The Hershey Bears defeated the Charlotte Checkers 4-3 on Sunday, avenging a 4-2 loss to the team a day before. The Saturday defeat was the Bears’ second regulation loss of the season and marked the first time they’d lost consecutive games in regulation since the 2022-23 season (April 11, 2023 vs. Charlotte 4-3 L and April 14, 2023 at Bridgeport 5-1 L).
Sunday, the Bears were led by Ethen Frank, who exploded for two goals in the second period, extending his team lead in tallies to 9.
After Charlotte took a 1-0 lead in the first period via a Riley Bezeau goal, Frank answered four minutes and 44 seconds into the second, beating Checkers goaltender Cooper Black from the left circle on a power play. Frank scored on a rebound after Capitals prospect Ivan Miroshnichenko sent a one-timer from the bumper spot that bounced right onto his stick.
Frank scored again eight minutes and five seconds later after Luke Philp hit him with a no-look backhanded pass wide open on the left side.
Center Henrik Rybinski also registered his second goal of the year during the period, deflecting an Ethan Bear point shot home from just outside the crease.
The Checkers, however, would fight back, scoring two consecutive goals to tie (Michael Benning and Ryan McAllister), forcing overtime and a shootout.
There, Pierrick Dubé was the only player to score, notching the game-winner with a forehand shot close to the net.
Postgame, Hunter Shepard was awarded the Bear Head from Ethen Frank as the player of the game.
Coming into the night, Bears head coach Todd Nelson made wholesale line changes trying to spark his team. Despite the changes, neither Nelson nor the players were satisfied with how the team played, even in victory, lamenting that they may be going through a Calder Cup hangover.
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“You know what? I think you’re seeing it right now, like we’re grinding it out,” Nelson said. “We didn’t see it last year, but it’s rearing its ugly head right now, as far as I’m concerned. We’re doing things, and the guys from last year know how we play, but they’re making mistakes that we had to correct two years ago. It’s kind of a funk that we’re in; we’re happy with the result but not with the way we did it.”
“I completely agree with [Nelson],” Dubé added. “I think we are far away from what we can do. I think we’ve got to be more connected as a team. We are all playing like a different way, so that’s an issue. And I think we can work way harder, too. I don’t think there’s a [need for the] panic button to be pushed, but I think just a little wake-up call. We have a week [of practice] coming up, and we’ve got to get ready for the next few games, but obviously, we want to be better. And especially after these two years, I think the expectations are pretty high.”
Dubé added, “So games like yesterday, games that we lose are pretty tough in our mind. But sometimes, you need that to learn and go forward. So maybe we have to go through it, and it’s going to get better.”
