Live from Hershey, Pennsylvania it was Saturday night hockey at Giant Center. The Bears were coming off a dramatic 2-1 overtime win from Friday night in Syracuse against the Crunch. Ethen Frank scored with 1:35 left in the third to force the game to overtime and then Big Bogdan Trineyev put home a two-on-one chance in OT to send the Bears back down I-81 happy.

Tonight, the Bears welcomed the Charlotte Checkers, fresh off their own Friday night win, beating Wilkes/Barre-Scranton 4-0. Charlotte came into tonight 12-6-1, good for 4th in the division, but they’ve played 6 less games the the Bears so far this season (what’s up with that AHL schedule makers?).

First Period

The period started out well for the Bears, as just over 6 minutes in, Brennan Saulnier tipped home a Vincent Iorio shot and put the Bears up 1-0.

The Checkers would be the team on the front foot for most of the period though. Charlotte outshot Hershey 12-4 this period and they made their breakthrough with 1:32 left in the first. Oliver Okuliar threw a puck towards the net and it hit a Bears player to get past Shepard and tie up the game at one apiece.

That’s how the period would end. No power plays for either team as both prepared for the second.

Second Period

The first period did not have a lot of action. The second had even less. The one main event was a late Bears power play that saw the Bears get their best chances of the period, but they were unable to beat Chris Dreidger.

The score stayed tied heading into the third, with the Bears hoping to generate more offense.

Third Period

To start the third, it was another set of back and forth gameplay, but it would be some bad luck for the Bears that would end this game in the Checkers favor. After a referee ran right into Ethan Bear behind the net, Oliver Okuliar was able to get in front and put one past Shepard for his second of the night.

That would be all the Checkers needed on the night, as their penalty kill staved off a few late Bears chances on the power play, and they held on for the 2-1 victory over the Bears.

Hershey now has a week long break, as they won’t return to action until next Saturday, Dec. 21 against the Toronto Marlies at home here at Giant Center. Hershey is now 18-7-3 on the season.

Post Game Quoteables

“We’ve played the most games out of any team in the league so far, so we’re a little banged up. We have a week here to get rest up, we’ll give the guys some time off from the rink to clear their heads and hopefully we can get a couple of guys mended up in that time period.” – Head Coach Todd Nelson

“Just little details. I thought we played pretty good tonight and last night against Syracuse, which is a playoff like atmosphere. Just when those games are tight, it’s the little details that matter and that’s what we’ll work on over this next week.” – Henrik Rybinski