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Ethen Frank has two-point night as Bears sweep Wild in back-to-back

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The Hershey Bears defeated the Iowa Wild 2-1 for the second game in a row. The Bears now have a 15-4-0 record overall on the season, catapulting them back into first in the league.

Ethen Frank, the Bears’ leading goal scorer last season, had a goal and an assist in tonight’s game. Clay Stevenson was in net for the second matchup between the teams and made 26 saves, including several big ones down the stretch. The Bears’ power play unit shined in tonight’s game, with both goals coming on the man advantage.

Frank opened scoring for the Bears 9:47 into the first period. Frank — looking ovi-esque on the power play — fired the puck from the left circle past Wild goaltender Zane McIntyre.

The Bears found themselves on the power play again just under four minutes later. Alex Limoges took no time to convert on the advantage, tipping in a shot from Mike Sgarbossa on the faceoff just five seconds into the power play.

The Wild got themselves on the board with a power play goal of their own 10:31 into the second period.

The Bears attempted to respond with a shorthanded goal by Riley Sutter 3:19 later, but the puck was deemed to have been kicked in, ruling it no-goal (it appeared to hit his stick then his skates and go in). The Bears went into the 3rd period with a 2-1 lead.

The Bears went on the penalty kill with 2:25 left in the third period. The team managed to fight off a Wild six-on-four man advantage, and Clay Stevenson’s impresisve rally of saves helped secure the win for his team.

Below are the Bears lines from tonight’s game:

Here is today’s video recap of the game:

Below is the full recap of the Hershey Bears:

POWER PLAY POWERS BEARS TO 2-1 WIN OVER WILD

Hershey earns sixth consecutive victory

(Hershey, PA – Nov. 26, 2023) – The Hershey Bears (15-4-0-0) scored twice on the power play in the first period en route to a 2-1 victory over the Iowa Wild (6-9-1-1) on Sunday evening at GIANT Center. Hershey completed its second straight week in which it had swept all three of its games, and has won a season-high six consecutive matches.

In picking up their 15th win in only their 19th contest of the season, the Bears kept pace with the 1957-58 Bears squad (15-2-2) for the most wins in franchise history through their first 19 games.

BOX SCORE

Ethen Frank tallied his team-leading eighth goal of the season at 9:47 of the first period when he one-timed a Chase Priskie pass at the left circle above the blocker of Zane McIntryre for a power-play goal. The strike was Frank’s fifth of the season with the man advantage, and Hershey’s first conversion on the power play since Nov. 4 vs. Bridgeport. Mike Sgarbossa picked up a secondary assist on the goal.

Alex Limoges scored for the second time in as many nights, this time on the power play, off a face-off play at the left circle. Frank moved the puck to Sgarbossa, who sent it toward the front of the cage, where Limoges was able to slide a rebound underneath the pad of McIntryre for his fifth of the season at 13:31.

Iowa connected with a power-play goal of its own in the second period when Jake Lucchini managed to redirect Nic Petan’s shot off the crossbar, and it banked into the net past Clay Stevenson at the left post off the equipment of a Bears player at 10:31.

The Bears appeared to take a 3-1 lead with a shorthanded goal at 13:50, but Riley Sutter was deemed to have kicked the puck into the net by the official as Sutter attempted to corral his own rebound, negating the potential goal. A subsequent video review didn’t produce enough evidence for the officiating crew to overturn the decision, and the score remained 2-1 in favor of Hershey.

With approximately three minutes remaining in the second, Stevenson made three excellent saves on the same sequence, first denying Adam Raksa twice, then robbing Mike O’Leary with a blocker save while lying on his stomach in the crease. Overall, Iowa out-shot Hershey 19-5 in the second frame, with Stevenson turning in 18 stops in the middle frame; the 19 shots by the Wild were the most by a Bears opponent in a single period this season.

Hershey then closed down Iowa in the third, limiting the visitors to five shots on goal to secure the win.

Shots finished 27-20 in favor of the Wild. Stevenson went 26-for-27 to secure his sixth victory of the season; McIntyre went 18-for-20 in the defeat for Iowa. Hershey went 2-for-5 on the power play; the Wild went 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

Headline Photo: Tori Hartman/Hershey Bears

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