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Ethen Frank healthy-scratched, Vincent Iorio misses Game Three of Eastern Conference Finals due to injury

By Ian Oland

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May 27, 2023 8:14 pm

The Hershey Bears’ lineup has virtually gone unchanged throughout the entire 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs as they’ve won seven of nine games. But on Saturday for Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals, head coach Todd Nelson scratched arguably the team’s best player during the regular season. The Bears were also without one of their top prospects on defense due to injury.

First-line forward Ethen Frank was a healthy scratch while second-pairing defenseman Vincent Iorio could not suit up.

Frank and Iorio joined first-line center Mike Sgarbossa out of the lineup who has missed the last five games due to an undisclosed injury.

After posting a team-high 30 goals in the regular season, Frank has gone goalless in eight postseason games as Hershey’s first line for much of the regular season (Mike Vecchione-Sgarbossa-Frank) has struggled to deliver and stay healthy, posting only three goals and six assists total. Frank has two assists total and has fired 15 shots on goal, far from his over three shots per game average during the regular season.

Frank missed all of April except for the final game of the season where he scored a hat trick due to an upper-body injury. During the television telecast of the game, voice of the Bears, Zach Fisch, said Nelson was “hitting the reset button” on Frank, similar to what he did with Hendrix Lapierre late in the season, to jumpstart his game.

Meanwhile, Iorio is out day-to-day due to injury per Fisch. When I asked if his injury was upper or lower-body, a Bears’ representative said, “Medical staff isn’t providing us that info presently.”

Mason Morelli, who has been a key member of the Bears’ physical and highly-offensive fourth line, was promoted to the top trio after posting his second multi-point game over the last four outings in Thursday’s Game Two 2-0 victory. Shane Gersich, a black ace during the Capitals’ Stanley Cup championship run in 2018, got a jersey for the first time this postseason and suited up on the fourth line.

Iorio was replaced by Jake Massie on the third pairing. Lucas Johansen flipped to right side to accommodate the change.

Headline photo: Tori Hartman/Hershey Bears

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