HERSHEY, PA — Before Friday, the last time Pierrick Dubé took the ice at Giant Center, the French-born winger scored a hat trick in Game 6 of the 2024 Calder Cup Finals, helping push the Hershey Bears to a 5-4 overtime win and their 13th championship on June 24, 2024.
Three months and 10 days later, Dubé had a hatty of a different kind. The 23-year-old forward scored a goal, tallied an assist, and got into a fight, completing a Gordie Howe hat trick in the Bears’ 4-3 preseason victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. And somewhat incredibly, the fight came in overtime.
Dube’s performance came six days after he was one of 20 players cut from the Capitals’ Training camp roster.
When asked if he had a preseason Gordie on his bingo card, an amused Todd Nelson replied, “Not really.”
Dubé’s goal
Dubé kicked off his big night with a goal — a power-play strike with 13:47 left in the second period that got the Bears on the scoresheet for the first time in the game. After receiving a pass from new power-play quarterback Brad Hunt, Dubé skated to the right faceoff dot and unleashed a wicked wrister that beat goaltender Sergei Murashov.
Dubé’s assist
Just over nine minutes later, with 4:22 left in the second period, Dubé grabbed the primary assist on a Mike Vecchione power-play goal. With the Penguins scrambling in their zone due to one of their penalty killers breaking his stick, Dubé found a wide-open Vecchione in front of the net for a tap-in.
Dubé’s fight
Dubé capped off the Gordie Howe hatty with a fight against Penguins defenseman Mac Hollowell just 48 seconds into overtime. The goal-scoring winger landed four consecutive rights to both finish and win the bout, receiving a huge roar from the 3,000-plus Bears fans in attendance.
As he skated off the ice, Dubé grinned and showed off his hockey smile he earned months earlier. Dubé took an errant Ethen Frank shot to the mouth during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, which required major oral surgery and a bone graft. He missed just three games, returned for Game 7 against the Cleveland Monsters, and scored a clutch goal to help send the Bears back to the Calder Cup Finals.
Dubé has rarely gotten into fights during his career, recording just two throughout his junior and professional career. His last one before this milestone bout also came against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Dubé dropped the gloves with Penguins forward Corey Andonovski on December 27 last year after Andonovski boarded Hershey’s Alex Limoges.
Dubé was named First Star of the Game for his efforts.
Got our first dub of the preseason! pic.twitter.com/M6WGc58FmY
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) October 5, 2024
“I think as the game went on, both teams got a bit feistier and we’re gonna see them 12 times this year,” Nelson said. “So second time we played them in as many nights, usually tempers flare. Some of these things stem from past seasons and stuff. But it was, for our team, we had a lot of rust, we needed that game for the guys to play.”
Hershey would go on to win the game in the extra frame shortly after Dubé’s fisticuffs. Bogdan Trineyev scored a rare, 4-on-4 overtime goal after the Bears could not convert on a power play and the two teams went back to even strength.
“I didn’t even know he had a Gordie Howe hat trick,” Matt Strome said. “Unreal.
“He really cares. I think that’s a big thing for him is that he went through some ups and downs last year. He’s really grown as a player and he knows that we all have his back, we’re brothers now. We’re connected for life and that’s gonna really show some guys in the locker room what type of teammate he is. I mean, he (nearly) had 30 goals last year and he’s fighting in preseason.”
Dubé is expected to be a significant contributor again for Hershey this season after finishing second on the team in goals (28) and chipping in 10 points in 17 games (7g, 3a) in the playoffs. Dubé also made his NHL debut with the Washington Capitals in late February, playing three games with the big club.
“It just shows you his intensity,” Bears’ alternate captain Mike Vecchione said. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s preseason games or regular season games or Game 6 of the Calder Cup Finals. He will go out there and give it his all.
“He’s a little ball of fire. He plays with that edge. Obviously, he’s a really skilled player. But yeah, he’s got that attitude to him. He’s got that grit. We love to see that.”
Hershey kicked their Training Camp off on Monday and have played two of their three preseason games. Their last exhibition game is against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday night. They’ll then have a week off before starting their regular season against the Monsters on October 12, when they’ll raise their championship banner pregame.
