Going into Friday night’s matchup with division rivals the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the Hershey Bears were missing five important players in their usual starting lineup.
The Bears have been without star forward Ethen Frank due to a lower-body injury he suffered against the Providence Bruins on Feb. 9. Bears’ captain Dylan McIlrath was out due to a two-game suspension for fighting. The Capitals have also dipped heavily into Bears lineup due to their own injury, calling up forwards Mike Sgarbossa, Pierrick Dube, and Hendrix Lapierre.
No matter, like they’ve done many times this season, the Bears still found a way to win despite their challenges. With strikes from Ryan Hofer and Chase Priskie, along with empty netters from Matt Strome and Bogdan Trineyev, the Bears came together to defeat the Baby Pens 4-1.
After a shorthanded goal from the Pens early in the first, Hofer got the Bears their first goal 13:57 into the game. Hofer skated up the ice and cut to the left circle, where he fired the puck into the net.
The game remained tied 1-1 until the third period, where Priskie found the net for Hershey on the power play. Mike Vecchione passed the puck to Priskie deep in the left circle, where he shot a wrister that beat goaltender Joel Blomqvist.
The goal put Hershey ahead 2-1 with 3:36 left in the game. The Bears would score two empty netters to secure a 4-1 win.
Bears goaltender and AHL All-Star Clay Stevenson started in net for the Bears against the Pens. He made 24 saves in the game, including an insane move where he stopped the puck and caught the rebound behind his back.
Before the game, Hershey called up Tyson Empny and Kevin O’Neil from the ECHL South Carolina Stingrays to fill in the roster gaps.
Tonight's projected lineup against the Penguins📝
Kevin O'Neil is making his season debut for the Bears tonight!
Catch the broadcast:
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📻@FroggyValley, @foxsports1460am, @WOYK1350 (joined in-progress), @CapitalsRadio pic.twitter.com/C9XHU89Sjw— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) February 23, 2024
Below is the full Bears’ press release:
BEARS TAKE DOWN PENGUINS 4-1 IN RETURN HOME
Priskie scores game-winner for Hershey, Strome enjoys two-point night
(Hershey, PA – Feb. 23, 2024) – The Hershey Bears (40-9-0-3) returned home from a five-game road trip and came away with a 4-1 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (26-18-7-1) on Friday night in front of a crowd of 10,520 at GIANT Center.
With the win, the Chocolate and White became the first team in the American Hockey League this season to reach the 40-win plateau. The Bears improved to 8-2-0-0 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in head-to-head play this season and 5-0-0-0 on home ice. Hershey has earned points in its last four games (3-0-0-1) and has won six consecutive home games.
Jonathan Gruden gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded breakaway goal at 5:49, beating Clay Stevenson to the blocker side.
Ryan Hofer leveled the score with his third of the season at 13:57 when he took a pass from Jake Massie in the neutral zone, skated into the offensive zone and snapped a low shot that beat Joel Blomqvist. Matt Strome earned a secondary assist.
The score remained tied through much of the second and third periods, before Chase Priskie broke the deadlock with a power-play marker from the left circle at 16:22 of the final frame for his sixth of the season. Mike Vecchione and Joe Snively earned assists.
Strome and Bogdan Trineyev then added shorthanded empty-net tallies at 18:05 and 19:30, respectively, to close out the game.
Shots finished 25-23 in favor of the Penguins. Stevenson went 24-for-25 for his 18th win of the season for Hershey; Blomqvist took the loss for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a 19-for-21 effort. The Bears went 1-for-7 on the power play; the Penguins went 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
