The Hershey Bears narrowly avoided disaster on Sunday evening. Leading 2-0 after an empty net goal with two minutes remaining, the Springfield Thunderbirds managed to even the score. With the game on the line in overtime, Mike Vecchione scored on a rebound to lift Hershey to a 3-2 decision. The win is Hershey’s third in a row and is their ninth win of the season. Clay Stevenson earned his first win with 19 saves.
Ellis Answers
If the door seemed to be closing for the Thunderbirds in this game, goaltender Colten Ellis was the doorstop that gave them a chance. He made 40 saves in the game including 20 stops in the first period. For his efforts, he was named the game’s second star and nearly delivered a point singlehandedly. Ellis erased mistakes in the Springfield zone with big stops, including holding Hershey’s power play to no goals in four attempts.
It took until just over midway through the game to find a goal. Matt Strome fed Riley Sutter from below the goal line with a perfect pass. Sutter chipped the puck past Ellis for his second goal of the season. His other goal came against the Thunderbirds in a previous matchup in October. The goal continues a strong recent performance from Hershey’s fourth line, which played a big part in the win a day prior.
Down to the Wire
The Bears seemed to ice the game when Spencer Smallman scored on the empty net. It was a great individual effort for Smallman, who scored his first goal as a Bear. However, the Thunderbirds didn’t stop playing and chipped away at the deficit. Samuel Johannesson scored his first professional goal as it leaked through Stevenson’s pads. Only 28 seconds later, Nikita Alexandrov tallied the tying goal with 13 seconds to spare in regulation.
With a point in-hand, the two teams duked it out in extra time for another. It didn’t take more than a minute to find the winner off of Vecchione’s stick. The goal is his first of the season off a rebound of Pierrick Dubé’s original shot. Dubé finished the night with two assists to give Hershey the extra point.
“We had opportunities to score goals and were struggling as a unit to score,” Bears assistant coach Nick Bootland said. “We were doing a pretty good job defensively, wanted to get a little more to the interior. They made it pretty hard to get those second chances, all three goals were from the blue paint. We had to get in there and pay a price to get those opportunities.”
Bears on the Road
Bootland and the Bears hit the road immediately after Sunday’s win. They’re preparing to get into Bridgeport even earlier than their 10:30 AM puck drop on Tuesday. The game is the first of a home-and-home set between the two Atlantic Division rivals. Hershey took a 3-2 win in their last meeting on October 16. Bootland joked about the early wake-up call.
“We’re leaving tonight and will practice tomorrow in Bridgeport, that will be our morning skate. Not a lot of guys at this level have done it, I’ve been involved in it at the ECHL level a bunch of times. That’s what time we practice at every day too, so we’re engaged and ready to go. We joked to some of the guys who don’t seem to start practice on time to be ready.”
Hershey’s record improves to 9-3-1-0 on the season, good for 19 points. Sunday’s game wraps up a five-game homestand, with the Bears winning three straight but going 3-2-0-0 overall. Hershey will be home one more time on Friday before heading on a four-game road trip.
