These 3 p.m. start times always throw me for a loop. Back at the rink after what was only about a 14-hour turnaround, the Bears took the ice for their second game of the season in the weekend rematch against the Charlotte Checkers.
Hershey played a competitive hockey game yesterday, actually outshooting the Checkers 32-29 on the night, but the few bounces that existed didn’t go their way and saw Charlotte take the two points. There were mental mistakes on the backend and when breaking out that Hershey will need to clean up, but maybe shouldn’t be unexpected with a unit playing real game minutes together for the first time.
Regardless, the Bears needed to play a more complete 60 minutes to secure their first victory of the season. Derek King saw fit to shake up the lines, but not change the personnel from last night.
The line shuffling with both the top nine and two defense pairs stays for this afternoon’s contest. Ryan Chesley, fresh off another tough night, now pairs with veteran Jacob MacDonald over Justin Holl, who now is paired with Cam Allen. David Gucciardi and Louie Belpedio stay together after a fairly successful night for the pairing.
On the attack, the fourth line stays the same, but we see some shuffling in the top unit. Lynden Lakovic is moved up to the top line with Jonny Brodzinski and Josh Dunne. That sees Andrew Cristall moved down to a line with Petr Sikora and Spencer Smallman, while Bogdan Trineyev is moved up to the second line with Alex Suzdalev and Theodor Niederbach.
And, as is typical with a back to back, there is a change in net. Mitch Gibson is still out with a lower-body-injury, so Garin Bjorklund makes his first appearance for the Bears this season, looking to continue his end of season form with South Carolina in the ECHL.
First Period
Hershey did not have the same start they had last night. They looked lethargic, a step behind the Checkers and sloppy. The breakouts weren’t breaking out and the zone entries weren’t entering the zone. Charlotte dominated the first five minutes, outshooting the Bears 5-0 and it took a couple of smart saves from Garin Bjorklund to keep the Checkers out of the net.
However, a high-sticking penalty against Charlotte allowed Hershey to finally blunt the Checkers momentum. While Hershey didn’t generate much during that first power play, it allowed them to slow the pace down and they controlled the period from there.
After most of the bounces went against Hershey last night, a bounce in their favor sent Eriks Mateiko and Andrew Cristall in on a two-on-one. A lovely feed from Cristall was finished by Mateiko, scoring his first of the year to make it 1-0 Bears.
Mateiko looks good in his first two games back after suffering a freak achilles injury last winter that ended his season. The man they call Moose looks quicker and more confident in his physical presence to start the season. Gotta love that.
Hershey would get two additional power play chances in the first, creating more opportunities on both, but were unable to find the net. The last two stretches on the man advantage were better than the first, however you have to think Derek King and new power play maestro Louis Robitaille would’ve liked that to swing differently.
The Bears would get their second goal though with 16 seconds left in the period. Some extended zone time for Hershey saw Andrew Cristall find Petr Sikora open at the right hashmark and Sikora buried it for his first career AHL goal. The Czech rookie has looked impressive through his first two games and looks very comfortable centering Hershey’s third line.
Second Period
It was a defensively sound second period for both teams. Only a combined 13 shots occurred between the Checkers and Bears during the middle frame and that felt right.
Something Hershey struggled with last year was being able to defensively shut down and frustrate teams. This group was able to do that in game two of the regular season. That is good news for this group that they held their resolve.
What I didn’t love was the general struggle the power play continued to have. Hershey failed to convert on any of their six chances on the man advantage and the first unit seemed to particularly struggle with entering the zone. There just were not enough chances generated with the multiple opportunities given to the Bears and that will be something the coaching staff works on in the week leading up to the weekend series with the Texas Stars.
Third Period
The third period started much like the second. Hershey was defensively sound and frustrating the Checkers, but were unable to convert on the power play opportunities they had.
It did finally come back to bite them with a great personal effort by one of the Checkers 12(!) veteran players. John Beecher has over 150 NHL games under his belt and it was his push through wrap around that finally beat Garin Bjorklund to halve the Bears lead.
Credit to the Bears though. Last year, especially this early in the season, we may have seen them wilt. This group bounced back strong and less than two minutes later Josh Dunne would pot his second of the year on another great net front crash. Dunne is the big, physical center last year’s group sorely missed. He had a great opening weekend and looks like the crucial veteran add that he was played up to be.
Charlotte would not go away though. A penalty against David Gucciardi was converted by Jack Devine with a wicked slap shot seven seconds into their power play to make it 3-2 Bears. That was not without controversy as Grant Cruikshank seemed to be pretty clearly high sticked by a Checker off the face-off. The call was missed though and the Checkers cut the lead to one once again.
But, the right adjustments were made by Derek King as he put together the veteran trio of Smallman/Dunne/Brodzinski to close this one out while Charlotte had the goalie pulled. Putting out a veteran and defensively responsible forward group like that was not possible for this team last season. The fact it is this year is why this group is going to be better.
Hershey was unable to put the puck in the empty net, but the Bears held firm in the last 4:30 of the game and secured their first win of the season.
Joe’s Thoughts
Man did this afternoon feel like Hershey Bears hockey. It was not a perfect 60 minutes, the first five minutes of the game secured that fact alone, but this was a great effort by the Bears to get their first win of the season. That is going to be a good and veteran heavy Charlotte group they played this weekend and they fought for five good periods, last nights third notwithstanding.
Stick taps to both Andrew Cristall and Ryan Chesley for their performances today. They both had rough opening nights and came back today to play clean hockey. That’s the type of bounce back you want to see from your second-year players after rough outings.
Lots of credit to Garin Bjorklund too. A weird way to come in as the backup with Clay Stevenson claimed and Mitch Gibson hurt but he made some critical saves and secured the win for the Bears.
One last thing to say- back this team and coaching staff. The group looks much improved in weekend one compared to last year’s group. I have a feeling this could be a fun season- but you have to bring the energy and early season positivity here at the Giant Center. See you all next weekend for the two game set against the Texas Stars.
Postgame Comments
Derek King: https://youtu.be/i-f-k51sv-I?si=kSfXjXJZWCLIfxhw
Andrew Cristall: https://youtu.be/sInrsTNyyVM?si=69qpO_qFQhcBmI9t
Josh Dunne: https://youtu.be/EZGwocPhCcc?si=7E0T15rJtyCfsz1O
