Hershey Bears Recap 2/24
Well, the dog days of winter are upon us, and the tension of an early spring before a snowstorm reminds us it is still winter. Hershey Bears hockey pushes on as we reach the last third of the season.
On Wednesday, February 18th, the Bears concluded their four-game Canadian road trip with a morning game in Toronto against the Marlies. It was supposed to be a school-day game, but a sleet storm left the Coca-Cola Coliseum empty, then filled it with screaming grade schoolers.
The Bears' first-period woes would continue in this game, as Hershey was outshot 17-7, even with a power play. Toronto managed to get more shots, even without it’s top forwards, Travis Boyd and Henry Thurn. In the second period, Toronto would get two goals from Luke Haymes, his ninth, and Alex Nylander on the power play, his 11th, to make it 2-0. Hershey would respond with a power-play goal of their own with Ivan Miroshnichenko for his 10th, who has seen his production ramp up since the All-Star break.
In the third period, Hershey would mount a comeback as Ilya Protas got his team-leading 19th goal of the season, and just 90 seconds later, Miroshnichenko gave Hershey the lead for good. It was Miroshnichenko's 11th of the season, and Hershey would close out the Canada road trip with a win.
On Friday, February 20th, Hershey began a twin game set against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, who entered the game with a five-game losing streak. Hershey came out with the first six shots, but Lehigh would get the game's first two goals. Alex Bump would score on the power play, and Cooper Marody would get his fifth to make it 2-0 Phantoms after the first period.
- Photo Credit: Hershey Bears
The Phantoms would add to their lead on the second with Tucker Robertson’s 11th of the season to make it 3-0. Hershey would finally answer with a power-play goal from Corey Schueneneman to make it 3-1 on his third of the season. However, the Phantoms would answer back with a goal from Phil Tomasino, his eighth, to make it 4-1. The game would devolve into a slugfest in the third, with both teams getting into fights, and Dalton Smith getting ejected for having two fights in the same period, let alone the game. The Phantoms ended their losing streak and kept their winning streak against the Bears alive.
On Saturday, February 21st, the Bears and Phantoms would clash once again in the rematch of a back-to-back game at Giant Center. In front of a sold-out crowd at Giant Center, the Bears would get the first goal on a lucky bounce that saw a puck hit a stanchion of the glass and deflect into the wide-open net for the first goal of the game. Goaltender Carson Bjarnason went to play the puck behind the net, but the puck never made it there. Jon McDonald got credit for the goal, his second of the season.
After that, the Phantoms took over the period, scoring three goals, two from Alex Bump, with one on the power play for his ninth and 10th of the season. Oliver Bonk scored on a play in which the Bears were more concerned with a corner screen than defending Bonk. This was Bonk’s third of the season, and the Phantoms entered the intermission up, 3-1.
In the second, Christian Kyrou would extend the Phantoms' lead to make it 4-1, and then the Bears woke up. Henrik Rybinski scored 2 goals of his own, one off another lucky bounce off the end boards, for his eighth and ninth of the season, pulling Hershey within 1. Recalled from the Stingrays, Kaden Bohlsen would clean up a net-mouth scramble to tie the game at 4-4 for his first AHL goal.
Unfortunately, the Phantoms would retake the lead just three and a half minutes later as Alexis Gendron would get his 9th of the season to make it 5-4. Lehigh would get an empty-net goal from Zayde Wisdom, his ninth, and the Phantoms would take both games of the weekend, with the 6-4 victory at Giant Center.
The Bears are still 4th in the 52-point standings (22-20-6-2), but the Phantoms are catching up with 50 points, and the Bridgeport Islanders with 49. Hershey will have one more home game on Wednesday, February 25th, against the Utica Comets. Hershey travels to Rockford, Illinois, for a pair of games in the Midwest.
- Richard Blosser/Olde City Sports Network
- Photo Credit: Hershey Bears
