Photo: Cleveland Monsters
The Hershey Bears toppled the Cleveland Monsters, 4-1 Saturday afternoon at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. The victory gives the Bears a sweep of the two-game weekend-set in Cleveland and improves their record to 23-13-3-3 (52 points) on the season.
The Bears struck first with a goal from Riley Sutter late in the first period for a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. Beck Malenstyn would notch the lone tally in the middle frame for a 2-0 lead at the second break. Brian Pinho would score early in the final frame, the Monsters would add a late tally and the Bears would add an empty net goal for the 4-1 final.
STARTERS
The visiting Bears started goaltender Pheonix Copley (12-7-2-2, 2.50 GAA, .906 sv%) in net, while the Monsters countered with J.F. Berube (4-7-3-1, 3.18 GAA, .898 sv%) in goal. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Injuries: Garrett Pilon (upper-body injury), Alex Alexeyev (upper-body injury), Mike Sgarbossa (upper-body injury), Matt Moulson (back surgery), Macoy Erkamps (upper-body injury) and Bobby Nardella (lower-body injury).
Scratches: Marcus Vela, Colby McAuley.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears opened the scoring with a goal from Riley Sutter (2) at 17:38 of the first period. The goal was unassisted.
Riley Sutter picks a pass and pots a tally. Bears lead 1-0. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/kmXsSKjbp0
— Jon Sorensen (@jon_m_sorensen) February 5, 2022
The period would end with the Bears leading 1-0. Hershey led in shots 12-11 for the first 20 minutes. The Bears were 0 for 2 and Cleveland 0 for 1 on the power play in the first frame.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bears would extend their lead to 2-0 with a tally from Beck Malenstyn (4) at 15:55 of the second period. Riley Sutter (5) made a nice pass to Malenstyn for the lone assist.
Riley Sutter to Beck Malenstyn. Bears lead 2-0. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/KmnwTeUXrm
— Jon Sorensen (@jon_m_sorensen) February 5, 2022
The second period would end with the Bears leading 2-0. Cleveland led in shots 11-9 in the middle frame. Hershey was 0 for 3 and Cleveland 0 for 2 on the power play after two periods.
THIRD PERIOD
The Bears would extend their lead to 3-0 with a backhand tally from Brian Pinho (3) at 1:53 of the final frame. Cody Franson (16) and Lucas Johansen (10) had the assists.
Brian Pinho (3) with a nifty backhander, gives the Bears a 3-0 lead in the third. Pinho has points in 4-straight games. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/f73QPYizTH
— Jon Sorensen (@jon_m_sorensen) February 5, 2022
The Monsters would add a late goal from Jake Christiansen (6) at 13:00 of the final frame to make it 3-1. Brendan Gaunce (12) and Thomas Schemitsch (0) had the helpers.
The Bears added an empty net goal for the 4-1 final.
The Bears are back in action next Friday when they visit the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in Allentown, Pa. Puck drop is set for just after 7:05 PM.
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 8,159
The Bears have faced a lot of the leagues bottom tier teams to date. Will be interesting to see how they do against the top tier.
True. But they can only control what is in front of them (what’s on the schedule). Second half of the season will be the true test.
A win is a win. But Hershey has also had to deal with a lot of transition this year. Lineups are starting to settle and I like what the chocolate and white have for back half.