of the game. Rookie forward Ryan Hofer earned his first AHL point with an assist on the goal. Miroshnichenko tallied his first multi-point game at the AHL level with the assist.
The final blow featured defenseman Logan Day hitting the empty net with a long shot to make it 4-0. The goal was Day’s first regular season goal in a Bears uniform, with his first goal overall taking place during Game One of Hershey’s series against the Hartford Wolf Pack. Day tallied 14 points in 19 playoff games, outpacing 12 assists in 36 regular season games a year ago. Vecchione and Day weren’t afraid of no ghosts in haunting their former club as major contributors in the win.
Nelson Speaks
“I thought our penalty kill was good,” Bears head coach Todd Nelson said after the game. “But we were more responsible. In [Wilkes-Barre], we gave up a lot of odd man rushes. Tonight, we didn’t. The guys were more dialed in, part of that was that they were better rested. It was a good win, it was great to see Clay get the shutout, he was solid in net for us. It was great to see the young guys contribute.”
“It’s going to be a work in progress,” Nelson said of the young players contributing. “When I say work, it’s about learning the pro game and getting experience and confidence. He dropped his shoulder and drove the net; not many players have the will to do so. That’s a nice sign to see, it’s hard on the defenseman and Dube followed up the play. The kid line provided some energy for us tonight.”
Sunday Fun Day
The win gives Hershey five wins in their last six games ahead of a rematch with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday afternoon. Wilkes-Barre won their third game in a row on Saturday to plant the two Pennsylvania rivals as the top dogs in the Atlantic Division at this early juncture. The Bears have the added benefit of Calder Cup MVP Hunter Shepard returning to the crease from the Washington Capitals in time for Sunday’s game to help their cause.
The Phantoms dropped to .500 with the decision and stumbled out of the gate for the fifth time in six games by falling behind by two or more goals. Despite this, the team did an admirable job of generating offense and might have buried a few of their chances in any other game. Hershey got into the shooting lanes with a few key blocked shots and seemed to have a stick in the way of every Lehigh Valley shot to aide Stevenson’s cause. They’ll look to right the ship when they return home to face the Hartford Wolf Pack on Sunday at PPL Center.
