It was a lovely road trip through New England for the Bears, but it’s always nice to be home. Hershey returned to Giant Center tonight riding a four game winning streak after sweeping all three games in the Northeast, knocking off Bridgeport, Springfield and Providence in that order.
The victory against Providence was particularly notable, as Providence was undefeated coming into that matchup. After the P-Bruins won earlier this week, Hershey remains their only loss on the season headed into tonight.
Hershey also had some recent roster moves affect the team. Out goes Calle Rosen to Springfield, in comes Corey Schueneman and Sam Bitten from Springfield in separate moves. I had the chance to speak to Coach King briefly after Tuesday’s practice, which you can see here, and he said that Schueneman will bring a more 200-foot game to the team. With the Bears developing multiple young defensemen this season, defensive stability is paramount among the veterans, and Hershey feels they have that through acquiring Schueneman.
Hershey with a few lineup shifts. Cam Allen comes back in for Jon McDonald and he was paired with newcomer Corey Schueneman. Bogdan Trineyev missed out tonight with an illness and he was replaced by Eriks Mateiko on the first line. The second and third lines stayed the same from last Saturday against Providnce.
Matt Strome got different wingers next to him on the fourth line tonight. Dalton Smith returned from injury and Sam Bitten received his Hershey debut. Garin Bjorklund got the start, and looked to stay hot after securing his first AHL shutout against Providence.
Postgame Takeaways
- You love scoring first. You really love scoring in the first 18 seconds. The Bears did that tonight, with the fourth line connecting through a Matt Strome goal to make it 1-0 Bears.
- With that goal and an assist tonight, Strome now has 7 points in 9 games this season. His career high in points is 22. He’s projected to blow by that this season and has stepped up big time to start the year.
- Toronto controlled much of the period and much of the game though. The Marlies transition game tore the Bears up tonight, and it showed on the stat sheet.
- Hershey was outshot every period tonight. That’s the first time it’s happened since opening night against Syracuse, also a 5-2 loss.
- The Bears were not beaten as badly as the scoreline tonight entails, but tonight was an evening they sorely missed Ethen Frank and Ivan Miroshnichenko, who would’ve gotten a couple extra shots on the net that could’ve made the difference.
- Speaking to making a difference, Sam Bitten had an awesome debut tonight. Coming in with no points in four games, Bitten added a goal and an assist tonight. His energy and physicality made an impact each time he was on the ice. His goal was driven by a strong net front presence and he looked very comfortable with Strome and Dalton Smith. I have a feeling Bear Nation is going to love this kid.
- Another positive continues to be the Bears penalty kill. Hershey is now 17 for their last 17 on the PK. A great PK will win you a lot of games in this league.
- A solid debut from Corey Schueneman tonight. He added an assist on the Bitten goal and looked comfortable next to Cam Allen.
- Garin Bjorklund made some huge saves to keep the Bears in it during the third. Hershey was a bit sloppy with their breakouts and it was the main cause for multiple goals against tonight.
- Travis Boyd made his first return to Hershey tonight and dominated. Two goals and two assists from Boyd gave him first star honors as he showed out against his old team.
The Chocolate Roar 