The Hershey Bears defeated the Providence Bruins 4-3 Saturday night in their final game before the holiday break. The Bears are now 24-6-0, their best record in club history at the 30-game mark, and remain atop the AHL standings.
Forward Pierrick Dube scored his 16th goal of the season tonight, tying him for the league lead in goals with former NHLer Adam Gaudette and rookie Jiri Kulich. Tonight’s goal was also Dube’s third-straight game scoring for the Bears.
Dube’s goal came 2:08 into the third period when he fired a slapshot at Bruins’ goaltender Michael DiPietro. The puck bounced off the pads of the netminder and into the net, giving the Bears a then 4-2 lead over Providence.
🚨Pierrick Dubé has found the net for the third straight game and is now tied for @TheAHL goal-scoring lead!🚨
🍎Priskie
🍏Roe https://t.co/sGvVAn6tBp pic.twitter.com/iNUE8h3XGu— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 24, 2023
Just 30 games into the season, Dube has already matched his season high for goals. He scored 16 goals in 44 games with the Laval Rocket during the 2022-2023 contest. With the Bears this season, Dube has been splitting time between the second and third line, playing at right wing.
Other goals tonight come from Capitals’ prospect Vincent Iorio and Bears Captain Dylan McIlrath, who scored twice in the second period. Clay Stevenson played in net for Hershey, making 27 saves against Providence.
Here were the lines:
Tonight’s projected lineup against the Bruins 📝
Matt Strome is slated to play in his 200th pro game tonight!
Catch tonight’s broadcast:
🖥️ https://t.co/HaxQBmLCRZ
📻@FroggyValley, @foxsports1460am pic.twitter.com/GSy05DCBeM— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 23, 2023
Here are the full highlights from the game:
Below is the full game recap via Bears press release:
MCILRATH SCORES TWICE FOR BEARS IN 4-3 WIN OVER BRUINS
Hershey heads into holiday break with best start through first 30 games in franchise history
(Hershey, PA – Dec. 23, 2023) – Dylan McIlrath enjoyed the second two-goal game of his career and the Hershey Bears (24-6-0-0) triumphed over the Providence Bruins (14-12-2-2) on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 9,601 at GIANT Center to head into the American Hockey League’s holiday break atop the league standings and riding a five-game winning streak.
In addition to their 24 wins so far, the Bears’ 48 points in the standings is also the most by the club through its first 30 games of any season in its 86-year history of play in the AHL.
Vincent Iorio opened the scoring for Hershey at 10:15 of the first period when he took a pass from Matt Strome and let a wrist shot go from the right point that evaded the blocker of Michael DiPietro for Iorio’s fourth of the season. Riley Sutter received a secondary assist on the goal.
The Bruins tied the score early in the second period as Joey Abate forced a turnover as Clay Stevenson attempted to play the puck in the trapezoid, and Abate found Marc McLaughlin, whose shot was knocked in by Vincent Arseneau at 2:06.
The Bears responded a little over half a minute later, however, as McIlrath unloaded a shot from the right point that beat DiPietro high to the blocker side at 2:38 for McIlrath’s second of the season, with Chase Priskie and Joe Snively contributing assists.
McIlrath found twine again at 5:21 to give Hershey a 3-1 edge, with a wrist shot from the right point that evaded DiPietro, giving McIlrath the second two-goal game of his AHL career, and his first since April 12, 2018 as a member of the Grand Rapids Griffins at San Antonio. Aaron Ness and Strome picked up helpers on the goal.
Providence pulled back to within a goal when Anthony Richard tallied at 14:45.
Hershey restored the two-goal lead early in the third period when Priskie found Pierrick Dubé in the slot, and the forward’s one-timer banked off the equipment of DiPietro and a Providence defender into the cage at the 2:08 mark for his 16th of the season. Garret Roe picked up an additional assist on the goal. For Dubé, the goal moved him into a tie with Springfield’s Adam Gaudette and Rochester’s Jiri Kulich for the AHL’s goal-scoring lead.
With DiPietro pulled for an extra skater in the final minutes, Reilly Walsh got a goal back for Providence at 19:15, but the Bears closed the game out.
Shots finished 30-22 in favor of the Bruins. Stevenson went 27-for-30 to earn his 10th victory of the season, tops among rookie netminders; DiPietro took the loss for Providence with an 18-for-22 effort. Hershey went 0-for-1 on the power play; the Bruins went 0-for-6 with the man advantage.
Headline Photo: Hershey Bears / Tori Hartman
