Photo: Bridgeport Islanders
The Hershey Bears downed the Bridgeport Islanders, 3-2 (OT) Sunday afternoon at the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Mitch Gibson stopped 18 of 20 shots he faced in his AHL debut for the victory. The win improves the Bears record to 4-1-0 on the season.
Mitch Gibson (0-0-0) got the start in goal for the visiting Bears. It was his first career AHL game. Jakub Skarek (2-1-0, 2.46 GAA, .909 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Islanders. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Mike Vecchione – Mike Sgarbossa – Ethen Frank
Joe Snively – Jimmy Huntington – Alex Limoges
Ivan Miroshnichenko – Hendrix Lapierre – Pierrick Dube
Bogdan Trineyev – Riley Sutter – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Swoyer – Dylan McIlrath
Jake Massie – Logan Day
Chase Priskie – Vincent Iorio
Mitch Gibson
Hunter Shepard
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears opened the scoring on Ivan Miroshnichenkko‘s second goal of the season at 7:33 of the first period. Pierrick Dubé (3) and Hendrix Lapierre (3) had the helpers.
Ivan Miroshnichenko with his second goal of the season. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/HaU6oFXaBB
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) October 22, 2023
And that was it, as the first period concluded with the Bears holding the 1-0 lead. Bears led in shots 6-3 in the first 20 minutes. Bridgeport was 0 for 1 on the power play while Hershey did not have a man advantage in the first period.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bears made it 2-0 on Alex Limoges first goal with the Bears at 2:47 of the middle frame. Joe Snively (3) and Colin Swoyer (1) had the helpers.
Alex Limoges with his first goal for the Bears. Joe Snively with the assist. Little Caps doing work. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/crzvc42oYr
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) October 22, 2023
The Islanders closed the gap to 2-1 on a power play goal from Matthew Maggio (2) with less than two minutes remaining in the period. Ruslan Iskhakov (4) and former Capital Dennis Cholowski (3) had the assists.
WHAT A WEEKEND FOR MATTHEW MAGGIO! 🤩#SupremePort | #Isles pic.twitter.com/KYZWudzKP6
— Bridgeport Islanders (@AHLIslanders) October 22, 2023
The second period concluded with the Bears leading 2-1. Bears led in shots 7-4 in the second period and 13-7 after two periods of play.
THIRD PERIOD
The Islanders tied the game midway through the final frame. Tanner Fritz (1) notched the tying tally at 10:21 of the final frame. William Dufour (1) and Travis Mitchell (1) had the assists.
FRITZ! FRITZ! FRITZ!#SupremePort | #Isles pic.twitter.com/VlxYthvnj4
— Bridgeport Islanders (@AHLIslanders) October 22, 2023
Regulation concluded with the game tied 2-2. Bridgeport led in shots 13-6 in the third period and 20-19 after three periods of play. Hershey was 0 for 4 and Bridgeport 1 for 4 on the power play.
OVERTIME
The Bears won it on a goal from Mike Sgarbossa with 1:27 left in overtime.
Sgarbs called game.
🍎Swoyer
🍏Vecchione pic.twitter.com/lQOkuTdEEe— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) October 22, 2023
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Jimmy Huntington, Chase Priskie and Mike Sgarbossa led all Bears in shots with 3 ea.
- Stars of the game: Mike Sgarbossa, 2) Tanner Fritz and 3) Matthew Maggio.
- The Bears have now won four straight, since losing the season opener on home ice.
I think that the Caps will be cleaning house after this season due to the obvious gap between the younger and older players.
Only one Cap becomes a UFA after this season — Mantha. So harder to get the requisite picks and prospects this time around. Some of the kid defensemen reach RFA status (Alexeyev, Sandin, Aktell). Would a team be receptive to taking on a guy with a year left in term, such as Kuzy, Jensen, TVR), basically not totally a rental? Lots of Caps becoming UFA after 2024-25 to include Kuzy, TVR, Jensen, Carlson, Backstrom, TJ Oshie, and Dowd.
I don’t know about this. As Diane mentioned there aren’t going to be a lot of roster spots naturally open due to contracts. Also, there are only a couple of NHL ready prospects coming through Hershey who can crack NHL lineup as a regular next year. Best chances are Miro (so far) and Iorio who definitely needs this year in Hershey. Older players who could jump include Aktell (25), Ethan Frank (25) and Sutter (23). Many of the true prospect Bears are still a couple of years away (Lapierre, Sudz, Leonard, Cristal, and Chesley). Good news is that we’ll have roster flexibility around that same time. That is when we will see a lot more youth.
Players like Snively, Phillips, Sgarbossa, Limoges, McIlrath, are all AHL players with call-up potential. Jury still out on Dube, Rybinski, Hofer, and Trineyev. Goalie depth looks promising but still some time for them as well.
Leonard plays NHL games this season, also he’s NCAA, not a bear
Yeah… just jumbled everyone together in my stream of consciousness. Haha.
The guys i lumped won’t play NHL games this year and probably not next year. Part because of their path and part of what roster spots will be open next year.
That said, Miro, Leonard, and Cristal are all impressive. Still think it will be two years.
I watched most of this game. Great to see Miro score another. Looks like our first three lines are pretty set. Rolling Rybinski, Trienyev, Hofer on 4th line with Sutter and NAK (whom I like on that fourth line).
We also have Strome and Napvronic in the stands as well so we are going to need to think about sending Sudzy down to Charleston or back to Juniors. I’d also like to see some more development from Iorio. Hopefully he gets more meaningful minutes than on the third pair.
I do believe that when Edmundson comes off LTIR, both Aktel and Johansen will come to bears. At that point you probably pair McIlrath and Johansen, Aktel and Iorio, and Ness and Priskie (whom has also been playing well). Massie and Day as extras with Swoyer and Lievermann going to SC.
The real challenge here again is 19. CM should be 3C on this team and let him grow. I still think 77 has value and surprised Caps did not move him.
How do Caps prospects develop on a team where AHL regulars hog the bulk of the ice time? Miro cracks the ice as a third liner? Lapierre? Iorio? Winning appears to be more important than development. Unless I am reading that roster lineup wrong.
You do understand Hershey Bears AHL history, do you not? Winning does matter, especially in this market. And yet, the Bears consistently have prepared Caps talent. It’s not just about ice time – which the Bears give plenty of to Caps prospects.
It does. I was shocked to see the empty Bridgetown arena when the Bears played them yesterday. 2,600. I then looked up the last Bears Sunday home game — over 8,000. Bears get that attendance by putting on a good show — and winning does that.
The Chicago Wolves did not renew their partnership with the Carolina Hurricanes because the Canes (according to the Wolves) were far too much concerned about shuffling their prospects around than they were about the Wolves winning the Calder Cup.
It’s a balance. If you want to be a financially successful club you have to put a good team out on that ice. At the same time, you have to be sure you’re living up to your expectations of developing NHL players.
As you said, the Bears average over 8,000 a game. High profile games sell out at 10,500. Very active season ticket holders too. The amount of money they make on merch is astounding.
I’ve watched many Caps players in Hershey develop and move on including Vrana, Vaneczek, McMichael, Johansson, Milano, etc. They benefit from veteran AHL talent around them and learning how to be part of a system, on top of ice time. The extended season and championship last year really benefitted players like Johansson and Frank. Winning a Calder Cup doesn’t just benefit Hershey and its fans but the players too.
Last I read or heard, the Caps were very happy with how Hershey is preparing their prospects. I would only assume Carbury is the same since he knows how Hershey operates from the inside.
But yes, winning is what matters. Otherwise, why play? What player wants to be on a losing team? “Oh, but you’re learning!” Yeah. To lose.
Agreed. The best partnerships have respect from all for all and trying to balance all needs. And the players in that environment do better.