AHL

Vincent Iorio Scores OT Winner, Hershey Bears Defeat Providence Bruins 3-2 For 20th Victory of the Season

By Michael Fleetwood·

@TheHersheyBears/X

The Hershey Bears downed the Providence Bruins Wednesday night at Giant Center in Hershey in overtime. The win improves the Bears record to 20-5-0 on the season. Hunter Shepard made 24 stops in the victory.

LINEUP

Hunter Shepard got the start between the pipes for the Bears. Brandon Bussi got the start in goal for the visiting Bruins. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Ivan Miroshnichenko – Mike Sgarbossa – Ethen Frank
Alex Limoges – Jimmy Huntington – Pierrick Dube
Garrett Roe – Hendrix Lapierre – Bogdan Trineyev
Ryan Hofer – 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), Joe Snively, Dmitri Osipov and Colin Swoyer.

1ST PERIOD

The Bears wasted no time in taking the lead against their Atlantic Division rivals, with Ivan Miroshnichenko potting his seventh goal of the season just 59 seconds in; Ethen Frank recorded the assist on the goal.

The period ended with the Bears on top 1-0. The two teams went 0-1 on respective power play opportunities, with the Bruins still on the man-advantage for 30 seconds at the conclusion of the opening frame; both teams fired six shots on the opposing goalie.

2ND PERIOD

The second period saw neither team able to beat the opposing netminder for the majority of the frame, although both clubs had ample opportunities, with roughing and slashing minors being dealt at the 8:20 mark and both clubs combining for 10 penalty minutes (PIMs) in the frame.

The deadlock was broken at the 17:12 mark, when the Bruins’ Joey Abate potted his second of the season; Frederic Brunet and Trevor Kuntar picked up assists.

Providence was gifted a late power play when the Bears’ Mike Sgarbossa was called for hooking at 18:25; Georgii Merkulov broke the tie at 18:58 on the power play to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead heading into the second intermission; John Farinacci and Anthony Richard assisted.

The shots after 40 were 18-10 in favor of the Bruins.

3RD PERIOD

The Chocolate and White knotted the score up at 2-2 when Pierrick Dube beat Bussi for his 13th goal on assists from Sgarbossa and Logan Day.

With neither Providence and Hershey able to break the deadlock, the game proceeded to overtime. At the conclusion of regulation, the Bruins held a 24-22 advantage in SOG and both clubs had scored once on their respective five (PRO) and three (HER) power plays.

OVERTIME

The Bears clinched the victory at 3:48 of OT on a goal from Vincent Iorio, who picked up his third of the 2023-24 campaign on assists from Mike Sgarbossa and Ethen Frank.

SHAVINGS
– AHL Box Score
– 3 Stars of the Game: 1. Vincent Iorio 2. Pierrick Dube 3. Ivan Miroshnichenko