Photo: X/@AmerksHockey

The Hershey Bears downed the Rochester Americans, 4-2, Friday night at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y. Lucas Johansen scored his first of the season for the Bears, Mike Sgarbossa added a power play tally, Mike Vecchione added his 8th of the campaign and Bogdan Trineyev added an empty net tally in the victory. The win is the Bears seventh-straight and improves their record to 26-6-0 on the season.

LINEUP

Clay Stevenson (10-4-0-4, 1.79 GAA, .931 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Bears. Devin Cooley (5-3-2-0, 3.78 GAA, .890 sv%) got the start in goal for the Amerks. 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
Ryan Hofer – Riley Sutter – Henrik Rybinski

Aaron Ness – Logan Day
Lucas Johansen – Vincent Iorio
Hardy Haman Aktell – Chase Priskie

Clay Stevenson
Hunter Shepard

Scratches: Dylan McIlrath (lower body injury), Jake Massie, Matthew Strome, Dmitri Osipov.

Recalls and Reassignments: Nicky Leivermann and Colin Swoyer were re-assigned to South Carolina on Thursday.

1ST PERIOD

The Bears started quick in this one, recording the first six shots on goal before Rochester was able to record their first of the game with 11:09 remaining in the period.

The Bears started the scoring with a goal from Lucas Johansen (1) at 14:20 of the first frame. Riley Sutter (7) and Henrik Rybinski (2) had the helpers.

First of the season for @LucasJohansen97!

🍎Sutter
🍏Rybinski https://t.co/MaxB2TZqng pic.twitter.com/dfpriT2r63

— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 30, 2023

And that was it for the first frame. Hershey led in shots 13-10. Both sides were 0 for 1 on the power play in the first 20 minutes.

2ND PERIOD

The Amerks tied the game just  24 seconds into the middle frame. Linus Weissbach (4) notched the tying tally, assisted by Lukas Rousek (12) and Tyson Jost (1).

THAT’S HOW YOU START THE SECOND PERIOD!

We’ve got a 1-1 hockey game here at home 🤝 pic.twitter.com/mh7mTBoCkE

— Rochester Americans (@AmerksHockey) December 30, 2023

The Bears restored their lead at little past the midway point on Mike Sgarbossa‘s 6th goal of the season at 11:57. It came on the power play. Ethen Frank (13) and Joe Snively (17) had the assists.

Some excellent puck movement and Sgarbs puts home his sixth of the season!

🍎Frank
🍏Snively https://t.co/Su8I31ShpE pic.twitter.com/7o1obgNghd

— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 30, 2023

The Bears held the 2-1 lead into the second intermission. Hershey led in shots 11-9 in the second period and 24-19 after two periods. The Bears were 1 for 2 and Amerks 0 for 1 on the power play after 40 minutes of play.

THIRD PERIOD

The Amerks tied the game midway through the final frame. Tyson Jost (1), waived by the Buffalo Sabres on  Thursday, notched the tying marker on the power play with a filthy dagger at 8:03. Viktor Neuchev (4) and Linus Weissbach (8) had the helpers.

TYSON JOST TIES US AT TWO 🚨‼️ pic.twitter.com/TR25GYz6hk

— Rochester Americans (@AmerksHockey) December 30, 2023

The Bears grabbed a late lead on Mike Vecchione‘s 8th goal of the season at 14:13 of the final frame. Garrett Roe (7) had the lone assist.

🗣️𝙔𝙀𝙎 𝙎𝙄𝙍!!!@Mvecc8 breaks the deadlock with his eighth of the season!

🍎Roe https://t.co/EA6zE96XGO pic.twitter.com/15poNZwz7D

— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 30, 2023

The Bears added an empty net goal from Bogdan Trineyev to make it 4-2, the final.

SHAVINGS

• AHL box score
• Attendance: 9,092
• Jimmy Huntington’s 200th AHL game.