Screen cap: AHL TV
The Hershey Bears fell to the Providence Bruins, 4-3, Saturday night at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. Ethen Frank scored two goals and Kevin O’Neil scored his first goal for the Bears in the loss. The Bears record drops to 22-7-2-1 (47 points) on the season.
HERSHEY BEARS LINEUP
Hunter Shepard (8-0-2-0, 1.67 GAA, .937 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Bears. Keith Kinkaid (4-4-3-0, 3.49 GAA, .905 sv%) got the start in goal for the Bruins. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Mike Vecchione –Mike Sgarbossa – Ethen Frank
Mason Morelli – Connor McMichael – Kevin O’Neil
Beck Malenstyn – Hendrix Lapierre –Shane Gersich
Kale Kessy – Riley Sutter – Matt Strome
Aaron Ness – Logan Day
Gabriel Carlsson – Dylan McIlrath
Jake Massie – Vinny Iorio
Scratches: Sam Anas (lower body injury), Henrik Borgstrom (Covid Protocol), Lucas Johansen (Illness), Garrett Pilon (lower body injury), Bobby Nardella (upper body injury), Henrik Rybinski (upper body injury), Julian Napravnik (illness), Alex Fortin and Michael Kim.
Recalled/Re-assigned: Beck Malenstyn was loaned to Hershey on Wednesday. The Capitals recalled defenseman Lucas Johansen on Tuesday. He returned to Hershey on Friday. The Bears recalled Alex Fortin and Kevin O’Neil from ECHL South Carolina on Tuesday.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears opened the scoring just 27 seconds into the game on Ethen Frank‘s 12th goal of the season, just 27 seconds into the contest. Mike Sgarbossa (14) and Mike Vecchione (15) had the helpers.
Ethen Frank will not be stopped. His 12th of the season. Bears lead 1-0 just 27 seconds in. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/GOzeNXqRa8
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) December 31, 2022
The Bruins answered with a tally from Luke Toporowski (10) at 11:31 of the opening frame. Samuel Asselin (6) and Oskar Steen (11) had the assists.
Is Luke Toporowski the best shooter on the Providence Bruins? My column: pic.twitter.com/LTOteKwpa6
— rob (@IvanIvanlvan) December 31, 2022
The first frame ended, tied 1-1. Hershey led in shots, 11-7. The Bruins were 0 for 1 and the Bears 0 for 2 on the power play in the first period.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bruins took their first lead of the night with a tally from Jakub Lauko (4) at 11:04 of the middle frame. Justin Brazeau (8) and Joona Koppanen (12) had the assists.
Lauko said “No angle? No problem😄” pic.twitter.com/tK55sF5bPY
— Providence Bruins (@AHLBruins) December 31, 2022
The Bruins quickly made it 3-1 with a tally from Marc McLaughlin (4) at 13:09 of the second period. Luke Toporowski (10) and Georgii Merkulov (16) had the assists.
Check out McLaughlin’s tally! pic.twitter.com/lvbjXOtx7m
— Providence Bruins (@AHLBruins) December 31, 2022
The Bears cut the Bruins lead to one on Ethen Frank‘s second goal of the game at 15:22.Mike Vecchione (16) and Mike Sgarbossa (15) had the helpers.
Ethen Frank with his second goal of the night, a PPG. Bears trail 3-2 late in middle frame. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/Ev1cf5EA0B
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) December 31, 2022
The period would conclude with the Bears trailing 3-2. Hershey led in shots, 19-4 in the second period and and 30-11 after two periods. Providence was 0 for 1 and Hershey 1 for 6 on the power play after two periods.
THIRD PERIOD
The Bears tied the game with a power play goal from Kevin O’Neil (1) at 5:39 of the final frame. Mike Sgarbossa (16) and Connor McMichael (4) had the assists.
The new guy ties it up! Kevin O’Neil with the PPG, ties the game 3-3 midway through the final frame. #HBH pic.twitter.com/9KCyMKkwJC
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) January 1, 2023
But the Bruins quickly answered after Hendrix Lapierre was called for slashing with a power play goal by Chris Wagner (9) at 7:05. Georgii Merkulov (17) and former Capital and Hershey Bear Connor Carrick (14) had the helpers.
Wags gives us the lead back! pic.twitter.com/BMPjYIVN6r
— Providence Bruins (@AHLBruins) January 1, 2023
The Bears were awarded a 4-on-3 power play with 3:07 left in the final frame but were unable to convert. The Bears continued at 6-on-4, but also couldn’t convert, as the Bruins held on for the 4-3 win.
The Bears are back in action on next Saturday, January 7, when they host the Charlotte Checkers at Giant Center. Puck drop is set for 7PM.
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 9,912
- Hershey led in shots 41-21 for the game.
- Providence was 1 for 3 and Hershey 2 for 9 on the power play.
- Just the third regulation loss on home ice for Bears.
Was Hershey goal wave off I was at the game there were a lot of booing and A Bruin player got ejected
Yep, it was waived off.
Rays won tonight. Clay stopped 21 of 23 shots, Maass and Hughes got assists.
Thanks for update Fyre, I’ve come to rely on these, as my prospect monitoring time covers a lot.
I like watching the entire Caps organization. Had to give up one subscription so since you guys do such a great job covering the Bears I kept FloHockey for the Rays.
Finally watched the game. Bear really had a great night — missed several goals by inches. He has 12 goals and 16 assists which puts him second in goals, first in assists and points. He stays out of the sin bin and has 2 PP goals. Right now he’s on a six game point streak. Rays would really miss him if the Bears come calling. Rays already are happy for O’Neil (loaned to Hershey, doing a PTO) but are missing him. Had 9 goals, 12 assists before he left.
Rays put their fourth goalie Culina on IR backdated to 12/21. So no spare goalies in North Charleston at the moment.
Ah, you have FloHockey. That’s the one I don’t have. (AHL, WHL, OHL, QMJHL, KHL) – it’s costly but worth it. I’ll keep that in mind for future
Yeah, gave up AHLtv. Flo is quirky. Doesn’t work the same on all devices, not all games covered, sometimes replay doesn’t work (the only way I watch), but the games are fun to watch. Like the AHL, it’s a different vibe from the Caps. But you, my man, are getting loads of different vibes with those packages.
Ethen Frank has a nose for the puck, in addition to his killer shot and blazing skating speed.
Any chance he gets called up?