Not even 24 hours after falling to the Chicago Wolves 3-2 in overtime, the Hershey Bears took it to their Western Conference rival during a rematch at Giant Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Bears won 5-0, riding two goals from Ethen Frank, three points from Ivan Miroshnichenko, and a shutout from Hunter Shepard — his first of the young season.
Three minutes and 29 seconds into the game, Frank got his name on the scoresheet, picking off a poor clear in the offensive zone, skating to the center of the ice, and burying a shot past Wolves goaltender Yanik Perets. The first-period goal was unassisted, though a hard-charging Mike Vecchione forced the turnover along the side boards.
Miroshnichenko followed Frank 5:41 later, scoring from the bumper spot on a Hershey power play.
Veteran defenseman Brad Hunt scored his first goal as a Bear 30 seconds into the second period. Taking a pass from Miroshnichenko, Hunt fired past Perets as Alex Limoges skated through the slot.
Bogdan Trineyev made it 4-0 early in the third period. After Henrik Rybinski raced to get possession of the puck, he dished to Miroshnichenko, who made the extra, unselfish pass to give Trineyev a layup and his third goal of the year.
Frank scored his second of the game four minutes into the third period. After good work along the boards, he used his blistering speed to race past Wolves defenders. Taking a pass from Hardy Häman Aktell, Frank scored on the breakaway.
Shepard took care of the rest, stopping 26 shots in the victory. The shutout is the ninth of his AHL career.
The Bears’ penalty killers also shined in the effort, killing four Wolves power plays.
Frank (2g, 1a), Miroshnichenko (1g, 2a), and Mike Sgarbossa (2a) all had multi-point games, while eight different Bears registered at least one point. Milestone-wise, the victory marked Todd Nelson’s 100th career win with the club.
Frank and Miroshnichenko are tied for the team lead in goals (5) and points (7). They sit in a three-way tie for third in the AHL in goals.
Hershey will next take the ice on Friday in Providence. They have their first three-in-three of the year this weekend.
Unavailable for the Bears today:
Leivermann, (upper body), Day (upper body), Philp (lower body), McDonald (upper body) https://t.co/CiZMkh2XtB
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) October 20, 2024
