Screen cap: AHL TV
The Hershey Bears beat the Providence Bruins, 4-3 Saturday night at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. Dylan McIlrath scored twice, Vinny Iorio scored his 4th tally of the season and Pierrick Dube added his team-leading 16th goal of the season in the win. The victory improves the Bears record to an impressive 24-6-0 at the holiday break.
LINEUP
Clay Stevenson (9-4-0-4, 1.70 GAA, .934 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Bears. Michael DiPietro (7-4-0-2, 2.51 GAA, .916 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Bruins. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Joe Snively – Mike Sgarbossa – Ethen Frank
Alex Limoges – Jimmy Huntington – Pierrick Dube
Mike Vecchione – Garrett Roe – Bogdan Trineyev
Matthew Strome – Riley Sutter – Henrik Rybinski
Aaron Ness – Dylan McIlrath
Lucas Johansen – Vincent Iorio
Hardy Haman Aktell – Chase Priskie
Clay Stevenson
Hunter Shepard
Scratches: Jake Massie, Ryan Hofer, Logan Day, Dmitri Osipov, Nicky Leivermann and Colin Swoyer.
Recalls and Re-assignments: Lucas Johansen was waived by the Capitals on Monday and cleared and reported to the Bears on Tuesday. Mike Sgarbossa was recalled by the Capitals on Thursday and returned to the Bears on Friday.
Hendrix Lapierre and Ivan Miroshnichenko were recalled by the Capitals on Tuesday. Nicky Leivermann was recalled from South Carolina on Sunday.
1ST PERIOD
The Bears opened the scoring midway through the opening stanza. Vincent Iorio (4) got things started with a shot from the point at 10:15 of the first. Matt Strome (6) and Riley Sutter (6) had the helpers.
Vinnie just let that one fly for his fourth of the season ✈️
🍎Strome
🍏Sutter https://t.co/D6w3f3Pcw1 pic.twitter.com/U8B582nXgz— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 24, 2023
The Bears held the 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Hershey led in shots 14-8. Providence was 0 for 2 and Hershey 0 for 1 on the power play after 20 minutes of play.
2ND PERIOD
The Bruins tied the contest early in the second period. Vincent Arseneau (4) notched the tying tally just 2:06 into the middle frame. Marc McLaughlin (2) and Joey Abate (2) had the helpers.
Take a look at how Vincent Arseneau got us on the board! pic.twitter.com/WVzk8K4Lwz
— Providence Bruins (@AHLBruins) December 24, 2023
But the Bears immediately restored their lead with a blast from Dylan McIlrath (2) from the right point to make it 2-1 at 2:38. Chase Priskie (13) and Joe Snively (16) had the assists.
Second of the season for the Captain!
🍎Priskie
🍏Snively https://t.co/4CwRDWfMMy pic.twitter.com/trOhyf4XHE— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 24, 2023
The Bears quickly made it 3-1 on Dylan McIlrath‘s second goal of the game at 5:21. Aaron Ness (9) and Matt Strome (7) had the helpers.
Big Mac’s matched his single-game career-high with his second of the night!
🍎Ness
🍏Strome https://t.co/anDxzr4Zd5 pic.twitter.com/2FwM1IXlPQ— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 24, 2023
The Bruins answered and cut the Bears lead to a single goal on a tally from Anthony Richard (8) at 14:45. Luke Toporowski (8) and Reilly Walsh (10) had the assists.
The Bears held the 3-2 lead into the second intermission. Providence led in shots 15-6 in the second period and 23-20 after two periods. Providence was 0 for 3 and Hershey 0 for 1 on the power play after two periods.
3RD PERIOD
The Bears restored their two-goal lead with a goal from Pierrick Dubé (16) at 2:08 of the final frame. Chase Priskie (14) and Garrett Roe (6) had the assists.
🚨Pierrick Dubé has found the net for the third straight game and is now tied for @TheAHL goal-scoring lead!🚨
🍎Priskie
🍏Roe https://t.co/sGvVAn6tBp pic.twitter.com/iNUE8h3XGu— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 24, 2023
The Bruins added a late 6-on-5 goal from Reilly Walsh (3) to make it 4-3, the final.
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 9,601