The Hershey Bears defeated the Providence Bruins 2-1 on Friday after scoring two goals, four minutes and 59 seconds apart, in the second period. Henrik Rybinski was credited with the game-winner. The victory improved the Bears’ record to 4-1-1 (9 standings points) — tops in the Atlantic Division.
The Bears fell behind early, but responded in the middle stanza. Ethen Frank found paydirt first for the Bears, tying the game 1-1 with a one-timer 35 seconds into the second period. The tally was Frank’s sixth goal of the year, breaking a tie with Ivan Miroshnichenko (5) for the team lead in goals.
Frank scored after some patient cycling by the first line. After Mike Vecchione held onto the puck behind the net, he found Mike Sgarbossa in the high slot. Appearing like he was setting up to shoot, Sgarbossa instead dished to Frank in the left circle. Frank then beat Bruins goaltender Michael DiPietro easily with a huge shot.
A few shifts later, Rybinski gave the Bears a lead they’d never surrender.
After Ethan Bear skated the puck down the right wing, the veteran defenseman sent a pass to Vecchione in the slot. Instead of catching the puck on his blade, the Bears’ alternate captain let the puck go through to Rybinski wide-open on the left side. Rybinski then connected on his chance, roofing the puck past DiPietro and notching his first goal of the season.
“Veccs made a great play in the D-zone, stopped, saw Bearsie going up. Drove the middle. And Bearsie tried feeding it to Veccs,” Rybinski said to Jesse Liebman postgame on the Flohockey stream of the game. “I was just trying to find the soft ice there. Luckily enough, it went to me, and I just threw it on net, and good things happen when you throw it on net.”
Hunter Shepard took care of the rest, making 35 saves for his fourth win of the season and remaining undefeated on the year. Rybinski was named the game’s First Star of the Night for his heroics.
“We just grinded it out,” Rybinski said. “They’re a really good team. We just focused winning battles. I thought we did a really good just of that. Shepie was unreal. We were just really committed to the game plan, keeping it simple and winning battles.
“Three in three, you always want to get the first one. Just gotta play the same way the next two games.”
Friday’s game against Providence marked Aaron Ness’s first as Hershey’s new captain. Ness received the honor after Dylan McIlrath re-graduated back to the NHL after making the Washington Capitals out of Training Camp.
Unavailable for the Bears tonight:
Leivermann (upper body), Day (upper body), Philp (lower body), Stevenson (upper body), McDonald (upper body) https://t.co/XarnQyWOca
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) October 25, 2024
