Entering their game against the Syracuse Crunch Friday night, Hershey Bears players had no idea that some of them would be making one their final impressions before the Caps would call up a forward. They put on a good showing, defeating the Crunch 5-1.

Jakub Vrana opened up the scoring in the first with a breakaway goal after a nice pass from Chris Bourque. The tally would be Vrana’s eighth of the season. Bourque and Christian Thomas would each add two goals as the game went on.

Chris Bourque leads the Bears in points after Friday with four goals and twelve assists. Though Vrana owns the lead for goals with eight, veteran Christian Thomas has put up an impressive six for second on the team. Chandler Stephenson recorded three assists on the night as well, pushing his assist total to seven on the year. Vitek Vanecek stopped 23 of 24 shots for the win.

Saturday night, the Caps will call up at least one player after the Bears’ game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Three Caps’ forwards left Friday night’s game against the Red Wings and did not return. On Saturday, the team classified Oshie as week-to-week while Eller is listed day-to-day.

Jakub Vrana goal

.@JVranaa capitalizes on a breakaway to give @TheHersheyBears an early lead. #SYRvsHER pic.twitter.com/ocoEjkz2qe

— AHL (@TheAHL) November 19, 2016

Christian Thomas’s 2 goals

Chris Bourque’s 2 goals

Full game highlights

Game recap

(Hershey, PA- November 18, 2016)-Special teams were the story Friday night as the Hershey Bears topped the Syracuse Crunch 5-1 at the GIANT Center. The Bears scored three power play goals and held Syracuse to 0-for-9 on the power play in the win. Both Christian Thomas and Chris Bourque had a pair of goals in the victory, while Christian Djoos and Chandler Stephenson notched three assists.

Despite being whistled for 12 penalty minutes in the opening period, Hershey held a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. After killing six straight minutes of penalties, Hershey struck on only its second shot of the game. Chris Bourque floated a pass down the ice, and Jakub Vrana won the footrace. Vrana dashed in on a breakaway, and beat Adam Wilcox with a shot blocker-side for his eighth goal of the season at 8:03.

At 12:34, Hershey struck on the power play as Thomas scored his fifth goal of the season to make it 2-0. The Hershey forward made a great move around a defender, and surprised Wilcox with a shot that rolled through the netminder’s five-hole. The goal was assisted by Djoos and Stephenson. The tally ended Wilcox’s night. He allowed two goals on four shots.

Chris Bourque would score his first goal of the game at 14:36, throwing a shot from a bad angle off new netminder Kristers Gudlevskis and into the net to make it 3-0.

The Crunch added the lone goal of the second period as Tanner Richard was credited with a tally at 33 seconds to make it 3-1. However, in the third period, Thomas and Chris Bourque added late power play goals at 15:49 and 19:29 to seal the win for Hershey.

Forward Paul Carey assisted on Hershey’s fifth goal, extending his point-streak to a league best 11 games. Vitek Vanecek earned the win in goal for Hershey, stopping 23 shots. The Crunch outshot the Bears 24-22.

The Bears are back in action tomorrow for a matchup with rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The puck drops at 7 p.m. versus the Penguins and tickets are available.