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Pierrick Dube takes league lead in goals as Bears crush Baby Pens 4-1

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Photo: Tori Hartman/Hershey Bears

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The Hershey Hears defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4-1 Wednesday in their first game back after the holiday break.

Pierrick Dube scored an empty netter to take the league lead in goals. Dube has 17 tallies so far this season, already beating his high of 16 last season in 13 less games. He’s currently on a four-game goal streak.

The Bears also got goals from Alex Limoges, Ethen Frank, and Joe Snively. Hunter Shepard started in net and made 20 saves in the win.

Alex Limoges opened scoring for the Bears 17:39 into the first period. Limoges grabbed a Pens’ turnover in the offensive zone and fired it past the Pens goaltender Magnus Hellberg.

The Bears got their second of the night halfway through the second period from Capitals prospect Ethen Frank. Joe Snively skated up through the left circle and shot the puck towards the net, where Frank redirected it left and over the shoulder of Hellberg.

Hershey we on a 4-on-3 man advantage after Pens forward Corey Andonovski boarded Limoges, prompting a fight between Andonovski and Dube. Both fighters received game misconducts, with Andonovski receiving an additional five minute major for the boarding call.

Joe Snively converted a goal for the Bears on the resulting power play. He snapped a shot from the top of the right circle past the netminder, giving the Bears a 3-0 lead at the end of the second.

The Penguins got their lone goal of the game 11:48 into the third period, making the score 3-1. The Pens pulled their netminder with 4:30 left in the game in an attempt to take the score back.

However, Dube would kill those dreams just 26 seconds later, scoring an empty netter to give the Bears the 4-1 win.

The win gives the Bears 25 wins in their first 31 games of the season.

Here were the lines from the game:

Notably not in the lineup are young forwards Ivan Miroshnichenko and Hendrix Lapierre, who were both called up to the Capitals Wednesday morning.

Here are the highlights:

Below is the game recap via press release:

BEARS TAKE DOWN PENGUINS, 4-1

Limoges scores goal and assist as Hershey wins sixth straight

(Hershey, PA – Dec. 27, 2023) – Bolstered by a season-high 37 shots on goal, the Hershey Bears (25-6-0-0) returned from their holiday break by picking up their sixth straight win with a 4-1 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (15-11-3-0) on Wednesday night in front of a sellout crowd of 10,505 at GIANT Center.

Hershey improved to 5-2-0-0 in its regular-season series with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and 3-0-0-0 on home ice against the Penguins this season.

In addition to their 25 wins so far, the Bears’ 50 points in the standings is also the most by the club through its first 31 games of any season in its 86-year history of play in the AHL.

BOX SCORE

Alex Limoges gave Hershey a 1-0 lead late in the first period when he picked off Rem Pitlick’s pass in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton zone and lofted a shot above the glove of Magnus Hellberg at 17:39 for an unassisted goal, and his ninth tally of the season.

Bolstered by a second period in which Hershey put up a season-high 16 shots on goal for the middle frame, the Bears continued to add to their goal totals.

Ethen Frank pushed the Chocolate and White up 2-0 at 12:18 of the second frame when he drove to the net and redirected Joe Snively’s centering feed past Hellberg for his 14th of the season. Mike Sgarbossa contributed a secondary assist.

Minutes later Corey Andonovski checked Limoges from behind along the glass at 13:05, prompting Pierrick Dubé to respond and scrap with Andonovski. A slashing penalty to the Penguins’ Colin White at 13:30 then resulted in a 4-on-3 man advantage for Hershey.

Snively converted on the power play when he snapped his eighth of the season past Hellberg at 13:51 to extend the lead to 3-0. Sgarbossa and Mike Vecchione assisted on the goal.

The Penguins got on the board at 11:48 of the third period when Austin Rueschhoff one-timed a shot from the slot past Hunter Shepard to spoil the goaltender’s bid for his second shutout of the season.

Dubé added an empty-net goal from Limoges and Jimmy Huntington at 15:56 to cap the scoring, giving the forward his league-leading 17th goal of the season.

Shots finished 37-21 in favor of the Bears. Shepard went 20-for-21 to earn his fifth consecutive victory and 14th victory of the season, tied for first in the AHL; Hellberg took the loss for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a 33-for-26 effort. Hershey went 1-for-2 on the power play; the Penguins went 0-for-2 with the man advantage.

Headline Photo: Tori Hartman/Hershey Bears

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