Screen cap: AHL TV
The Hershey Bears downed the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 2-1 Wednesday night at the Giant Center in Hershey. The victory movdx the Bears record to 13-4-0 on the season.
Hunter Shepard got the start between the pipes for the Bears. Joel Blomqvist got the start in goal for the visiting Penguins. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Mike Vecchione – Mike Sgarbossa – Ethen Frank
Joe Snively – Jimmy Huntington – Alex Limoges
Bogdan Trineyev – Garrett Roe – Pierrick Dube
Ivan Miroshnichenko – Riley Sutter – Matthew Strome
Hardy Haman-Aktell – Dylan McIlrath
Aaron Ness – Vincent Iorio
Chase Priskie – Logan Day
Hunter Shepard
Clay Stevenson
Scratches: Jake Massie (lower body injury), Henrik Rybinski (upper body injury), Ryan Hofer, Dmitry Osipov, Nicky Leibermann and Colin Swoyer.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears opened the scoring early in the first stanza. Captain Dylan McIlrath (1) notched the game’s first score at 2:46. Riley Sutter (3) and Matt Strome (3) had the helpers.
First of the season for @dylan_mcilrath!
🍎Sutter
🍏Strome https://t.co/2nmke7YhAH pic.twitter.com/0hK6lfICFx— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) November 23, 2023
But the Baby Pens answered midway through the first with a goal from Rem Pitlick (4) at 10:37.
Elite goal scoring from Rem 😤 pic.twitter.com/XYckuk3sRu
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) November 23, 2023
The game remained tied 1-1 into the first intermission. Shots on goal were tied 10-10. The Baby Pens were 0 for 1 on the power play while the Bears did not have a man advantage.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bears made it 2-1 on Riley Sutter‘s second goal of the season at 2:52 of the second period. The goal was setup by a beautiful pass from below the goal by Ivan Miroshnichenko. Ivan Miroshnichenko (5) and Hardy Häman Aktell (1) had the assists.
OMG. Ivan Miroshnichenko goes full Kuzy to feed Riley Sutter. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/HMgEn46DYu
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) November 23, 2023
The Bears received their first power play of the game shortly after Sutter’s tally, with the Pens’ Xavier Ouellet getting sent to the sin bin for hooking; Hershey failed to convert. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton would get their second man-advantage at 11:17 after Bears defenseman Vincent Iorio was nicked for tripping. The Penguins would again fail to convert.
The two rivals would enter the second intermission with the Chocolate and White leading 2-1. The Penguins finished the frame with 18 total shots through two periods to Hershey’s 19.
THIRD PERIOD
The third frame was largely uneventful through the first half, with neither team being called for penalties nor any scoring from either side. This was broken at the 10:36 mark, when Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Ty Smith was called for slashing. However, Hershey once again failed to convert.
Despite a late, failed power play opportunity, the Bears hung on to a narrow, 2-1 victory, pushing their record to 13-4-0 on the season. The Bears finished the night with a 32-23 advantage in shots and neither team being able to convert with the man-advantage.
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That’s one of the coolest plays I’ve seen in 40+ years watching hockey. Miro has high end offensive skills. Hopefully, he’ll commit to learning to play good defensive hockey as well. So happy he’s a Cap. Nice instinctive finish for Sutter, too.