The Bears returned to action this Saturday for the first time since splitting last weekends series with the Charlotte Checkers. The Bears fell 4-2 last Saturday, while beating the Checkers 4-2 in the shootout last Sunday. Now 7-3-1 after their first 11, the Bears came into tonight without Head Coach Todd Nelson, who is away from the team for family reasons. Nick Bootland and Patrick Wellar will be co-head coaches in Nelson’s absence. We of course wish Coach Nelson the best as he’s away from the team.
First Period
The period started off just like how the Bears played in the last two periods in the game in Springfield a couple weeks ago, with Hershey dominating puck possession and zone time. But it would be for naught in the first.
With the shots 11-2 to the Bears, Springfield won a battle behind the Bears net and the shot that came of it just snuck between Hunter Shepard and Aleksanteri Kaskimaki buried it into the open net to make it 1-0 Thunderbirds.
The Bears would continue to push and it did take a couple of robberies from Vadim Zherenko to keep the puck out, with his nicest save coming off a shot from Aaron Ness on a two-on-one chance. Springfield also killed a late tripping penalty and the first ended at 1-0 to the bad guys.
Second Period
The second did not start out the way the Bears were hoping. An early icing saw the first line get stuck in their zone and they could just not clear the puck. Springfield took advantage of the chaos and Marcus Sylvegard put one home to make it 2-0 Thunderbirds.
However, Hershey would get going and it was thanks to the efforts of their fourth line. The Triple S line put on some pressure, Matt Strome picked off a pass, made one of his own to Brennan Saulnier put home a well-earned first goal as a Bear. Saulnier has worked his tail off every game he’s played and it was great to see him rewarded.
Then, three minutes later, another turnover, this time caused by the Bears second line, saw Henrik Rybinski on a two-on-one with Mike Vecchione. Rybi called his own number and sniped it home to tie up the game at 2 apiece.
The Bears would end up killing off two penalties of their own and the score would stay tied for the remainder of the period.
Third Period
The third was a back and forth affair between both teams, with the Thunderbirds getting a couple of solid chances due to more struggles from the Bears in clearing out the puck. Hunter Shepard made some ten-bell saves throughout the period that kept the score tied and after pushing late in the third, it was a bit of luck that got the Bears the lead and the win.
Ethan Bear got free and wrapped the puck around to just the right spot to bank the puck in off Zherenko’s skate and into the net for the 3-2 lead.
The Bears would hold on after Springfield pulled their goalie for the final 2:30 of the game and the Bears move to 8-3-1 on the season and will be in a rematch with the Thunderbirds tomorrow afternoon at Giant Center.
Postgame Quotables
Patrick Wellar: “We needed them. I though the energy they brought, the speed and the pace they played, their detail was exceptional. We didn’t have all four lines rolling tonight and I thought they brought us back into the fight tonight. Not just through producing with the goal, but just the way they played all night.”- On the performance of the Triple S Fourth Line tonight.
Brennan Saulnier: “That’s two games going down early to [Springfield] and that’s where we didn’t panic because we’ve been in that spot before. They’re a young team and they work hard so you don’t want to be doing that every game against them, we don’t want to let the floodgates open. So tomorrow, just have a good start and hopefully get the sweep tomorrow.”- On what they have to do better against Springfield tomorrow night.
The Chocolate Roar 