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Pierrick Dube scores twice, Hershey’s winning streak extends to nine in 4-1 victory over Charlotte

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The Hershey Bears opened the New Year with a 4-1 victory over the Charlotte Checkers Wednesday night. The Bears now have nine straight wins, tying their run in November for the AHL’s longest winning streak of the season. The team has not lost since December 10th when they fell to Charlotte 3-1 at home. The Bears’ 56 standings points is 11 more than the next closest team. The Cleveland Monsters have 45.

Pierrick Dube scored twice in the win to bring his goal total this season to 19, regaining a share of the AHL goal-scoring lead. Dube is tied with Chicago Wolves’ forward Rocco Grimaldi. Dube’s second goal of the night was about as bizarre as they come. Racing in on a breakaway, Dube fired a shot that missed the net. The puck then ricocheted off the glass, struck goaltender Spencer Knight’s leg, and crossed the goal line.

Mike Vecchione scored and Henrik Rybinski found the back of the net for the first time this season. Jimmy Huntington earned First Star of the Game for his two assists in the matchup.

Charlotte scored their lone goal of the game early, getting on the board just 2:25 into play.

Vecchione tied the game for the Bears 6:58 into the first while on the power play. A shot from Alex Limoges hit off the post, and Vecchione managed to jam the loose puck past Knight.

Rybinski’s first of the year came on a second-period short-handed goal. During the final seconds of 4-on-4 play, Rybinski rushed up the offensive zone on a 3-on-2 with Aaron Ness and Jimmy Huntington. Ness fired the puck from the right side, and Rybinski deflected it in just as the time switched to the Charlotte power play. The tally ended up being the game-winner.

Dube got his first of the game towards the end of the second. Huntington passed to Dube at the left circle, who fired a slapshot past the netminder to make the score 3-1.

Dube’s second goal and the Bear’s final tally of the night surprisingly came on a missed shot that somehow found its way into the net.

Here was the lineup for the game:

Here are the highlights:

Below is the full game recap via press release:

BEARS WIN NINTH STRAIGHT IN 4-1 TRIUMPH OVER CHECKERS

Rybinski breaks 1-1 tie with shorthanded game-winner for Hershey; Dubé tallies twice

(Hershey, PA – Jan. 3, 2024) – The Hershey Bears (28-6-0-0) opened 2024 with a 4-1 victory over the Charlotte Checkers (16-12-3-0) on Wednesday night at GIANT Center to earn their ninth consecutive win, matching a season-high.

Hershey’s two nine-game win streaks (Nov. 15 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton – Dec. 9 vs. Cleveland; Dec. 13 vs. Providence – present) represent the longest win streak of any AHL club this season; the team is 18-1-0-0 in its last 19 games. Hershey improved to 3-1-0-0 against Charlotte in head-to-head action in the 2023-24 campaign.

In addition to their 28 wins so far, the Bears’ 56 points in the standings is also the most by the club through its first 34 games of any season in its 86-year history of play in the AHL.

BOX SCORE

Charlotte took an early 1-0 lead after Justin Sourdif redirected a shot from the left point by Dennis Cesana past Clay Stevenson at 2:25.

The Bears answered a little over four and a half minutes later with a power-play goal, as Alex Limoges’ shot rang off the post of Spencer Knight, but after a brief scramble in front of the Checkers’ net, Mike Vecchione stuffed his ninth of the season into the cage at 6:58. Pierrick Dubé received credit for the secondary assist.

Henrik Rybinski pulled Hershey ahead 2-1 with a shorthanded goal at 10:05 of the second frame. The sophomore forward broke into the offensive zone as Jimmy Huntington crisscrossed the puck over to Aaron Ness at the right circle, who threaded a pass for Rybinski to put past Knight.

Dubé added to his team-leading goal total with his 18th of the season at 16:04 when Lucas Johansen sent the puck down the left wall to Huntington, who turned back at the circle and found Dubé in the slot, and the forward snapped a shot into the upper-left corner of the net.

Dubé finished the scoring in the third when he skated in on Knight on a breakaway, only to see his shot strike the glass and bounce back over the net, where it banked in off the goalie’s right leg and into the cage at 17:00 for Dubé’s second of the evening and his 19th of the season, tying him with Chicago Wolves forward Rocco Grimaldi for the league lead.

Shots finished 29-27 in favor of the Checkers. Stevenson put up a 28-for-29 effort to get his 13th victory of the season, the most among rookie netminders; Knight took the loss for Charlotte with a 23-for-27 effort. Hershey went 1-for-4 on the power play; the Checkers went 0-for-2 with the man advantage.

Headline Photo: Hershey Bears / Tori Hartman

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