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Hershey Bears win third straight after beating Providence Bruins 5-4 in shootout

By Faith Harris

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October 22, 2023 12:24 am

The Hershey Bears won the second night of their back-to-back against the Providence Bruins, giving them three-straight wins after being blanked on Opening Night. The action-filled game featured back-and-forth scoring, that eventually came down to a shootout. Pierrick Dube and Joe Snively scored in the shootout as Bears goalie Hunter Shephard was able to hold the Bruins to a single goal.

Two-goal nights from Ethen Frank and Jimmy Huntington helped lead the team to victory. Alex Limoges also had three assists on the night while Shephard stopped 32 of 36 shots.

Ethen Frank opened scoring for the team, finding the net on the power play.

Jimmy Huntington got his first goal of the season, putting the Bears up 2-1 just before the end of the first.

Frank’s second goal came on the power play once again, putting the puck over the Bruins’ goalie Kyle Keyser’s blocker.

Hungington scored his second from in front of the net with 54 seconds left in the game, giving the Bears a 4-3 lead.

The Bruins would tie it up with an extra man on the ice for their goaltender, evening the score with 9.8 seconds remaining in the game. This sent the matchup into overtime and the eventual shootout, where the Bears outshot the Bruins 2-1, securing the win.

Huntington’s efforts were recognized after the game as he received the team’s “Player of the Game” award – a bear head mask.

Here are the full-game highlights from the Providence Bruins.

Below is the full game recap from the Hershey Bears:

BEARS PICK UP 5-4 SHOOTOUT WIN AT PROVIDENCE

Frank and Huntington score twice for Hershey

(Providence, RI – Oct. 21, 2023) – Ethen Frank and Jimmy Huntington each scored twice, Alex Limoges had three assists, and the Hershey Bears (3-1-0-0) picked up a 5-4 shootout win over the Providence Bruins (1-1-0-2) on Saturday night at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. The victory pushed Hershey’s win streak to three games, and gave the Bears their first back-to-back road wins in Providence since Feb. 18, 2017 (4-0 W) and Nov. 17, 2017 (4-1 W).

BOX SCORE

Providence drew first blood just 1:18 into the contest when Oskar Steen snapped a shot that beat Hunter Shepard off the rush via a pass from former Bear Jayson Megna.

Hershey answered with a power-play goal at 10:02 when a loose puck trickled over from Chase Priskie to Frank at the left circle, and the Bears winger roofed his second of the season past Kyle Keyser.

Huntington then gave the Bears their first lead of the evening as Joe Snively carried the puck up the left wing into the Bruins zone and sent a spin-around pass to Limoges, who dished it to Huntington at the right circle to beat a lunging Keyser at 19:40.

Joey Abate had a chance to tie the game at 2-2 in the final moments of the opening frame when he beat Hunter Shepard with a slap shot on a shorthanded breakaway, but not the clock, as time had expired before the puck entered the net.

The Bears held firm in the second period, despite accruing five penalties that left the Bruins with multiple chances on the power play, including a 5-on-3 man advantage late in the frame. All told, Hershey’s defensive unit contained Providence to only 10 shots on goal, and carried the 2-1 lead into the third period.

Frank potted his second power-play goal of the night at 6:46 from Limoges and Mike Sgarbossa to put Hershey ahead 3-1, but the Bruins responded 61 seconds later as Fabian Lysell trimmed the Bears’ lead back to a goal at 7:47.

John Farinacci leveled the score for Providence at 12:00 to make it 3-3, and the score remained tied until the final minute of regulation, as Huntington scored his second of the contest from Limoges and Priskie at 19:05 to put Hershey ahead 4-3, but Megna found the equalizer for the hosts with Keyser pulled for an extra attacker at 19:50.

Hershey and Providence remained tied at 4-4 through the overtime period.

In the shootout, Providence elected to shoot second. Pierrick Dubé scored in the first round for Hershey, but Farinacci equalized for the Bruins in the second round. Joe Snively beat Keyser through the legs in the third round, and Shepard snatched Lysell’s attempt with the glove to secure the victory for Hershey.

Shots finished 36-32 in favor of the Bruins. Shepard earned his second win of the season with a 32-for-36 performance; Keyser went 27-for-31 in the loss for Providence. Hershey was 2-for-4 on the power play; the Bruins went 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

The Bears continue their road trip when they face the Bridgeport Islanders at Total Mortgage Arena on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 3 p.m. Hershey is back on home ice when it hosts the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at GIANT Center on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. for PNC Bank Magnet Schedule Night, when the first 8,000 fans in attendance will receive a 2023-24 season magnet schedule, courtesy of PNC Bank. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.

Headline photo: TMAC5179/Providence Bruins

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