Hershey made the trip up I-78 for the first time this season, ready to take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
It was the Phantoms “Haunted on Hamilton” night, as they celebrated Halloween. But pregame, the Bears ‘weren’t afraid of no ghosts’. Hershey was 12-3-3 coming into tonight over the last three seasons at the PPL Center in downtown Allentown.
However, Hershey lost a key player the night before, as Sheldon Rempal, who was meant to be the Bears big offensive addition from last year, had his contract terminated via unconditional waivers, as he is expected to head back to the KHL.
In good news for the Bears, Louie Belpedio was expected to return to the lineup, after the birth of his daughter over the week. Congrats to Louie!
A couple of lineup shifts and changes for the Bears. No more Rempal means Graeme Clarke takes the first line right wing spot, while Eriks Mateiko shifted to first line left wing. Patrick Thomas and Ilya Protas stuck together on the second line after a successful weekend together, as Luke Toporowski shifts in, replacing Clarke on the second line.
Henrik Rybinski and Bogdan Trineyev also stuck together on the third line, as they were joined by rookie Andrew Cristall, who was looking to break a three game pointless streak. Matt Strome took the fourth line center spot for the first time this season, joined by Dalton Smith and Ludwig Persson.
On defense, Aaron Ness and Ryan Chesley stayed together on the top pair, while Calle Rosen shifted to the left side to be joined by Cam Allen, while the returning Belpedio replaced Jon McDonald to be paired with David Gucciardi. Clay Stevenson got his third consecutive start of the season. Clay has been good in Allentown, he was 5-2-2 coming into tonight in all appearances at the PPL Center, holding a .935 save percentage.
Nicky Leivermann and Ivan Miroshnichenko stayed on the injured list, while Leon Muggli was a new add to the group of injured players. He’s out with an upper body injury.
Postgame Takeaways
- Well… ouch. That one hurts.
- Hershey played arguably their best first period of the season, outshooting Lehigh Valley 16-7. It just didn’t show up on the scoreboard as the Bears found themselves down 3-1 after one.
- Graeme Clarke stepped up big time tonight for the Bears. With Rempal released, Miroshnichenko injured and Frank in Washington, the Bears will need some goal scorers to step up. Clarke did tonight for Hershey with the Bears first and fourth goals of the evening.
- Speaking about stepping up, how about Matt Strome on the power play tonight? A goal and an assist from Strome on the man advantage. He told me postgame that’s the first time he’s played on the power play for the first time in five to six years. Keep him there for now.
- Speaking of the power play, the Bears broke their o-fer streak. Hershey went 2/3 tonight and it would’ve been 3/3 if not for some nice stops by Phantoms goalie Aleksei Kolosov. The coaching staff will hope that momentum continues into tomorrow’s rematch.
- Also how about those rookies? First career points for Eriks Mateiko and Ludwig Persson on assists and another two assists from Ilya Protas. Protas is now tied for the team lead in points through five games with four (tied with Henrik Rybinski and Calle Rosen)
- The bad news- Hershey’s injury list seems set to get larger tonight. Luke Toporowski left the first period with an upper body injury and didn’t come back, Dalton Smith took a high hit in the second and didn’t come back and then late in the third Henrik Rybinski was hit high and also didn’t return. Not what the Bears needed while already being down Frank and Miroshnichenko.
- A rare off night for the Trineyev-Rybinski duo. No points for either on the scoresheet and a minus two. Head Coach Derek King tried Andrew Cristall on their left wing tonight. We’ll see if that gets changed up tomorrow night.
- Clay Stevenson started his third game in six days. Nothing’s confirmed, but I would bet Garin Bjorklund gets the start tomorrow.
- Speaking of tomorrow, it’s the third time in three weekends the Bears will play the same team on a back to back. That will end next week, when the Bears travel to Bridgeport on Wednesday and then make the trip to Springfield on Halloween.
Postgame Comments
First of all- apologies for the camera angle on Head Coach Derek King’s remarks tonight. It’s a tight fit in the hallways in Allentown and I did not have the best set angle.
The Chocolate Roar 