Bears Give Up Four Goals And A Hat Trick In First Half Of First Period, Fall To Bruins, 5-3

Posted on March 12, 2023 by Jon Sorensen
Photos: Providence Bruins

The Hershey Bears fell to the Providence Bruins, 5-3 Sunday afternoon at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island. The defeat drops the Bears record to 34-16-5-2 (75 points) on the season. They now trail the Bruins by three points for first place in the Atlantic Division.

The Bears gave up four goals in the first 10:20 of the contest, including a hat trick by Bruins’ center Vinni Lettieri, but answered with two goals to trail 4-2 at the end of the first period.

After a scoreless second period the Bears closed the gap to a single goal early in the final frame, but were unable to score the tying tally in the remainder of the period. The Bruins added an empty net goal for the 5-3 final.

Henrik Rybinski scored his 4th goal of the season and Mike Vecchione and Aaron Ness added tallies in the loss. 

LINEUP

Hunter Shepard (13-5-5-1, 2.12 GAA, .916 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Bears. Kyle Keyser (8-3-2-1, 2.50 GAA, .911 sv%) got the start in goal for the Bruins. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Joe Snively –Henrik Borgstrom – Mike Vecchione
Mason Morelli – Connor McMichael – Ethen Frank
Shane Gersich – Henrik Rybinski – Garrett Pilon
Beck Malenstyn – Riley Sutter – Matt Strome

Bobby Nardella – Dylan McIlrath
Lucas Johansen – Vincent Iorio
Logan Day – Aaron Ness

Scratches: Mike Sgarbossa (upper body injury), Hendrix Lapierre (upper body injury), Sam Anas (abdominal surgery, practicing, no-contact jersey), Julian Napravnik, Benton Maass, Jake Massie and Michael Kim.

Recalls/Reassignments: Kale Kessy was traded to Colorado for future considerations earlier in the week. Dylan McIlrath was returned to the Bears on Wednesday. The Capitals returned defensemen Vinny Iorio to the Bears on Friday.

FIRST PERIOD

The Bears were called for too many men on the ice just 1:30 into the contest, and the Bruins quickly capitalized on the ensuing power play. Vinni Lettieri (17) dented the twine at 1:36 of the first frame. Connor Carrick (25) and Georgii Merkulov (25) had the helpers.

The Bruins quickly made it 2-0 on Vinni Lettieri‘s second goal of the game at 4:18. Justin Brazeau (21) and former Hershey Bear Connor Carrick (26) had the assists.

The Bruins continued to jump on the Bears, stretching the lead to 3-0 with a goal from John Beecher (7) at 5:06 of the first period. Vinni Lettieri (22) and Chris Wagner (8) had the helpers. The Bruins scored three times on their first seven shots.

The Bears finally answered. Mike Vecchione (20) notched a power play goal at 8:52. Joe Snively (8) and Connor McMichael (17) had the assists.

But the Bruins got it right back. Vinni Lettieri (19) completed the hat trick just 10:20 into the game. Connor Carrick (27) and  John Beecher (12) had the assists. Zach Fucale replaced Hunter Shepard after the goal.

Aaron Ness scored his third goal of the season to close the gap to 4-2 with 1:57 remaining in the first frame. Henrik Rybinski (9) and Joe Snively (9) had the assists on the tally.

And that would be it for the first. Providence led in shots, 14-13 in the first period. The Bruins were 1 for 1 and the Bears 1 for 2 on the power play in the first frame.

SECOND PERIOD

After six goals in the first frame, the second period went scoreless.

Providence led in shots, 14-7 in the second period and 28-20 after 40 minutes of play.

Hershey was 1 for 2 and Providence 1 for 4 on the power play after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD

Vinny Iorio took a hard hit along the boards early in the second period and missed stretches of play in the middle frame. He did not return for the third period.

The Bears cut the Bruins lead to a single goal with an early tally from Henrik Rybinski (4) at 1:59 of the final frame. Shane Gersich (10) and Aaron Ness (11) had the assists.

But the Bears were unable to notch the tying tally, as the Bruins would ultimately add an empty net goal for the 5-3 final.

SHAVINGS

  • AHL box score
  • Attendance: 8,186
  • Bears have lost three consecutive games.
  • Bruins scored three times on their first seven shots.

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
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3 Responses to Bears Give Up Four Goals And A Hat Trick In First Half Of First Period, Fall To Bruins, 5-3

  1. Anonymous says:
    March 12, 2023 at 6:14 pm

    Well, that was different. Today it was a poor start. If they can ever figure out how to play a full 60, lookout.

    Reply
  2. KimRB says:
    March 12, 2023 at 9:37 pm

    Hope Iorio will be OK

    Wish this team could play 60 minutes

    Reply
  3. dwgie26 says:
    March 12, 2023 at 10:16 pm

    Well that wasn’t a good weekend for the bears. They needed a couple of wins.

    Reply

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