The Hershey Bears bounced back in a big way against the Belleville Senators on Saturday.
A night after being destroyed 6-1 by the Laval Rocket, the Bears put up a six-spot of their own, defeating the Senators 6-3.
Hershey was led by veteran forward Graeme Clarke, who scored twice 36 seconds apart in the first period, and goaltender Mitch Gibson, who made 39 saves on 42 shots.
Alex Suzdalev started the scoring for Hershey first, taking a slick pass from Brett Leason and rifling a shot from the left circle past Senators goaltender Leevi Meriläinen 2:02 into the first period.
Alex Suzdalev’s goal vs. Belleville (1-0 Hershey)
Clarke then added his two quick strikes, his 13th of the season came off a steal and 14th was off a nice Matt Strome set-up feed from behind thet net, to give the Bears a commanding 3-1 lead going into intermission.
Graeme Clarke’s first goal vs. Belleville (2-1 Hershey)
Graeme Clarke’s second goal vs. Belleville (3-1 Hershey)
The two tallies gave Clarke three in the last two games and marked his first multi-goal game since his hat trick on Hershey’s Teddy Bear Toss night.
“I think he’s a goal scorer, and sometimes like that are either consistent with it or they’re streaky,” Bears head coach Derek King said. “I think he’s a bit of a streaky goal scorer, and when he gets on his streaks, look out, because he’s feeling it. And right now he’s feeling it.”
After a scoreless second frame, Andrew Cristall gave the Bears 4-1 lead, recording his ninth goal of the season, 1:44 into the third period. Sprung up the right wing after a brilliant pass by Ilya Protas, Cristall deked and then deftly slid the puck five-hole past Meriläinen.
Andrew Cristall goal vs. Belleville (4-1 Hershey)
The Senators’ Philippe Daoust lit the lamp to narrow the score briefly to 4-2. Then Hershey’s Calder Cup champion players took over.
After David Gucciardi kept the puck in at the blue line, Ivan Miroshnichenko picked up the puck along the side boards and took it hard to the net. There he deked onto his backhand and sent a pass to Henrik Rybinski wide open on the far side of the net for a layup.
Henrik Rybinski goal vs. Belleville (5-2 Hershey)
Bogdan Trineyev then scored 10th goal of the season, scoring from the left circle as a Bears power play ended. Cristall and Miroshnichenko were awarded the assists on the play.
Bogdan Trineyev goal vs. Belleville (6-2 Hershey)
The tally would give Trineyev a new career-high in points with 23 (10g, 13a) in 36 games.
Gibson would surrender a goal to Senators forward Olle Lycksell with 31 seconds remaining to complete the scoring.
Gibson’s 39 saves marked his AHL career-high and the victory was his sixth win of the season. Belleville’s 42 shots accounted for a new season-high for shots faced by Hershey.
“He just looked calm and square to everything,” King said of Gibson. “Everything was hitting him and he was smothering everything. I’m no goalie expert, but I know when goalies are seeing it well, with pucks smothered and no rebounds – he did a great job.”
The Bears will rematch the Senators on Monday after a day off on Sunday.
