Hershey ended their seven-game homestand tonight with a battle against the Belleville Senators. This is the only time this season Belleville will visit the Bears and the Bears will not return the favor until their truck through Canada in mid-March.
The Bears have some good roster news this weekend. Both Justin Holl and Jonny Brodzinski are back in Hershey after stretches in Washington for both players. Hershey does lose Mitch Gibson to Washington for this weekend, due to Logan Thompson having a minor lower-body injury that kept him out of the Capitals game against the Buffalo Sabres tonight.
Washington also lost defenseman Vincent Desharnais to an appendectomy a few days ago, but may not have to make a recall from Hershey for defensive depth. Washington claimed RHD Jack St. Ivany off waivers today from Winnipeg, who’ll be expected to slot in as the Capitals 6th defenseman until Desharnais (or Rasmus Sandin, who’s progressing well from the ACL tear he suffered at the end of last season) returns in 4-6 weeks.
The Bears will hit the road for the first time this season next week, with a trip to Rochester and Toronto on the cards for Wednesday and Friday respectively.
More than a few changes for the Bears from last Sunday’s battering at the hand of Providence. Holl and Brodzinski come back in to the lineup, as does Theodor Niederbach. Niederbach and Brodzinski come in for Terik Parascak and Dalton Smith, while Holl comes in for David Gucciardi.
Cal Petersen got the start in net.
First Period
The first five minutes of the first played out eerily similar to the first period from last Sunday’s game against Providence. The Bears were all over Belleville early, outshooting them 5-0 through the first four minutes. Then Leon Muggli takes a penalty, the Senators highly rated power play takes over and after a shot from the point hits two sticks in front, including the crucial tip off Philippe Daoust, the puck would knuckle past Cal Petersen to make it 1-0 Belleville.
Hershey would continue to pile on the pressure after going down, a distinct difference from last Sunday, and would end up outshooting the Senators 11-6 through the first. But Hershey was unable to solve Jackson Parsons in the period and would head into the second down 1-0.
Second Period
Hershey would continue to pile on the pressure in the second. The ice was tilted in the Bears favor from minute one and you could tell the Senators were starting to feel some effects of fatigue after their hard fought 7-3 victory over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last night. But the puck just would not go in and then the Bears would make themselves pay.
Cam Allen has been solid to start the season, but his decision to try and play the puck on his backhand in the defensive zone ended up being a poor one. He failed to clear the zone as the puck bounced off his stick to Shane Bowers, who was able to find Phil Tomasino all alone in front of the net. Phil Tomasino is not a guy you want to leave alone in front of the net. The veteran AHL scorer placed his shot perfectly past Cal Petersen and put the Bears down 2-0.
That could have been the catalyst for the Bears capitulating, but they instead kept the pressure going in waves. Finally, late in the period, the puck luck would finally go Hershey’s way. A Spencer Smallman shot would hit a Belleville defenseman standing in front and sneak by Parsons to get the Bears on the board.
While Hershey would be unable to tie the game in the second, Smallman’s goal put the momentum back in the Bears corner and they would ride that wave into the third.
Third Period
It really did feel like the Bears needed to score early to put the game in their favor. They got then when veteran defenseman Justin Holl, who’s admittedly not known for his offensive game, made a great play to beat a Senator on the boards to get into the offensive zone. Holl would find Joey Anderson in front and all Anderson would need to do is turn his stick towards the net to put that pass in. That would tie up the game at two and the Bears were moving from there.
While the power play got multiple good looks tonight, they were unable to convert. But, right after the Bears third and final power play expired, the Bears got more puck luck in their direction. A clearance attempt from a Belleville defender would hit Spencer Smallman in the chest and Smallman would make a great play to find Lynden Lakovic, who buried a short side missile to beat Parsons, giving the Bears a lead they wouldn’t give up.
It would not be easy. Cal Petersen had to make two dynamite saves on Belleville breakaways to keep the Bears 3-2 lead intact. To go with that, Hershey had to survive a penalty kill with under eight minutes to go in the period. But Hershey would get the job done on the PK and would do their job after Belleville pulled Parsons for the extra attacker.
Two empty net goals, one from Anderson and one from Grant Cruikshank, would seal the deal for the Bears as they’d win 5-2 to move to 5-2 on the season and end their early season homestand on a positive note.
Joe’s Thoughts
Man does it feel good to be 5-2. After all the struggles at home last season, it feels so vital to get off to a good start in front of the best fans in the AHL.
I’ve said it already, but this group feels different. The way they responded after going down 2-0 in the second is proof alone. They didn’t put their head down and they kept at it to really dominate the Senators throughout the last 30 minutes of game time.
The re-additions of Brodzinski and Holl were huge. Holl in particular because he really balances the defense pairings for this group. Ryan Chesley looked really good tonight with Holl in a strong bounce back performance from the young defenseman from a poor one last Sunday.
Great performances from many of the kids tonight. Leon Muggli, two penalties aside, continues to look significantly more comfortable on all ends of the ice compared to last year. Lynden Lakovic looks a threat every time he has the puck and he was making a lot of good little plays tonight. Theodor Niederbach I thought has his best game of the year. Petr Sikora continues to make all the right plays. Andrew Cristall is Andrew Cristall.
Lots of good so far as the Bears head North to Rochester and Toronto for two games this week. Two tough road buildings to start for the Bears outside of Giant Center will be a good test for this group. I’m confident they will, but the results will be what matters.
Postgame Comments
Derek King: https://youtu.be/c2_s4EPtxXE?si=2PANpY0VZ2xA0iD9
Lynden Lakovic: https://youtu.be/jC-98QHAMJo?si=zvyW-WI5Qm0IHKiv
