The Hershey Bears appeared to be down and out in Rochester against the Americans. It was a game in which the Bears showed some of their bad habits in recent time, surrendering a lead. However, Hershey didn’t go quietly into the night, tying the game with less than nine seconds to spare. The Bears capped the comeback in overtime to take a 4-3 win as Mike Vecchione scored both goals. Mike Sgarbossa and Brad Hunt assisted on both goals as the Bears moved their point streak to three games (2-0-1-0).
Limoges Returns to Bears
The Bears got some much-needed good news ahead of the game as Alex Limoges made his return to the lineup. With three games in four days, head coach Todd Nelson made some changes to the lineup to utilize their full roster. Limoges jumped in and made an impact right away, burying a rebound of Pierrick Dubé’s shot for his fourth of the year. He was reunited with Dubé and Luke Philp for some early success.
Rochester responded just under six minutes later with a similar goal. Konsta Helenius fired the puck from the right side which Clay Stevenson punched aside with the blocker. The puck bounced across to Kale Clague, whose follow-up shot managed to find a way into the net. Clague tallied his second goal of the season to bring the count level at one.
Hershey regained the lead inside of the final minute of the first. Chase Priskie teed up a blast from the point set up by Spencer Smallman on the power play. His shot found a home through traffic to put the Bears ahead at first intermission. Priskie was another player inserted back into the lineup with Ethan Bear unavailable due to injury. He left his mark on Friday’s game with his third goal of the campaign.
Third Period Drama
Rochester appeared set to steal this game from visiting Hershey. The Americans tied the game early in the third period on a two-man advantage with Brett Murray getting the goal. A point shot from Viktor Neuchev banked off the back boards right to Murray on the other side. He stashed it past Stevenson to suddenly put the Americans ahead by a goal with only 3:40 left on the clock. It appeared to be the latest dagger for the Bears after a similar game on Wednesday.
The clock was winding down in regulation time. Rochester took a crucial interference penalty with only 27 seconds left on the clock. Hershey got to work with the goaltender pulled, and Sgarbossa threaded the needle to find Vecchione atop the crease for the goal. It’s Vecchione’s third goal of the season and sent the game to extra time.
In the extra session, the trio of Hunt and Sgarbossa put in the work to set up Vecchione once more. Sgarbossa only needed a split second to fling the puck to a streaking Vecchione on a breakaway. He made no mistake to lift the Bears to a thrilling win with his second overtime winner of the season. Vecchione is no stranger to overtime heroics over his time in Hershey. He scored the historic Calder Cup winning goal in Game 7 in 2023 and in Game One of the Eastern Conference Final.
One More Stop
The Bears will look to build upon this win as they wrap up a four-game road trip in Syracuse on Saturday. Hershey remains undefeated in regulation on the road with seven wins and an overtime loss to their record. The Crunch handed the Utica Comets their first win of the season on Friday, their first win in 14 games. Syracuse has always played Hershey tight in a matchup that features former Bear Kale Kessy on the opposing side.
Stevenson collected his second win of the season with 23 saves. The netminder, in his second full year in the AHL, is off to a slower start after missing time with injury. Stevenson is running back a record year alongside Hunter Shepard in Hershey’s crease and is looking for more. He made a couple big saves in his count in a lower shot game for both teams.
After the Bears return home, they’ll seldom leave the state of Pennsylvania again. Outside of two matchups in Hartford and Syracuse, the furthest the Bears will travel will be to Wilkes-Barre. Their road slate features mostly the Penguins and Lehigh Valley Phantoms outside of some home cooking. The Bears will enjoy an eight-game homestand, their longest of the season, for most of December and January. It will be an opportunity to improve their record at Giant Center.
