Screen cap: AHL TV
The Hershey Bears downed the Syracuse Crunch, 4-3, Sunday night at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. Connor McMichael scored his 7th goal since returning to the Bears and Aliaksei Protas added two assists in the victory. The Bears record improves to 23-8-2-1 (49 points) on the season.
LINEUP
Hunter Shepard (8-1-2-1, 1.88 GAA, .928 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Bears. Max Lagace (5-6-4-0, 3.90 GAA, .876 sv%) got the start in goal for the Crunch. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Mike Vecchione –Mike Sgarbossa – Ethen Frank
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – Garrett Pilon
Mason Morelli – Hendrix Lapierre –Henrik Borgstrom
Beck Malenstyn – Riley Sutter – Henrik Rybinski
Aaron Ness – Logan Day
Gabriel Carlsson – Dylan McIlrath
Bobby Nardella – Vinny Iorio
Scratches: Sam Anas (lower body injury), Lucas Johansen (Covid protocol), Kale Kessy (upper body injury), Shane Gersich, Jake Massie, Julian Napravnik, Matthew Strome.
Callups/Re-assignments – Aliaksei Protas was re-assigned to Hershey on Saturday. Joe Snively cleared waivers on Sunday and will join the team next week.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears wasted little time in potting the first goal of the game. Beck Malenstyn (1) recorded his first tally since returning to Hershey at 4:19 of the opening frame. Henrik Rybinski (6) and Riley Sutter (4) had the helpers.
Beck Malenstyn with his first of the season. Bears lead 1-0. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/Eg1fTRXcS8
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) January 8, 2023
And that would be it for the first frame. The Bears led in shots 6-5 in the first frame. Syracuse was 0 for 1 and Hershey 0 for 2 on the power play in the first 20 minutes.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bears made it 2-0 early in the second period on Connor McMichael‘s 7th goal of the season at 2:49 of the middle frame. Aliaksei Protas (1) had the lone assist.
Connor McMichael with a silky smooth finish for his 7th goal with the Bears. Aliaksei Protas with the primary. They lead 2-0 early in the 2n,. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/fgoVXaHRbz
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) January 8, 2023
The Crunch tallied their first goal of the game at 8:22 of the second period. Jack Finley (5) notched the tally, assisted by Gabriel Fortier (6) and Philippe Myers (4), cutting the Bears lead to 2-1.
Finner out here playing darts 🎯 pic.twitter.com/OXE3W5BPyw
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) January 8, 2023
But the Bears restored their two-goal lead moments later on Mike Sgarbossa‘s 11th of the season at 10:36 of the middle frame. Ethen Frank (10) and Vincent Iorio (10) had the helpers.
Mike Sgarbossa goes roof for his 11th of the season. Bears lead 3-1. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/e3Uzbm4bWQ
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) January 8, 2023
The Bears made it 3-1 with a power play goal from Mike Vecchione (13) at 14:32 of the middle frame. Aliaskei Protas made a beautiful no-look dish to setup the goal. Aliaksei Protas (2) and Ethen Frank (11) had the assists
Aliaksei Protas with a beautiful no-look dish to Mike Vecchione for the power play goal. Protas has 2 assists so far. Bears lead 4-1#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/QvRfEQlStw
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) January 8, 2023
The second period concluded with the Bears leading, 4-1. Shots were tied 12-12 in the second period. Syracuse was 0 for 3 and Hershey 1 for 3 on the power play after two periods.
THIRD PERIOD
The Crunch cut the Bears lead to 4-2 with a goal midway through the final frame by Gabriel Dumont (6) at 8:37. Alex Barré-Boulet (28) and Gage Goncalves (18) had the helpers.
Wide open net for the Captain 🙌 pic.twitter.com/cE3m4Vs3NU
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) January 9, 2023
The Crunch cut the Bears lead to one with a tally from Shawn Element (7) with 6:57 remaining in the game. Darren Raddysh (29) and Declan Carlile (8) had the assists.
A three-game goal-scoring streak 🔥 pic.twitter.com/YDKHBB3FOl
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) January 9, 2023
The Bears would hang on for the 3-2 win.
The Bears are back in action on Wednesday when they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Giant Center. Puck drop is set for 7PM.
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 10,404
- Syracuse led in shots, 28-22.
- Connor McMichael led all Bears in shots with 4.
- Syracuse was 0 for 5 and Hershey 1 for 3 on the power play.
- Stars of the game: 1) Mike Sgarbossa, 2) Beck Malenstyn and 3) Aliaksei Protas
Hope this can translate to a Calder Cup victory in a few months!
They certainly seem to have a complete team. I’m very hopeful.
Guess the Bears didn’t want the Crunch to feel lonely in the sin bins.
Much closer than I expected. Congrats to Sgarbossa (1st star), Beck (2nd), McM, and Protas (3rd).
Too many late game/3rd period goals being given up. But I guess that’s being picky. Power play scored in the game, so that should be enough for me.
Just win!
Keep it rolling1
Love seeing our prospects shine again. CMM got one and could have had a couple of others. The Protas pass on PP was just sick. 4th line looked great again. I’d like to see two of those three in WSH next year.
Gotta be fair and balanced with my reporting, he had three breakaways on Saturday night but was unable to convert on any of them. Unlike him, but facts are facts.