Photo: The Hershey Bears

The Hershey Bears fell to the Syracuse Crunch, 5-3, Sunday night at Giant Center in Hershey. The loss drops the Bears record to 34-32-6-4 (78 points) on the season. With the loss, the Bears finish 5th in the Division.

After another scoreless period in the first, the Bears finally notched a tally on home ice when Brett Leason found the back of the net early in the second period. The Crunch would answer late in the middle frame for a 1-1 tie at the second intermission.

The Crunch would add a pair of goals early in the final frame before Garrett Pilon notched his 17th of the season to close the gap to 3-2. The Crunch would reinstate their two-goal lead less than a minute later, but Jake Massie would again cut the gap to 4-3 with his second goal of the season. The Crunch would seal it with an empty net goal late for the 5-3 final.

STARTERS

The Bears started Pheonix Copley (18-11-5-2, 2.33 GAA, .915 sv %) in net while the Crunch countered with Hugo Alnefelt (9-6-4-0, 3.05 GAA, .882 sv%). The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Injuries: Shane Gersich (lower body injury), Ethan Frank (lower body injury), Brian Pinho (shoulder surgery), Matt Moulson (back surgery), Macoy Erkamps, (illness), Cody Franson, Julian Napravnik (lower body injury) and Riley Sutter (upper-body injury).

Scratches:  Lucas Johansen, Kale Kessy, Christopher Brown, Hunter Shepard and Clay Stevenson.

Amateur Tryout Agreements: The Bears signed Benton Maass, Dru Krebs and Garin Bjorklund to amateur tryout agreements.

FIRST PERIOD

The Bears and Crunch skated to a scoreless draw in the first period.

Hershey led in shots 10-6. Both teams were 0 for 1 on the power play in the first period.

SECOND PERIOD

The Bears finally notched a goal on Giant Center ice. The first goal since April 10th. Brett Leason (6) would do the honors at 4:57 of the second period. Mike Sgarbossa (9) and Garrett Pilon (25) had the helpers.

Brett Leason breaks the seal, his 6th of the season. Bears lead 1-0 early in the 2nd. #ALLCAPS #HBH pic.twitter.com/LCjXOlECUo

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) April 24, 2022

The Crunch would answer late in the second period with a goal from Simon Ryfors (10) at 13:55 of the second period. Gage Goncalves (15) and Riley Nash (8) had the assists.

Syracuse capitalizes on Bears defensive breakdown, tie the game 1-1 late in 2nd period. Simon Ryfors (10) with the tally. #HBH pic.twitter.com/efeAq2Qg9Y

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) April 24, 2022

The period would end with the game tied 1-1. Syracuse led in shots 13-12 in the second period with the Bears leading 22-19 after two periods. Syracuse was 0 for 2 and Hershey 1 for 3 on the power play after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD

The Crunch took a 2-1 lead early in the third period on a power play blast by Charles Hudon (30) at 1:52.

Syracuse takes the 2-1 lead early in the 3rd on a bottle popper by Charles Hudon, his 30th of the season. #HBH pic.twitter.com/BFW4RILMnc

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) April 24, 2022

The Crunch would quickly make it 3-1 on a nasty snipe by Remi Elie (15) at 5:10 of the final frame. Simon Ryfors (23) and Alex Green (20) had the helpers.

3-1 Crunch. #HBH pic.twitter.com/Qwot3m6e4e

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) April 24, 2022

Alex Alexeyev would take a cheap hit midway through the period, giving the Bears a major power play.

It’s getting ugly in Hershey. Alex Alexeyev takes a cheap hit and is injured on the play. Aliaksei Protas jumps in. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/Xasf9zIfJc

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) April 24, 2022

Alexeyev would return to game later in the period.

Garrett Pilon (17) would close the gap to 3-2 on a beautiful play at 8:41. Mike Sgarbossa (10) had the lone assist.

Garrett Pilon is FILTHY!. 3-2 game. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/6kN2revw71

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) April 24, 2022

But the Crunch would answer with a goal from Gemel Smith (5) at 9:05 of the third period, making it 4-2.

The Bears would cut the gap to 4-3 on a goal from Jake Massie (2) at 15:54. Mike Sgarbossa (11) and Tobias Geisser (10) had the helpers.

The Crunch would add an empty net goal to make it 5-3, the final.

SHAVINGS

• AHL box score