Screen cap: AHL TV
The Hershey Bears fell to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 5-1, Saturday night at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. Aliaksei Protas scored his second goal in eight games with the Bears but the Phantoms responded with five unanswered goals for the road win. The Bears record falls to 29-11-4-1 (63 points) on the season.
LINEUP
Hunter Shepard (12-2-3-1, 2.05 GAA, .920 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Bears. Samuel Ersson (12-10-1-0, 2.78 GAA, .906 sv%) got the start in goal for the Phantoms. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Mike Vecchione –Mike Sgarbossa – Ethen Frank
Joe Snively – Connor McMichael – Henrik Borgstrom
Aliaksei Protas – Hendrix Lapierre – Garrett Pilon
Beck Malenstyn – Riley Sutter – Mason Morelli
Gabriel Carlsson – Dylan McIlrath
Aaron Ness – Bobby Nardella
Lucas Johansen – Vinny Iorio
Scratches: Sam Anas (abdominal surgery, out indefinitely), Kale Kessy (upper body injury), Jake Massie, Shane Gersich, Julian Napravnik, Logan Day, Henrik Rybinski and Matthew Strome.
Bears head coach Todd Nelsen was not with the team for personal reasons. Patrick Weller and Nick Bootland took over head coaching duties for tonight’s game.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears opened the scoring with a power play goal from Aliaksei Protas (2) at 14:13 of the first period. 6’6″ Protas has essentially been tasked with standing in front of the goaltender on the Bears first power play unit, and the strategy has shown early dividends. Ethen Frank (16) and Mike Sgarbossa (25) had the assists.
Aliaksei Protas with his 2nd goal in 8 games with Hershey. This one comes on the power play. He’s pissed about something as well, which you rarely see. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/A95WMklX4A
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) February 5, 2023
That would be it for the first frame. Hershey led in shots 11-5 in the first 20 minutes. The Bears were 1 for 2 on the power play while the Phantoms did not have a man advantage in the first 20 minutes.
SECOND PERIOD
The Phantoms tied the game early in the middle frame. Jackson Cates (9) notched the tying tally just 2:21 into the second period. Max Willman (9) and Bobby Brink (4) had the assists.
WHAT. AN. ATHLETE. #LVvsHER | #OurValleyOurHome pic.twitter.com/qqNiMTTkUH
— Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 5, 2023
The Phantoms took their first lead of the night on a power play goal from Tyson Foerster (17) at 8:16. Olle Lycksell (25) and Egor Zamula (10) were credited with the assists.
Tyson doing Tyson things 🤷♂️#LVvsHER | #OurValleyOurHome pic.twitter.com/VTGtpi3sxS
— Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 5, 2023
Beck Malenstyn, who turns 25 today, dropped the gloves with Louis Belpedio late in the middle frame.
The birthday boy, Beck Malenstyn drops the gloves with Louie Belpedio. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/RhMbLO073K
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) February 5, 2023
The second period concluded with the Phantoms leading 2-1. The Phantoms out-shot the Bears 12-8 in the second period, with Hershey leading 19-17 after two periods. Hershey was 1 for 3 and Lehigh Valley 1 for 2 on the power play after 40 minutes.
THIRD PERIOD
Lehigh Valley stretched their lead to 3-1 early in final frame. Jordy Bellerive (6) potted the Phantoms’ third goal at 2:55 of the third period. Bobby Brink (5) and Egor Zamula (11) had the helpers.
Textbook 🔥#LVvsHER | #OurValleyOurHome pic.twitter.com/ZVGl9fqLH8
— Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 5, 2023
The Phantoms added a power play goal with three minutes remaining in regulation to make it 4-1. Bobby Brink (6) scored at 16:49 of the third. Louie Belpedio (12) and Ronnie Attard (12) had the assists.
The Phantoms added a late empty net goal for the 5-1 final.
The Bears are now off for the AHL All-Star break and will return to action on Friday when they visit the Utica Comets. Puxk drop is scheduled for 7PM.
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 10,512
Rays had better luck winning 3-1 but not a lot of contributions from the loaners. Clay was backup, Bear had 3 sog, Has 2, Maass 1. Third game tomorrow afternoon.
Bears have gone cold as of late. Hopefully the All-Star break will help them re-set.
Bears all of sudden look terrible. My how fast things can change. The Teddy Bear curse!
72 game season. Gotta play them all. It’s an endurance test as much as anything. Will be interesting to see if they can quickly right the ship right after the break.
As you can see, no mention of the loaners in the highlights.
Strange how Nelson leaves team for final few games before all star break.
AHL AllStars festivities are supposed to be free on AHLtv today and tomorrow:
“AHLTV will also be offering a free video stream of both nights of the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic to AHL fans worldwide, as well as of the 2023 AHL Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony on Monday, Feb. 6 at 11 a.m. ET. ”
Mike Vecchione will be in the accuracy shooting and the breakaway relay. Former Bear Riley Barber will also be participating.
Bear Hughes scored a goal five minutes into today’s Rays game so his drought is over!
NHL Network will be carrying as well. Ethen Frank is fastest skater comp is interesting.
https://theahl.com/2023skills
How did I miss him? Ahh, AHL lists him as Ethen Fank. I wasn’t smart enough to twig.
Ethen Frank 12.915. Not only did he smoke his AHL rivals but the best the NHLers could do Friday was 13.69.
In the third game of the three game weekend Clay stopped 27 of 29 for the win. I believe he has the second best save percentage and goal against average in the ECHL. Bear scored the first goal, Maass had an assist, and Has did play but no stats.