The Hershey Bears found their last reserves of energy on Sunday night at Giant Center. Trailing 1-0 to the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Bears used a big third period to take a 2-1 win on home ice. Ryan Chesley scored his first AHL goal and Clay Stevenson made 23 saves in the win. The loss for Hartford eliminated them from playoff contention, locking in the six playoff-bound teams in the Atlantic Division.
Finding Gas in the Tank
It was the end of a long weekend for the Bears. The Chocolate and White played their third game in as many days on Sunday, a rare exercise this season. Hershey has only played in two such sets of games, with three games in four days more common. Despite the coaching staff utilizing some fresh players, the miles logged became evident early on. The Bears had just eight shots on goal through 40 minutes of play and trailed 1-0. Stevenson, in his second start of the weekend, was solid in the game to keep his team in it.
“I told the guys between the second and third periods that there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” Bears head coach Todd Nelson explained. “I said, ‘do you have enough energy to do this?’ And the guys said, ‘yeah’, so I told them to empty the gas tank, everything they had.”
“Chesley scored that goal and got the crowd into it, and our bench was lively. From there, we got the go-ahead goal and hung on. I didn’t know if we’d have enough gas in the tank, but we found a way. ‘Mud’ was a stud in net again. It was a great weekend to get all six points.”
Hershey had their work cut out for them, playing their third straight game with some travel in the mix. The Bears took down the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday night followed by an overtime win over the Wolf Pack a day later. Hartford’s season was on the line this weekend, with Hershey’s win on Sunday officially eliminating them from contention. It’s the third straight year in which the Bears have done so in some fashion.
Bears Rally
Hershey came out in the third period with energy, checking hard and skating harder. The fourth line of Matt Strome, Riley Sutter, and Brennan Saulnier went to work in the offensive zone. They’d win a battle on the boards with Strome feeding Chesley at the point. The rookie, in his first AHL game, wired a shot past Callum Tung (14 saves) for his first AHL goal.
Sunday was Tung’s first AHL start in net after signing a three-year, entry-level contract with New York earlier this week. Both he and Chesley made their AHL debuts on the same day and will likely be fixtures of the rivalry for the foreseeable future. Chesley’s goal came a day after David Gucciardi netted his first AHL goal on Saturday. Both tallies were assisted by Strome.
“I liked it a lot,” Nelson said of Chesley’s performance. “Both these kids come in and score their first pro goals. (Chesley) was good tonight, we had him out there in the final 30 seconds of the game. That’s how much confidence he gave us throughout the game. He moved the puck well, skates extremely well, very mobile. I thought he played a really good game.”
Hershey pulled ahead just over a minute later. Ethan Bear put the puck on Mike Vecchione’s stick from inside the face-off circle. Though Vecchione’s shot went wide, it spiked to Ivan Miroshnichenko on the other side. With the goaltender leaning towards the wrong post, Miroshnichenko stashed it home on the other side. It’s his 20th goal of the season, tying him for the team lead with Ethen Frank’s mark before he was called up.
Lock It In
The Bears clamped down and secured the win by a 2-1 final score, preventing the Wolf Pack from forcing overtime as they did the day prior. The win gave Hershey six of six possible points this weekend. Hershey kept pace with Charlotte to stay five points ahead in first while jumping to nine over rival Wilkes-Barre. The Bears are even two points behind the Laval Rocket for the top spot in all the AHL.
The loss locked in the six teams who will be competing for the Calder Cup in the Atlantic Division. Both the Springfield Thunderbirds and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms clinched playoff berths as a result of the win. It’s all about jockeying for positioning in the remaining two weeks of play.
Four of Hershey’s remaining five games will be against their closest Pennsylvania rivals. The Bears play the Penguins followed by the Phantoms in that order over the last two weeks of play. Wilkes-Barre, who fell to fourth while idle Sunday, will look to push back into the conversation for the top two spots. Lehigh Valley looks for more favorable matchups in the play-in round of action.
Hershey wore special jerseys for Autism Awareness on Sunday. The special jerseys were designed locally and were auctioned off for charity after the game. Proceeds benefit charitable organizations as part of the Hershey Bears Cares Initiative.
