For the third time this season, Alex Limoges played the overtime hero for the Hershey Bears.
The Bears headed into overtime with one minute and 19 seconds of 4-on-3 power play time to their advantage. Working in the offensive zone, Chase Priskie fired the puck toward the net, where Limoges was in front to bury the rebound for the victory.
The goal came 1:20 into overtime just as the power play expired for the Bears.
Along with his three overtime game-winning goals, Limoges has totaled 15 goals and 37 points overall this season. Bears head coach Todd Nelson commented on Limoges’ overtime goal in the postgame press conference.
“He’s just a smart player,” Nelson said. “He puts himself in spots where it allows him to score those big goals at the big time of the game.”
Limoges’ other overtime goals came on November 16th against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and January 7th on the Bears’ Teddy Toss Night against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The former Washington Little Cap has 37 points (15g, 22a) in 43 games this season.
Limoges’ good play hasn’t gone unnoticed by top Capitals’ brass as well. Earlier this week, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery mentioned Limoges as someone who might get a look in Washington and make his NHL debut later this season.
“Dubé, [Alex] Limoges, Ethen Frank all had real good camps and had tremendous years…[Clay] Stevenson, Lappy (Hendrix Lapierre),” he said. “You go down the list.”
“There’s a lot of guys, especially guys that are, I don’t like to use the word ‘veteran,’ because they’re two, three, four years into their careers. They’re still young pros, but those are the type — like the Limoges of the world. So a lot of guys deserving.”
The other goal of the night for the Bears came from Russian forward Bogdan Trineyev, who now has goals in three straight games.
Chase Priskie passed to Trineyev at the goal line left of the net, where he fired a wrister past goaltender Devon Levi.
The net came off the posts during the play, but it was ruled a goal since Levi was the one to knock the goal out of place. Trineyev’s tally came 2:38 into the second period.
The Bears, dressed in themed “FeBREWary” jerseys, now post a season record of 41-9-0-3, the best in the AHL standings.
Here was the Bears’ lineup against Rochester:
Unavailable for the Bears tonight: Jake Massie (upper-body), Lucas Johansen (upper-body, week-to-week), Riley Sutter (upper-body), Ethen Frank (lower-body). https://t.co/puLAn0ofsQ
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) February 24, 2024
While captain Dylan McIlrath returned to the lineup, the Bears were still missing four of their key players in Ethen Frank, Mike Sgarbossa, Pierrick Dube, Hendrix Lapierre. While Frank is out due to a lower-body injury, Sgarbossa, Dube, and Lapierre are all up in Washington filling in for injured players.
Below is the full Bears’ press release:
LIMOGES LIFTS BEARS TO 2-1 OT WIN OVER AMERKS
Forward scores third sudden-death goal of the season for Hershey
(Hershey, PA – Feb. 24, 2024) – Alex Limoges matched a franchise record with his third sudden-death goal of the season to break a 1-1 tie and lift the Hershey Bears (41-9-0-3) to a 2-1 overtime victory over the Rochester Americans (24-18-6-2) on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 10,579 at GIANT Center.
Limoges’ game-winner tied Bears Hall of Famer Dunc Fisher, who also netted three sudden-death overtime tallies for the Chocolate and White in the 1953-54 campaign. Hershey is now 8-0 in games decided in the five-minute extra frame this season.
The Bears finished their regular-season series with Rochester with a 2-0-0-0 record; Hershey improved to 8-2-0-1 against clubs from the North Division. Hershey has earned points in its last five games (4-0-0-1) and has won a season-high seven consecutive home games. The Chocolate and White concluded their February schedule with a 6-2-0-1 record.
Rochester struck first with a power-play goal at 17:47 of the first period when Isak Rosen knocked a rebound past Hunter Shepard.
The Bears leveled the score at 2:38 of the second period when Bogdan Trineyev ripped a shot from the left circle into the top-left corner of the net of Devon Levi for his eighth of the season. The goal marked Trineyev’s third consecutive game with a goal. Chase Priskie and Kevin O’Neil assisted on the tally; it was the first point of the season with Hershey for O’Neil.
The game remained tied through the end of regulation, but Limoges sealed it for Hershey 1:20 into the extra frame just as a Bears power play expired, as the forward made his way to the front of the net and knocked in a rebound from Priskie for his 15th overall goal this season. Joe Snively earned a secondary assist on the goal.
Shots finished 39-25 in favor of the Bears, marking a new season-high for the hosts. Shepard went 24-for-25 for his 21st win of the season for Hershey, a new AHL career-high for the goaltender; Levi took the overtime loss for Rochester with a 37-for-39 effort. The Bears went 0-for-4 on the power play; the Americans went 1-for-7 with the man advantage.
