The Hershey Bears completed a two-game sweep of the Cleveland Monsters on the road on Saturday. Hershey blew open a 1-0 lead in the third period with four goals, three of which came on the power play. Hunter Shepard stopped all 20 shots fired his way for his fourth shutout of the season. He and Clay Stevenson combine for 11 clean sheets, setting a Hershey Bears franchise record for shutouts in a single season. The Bears took Saturday’s game by a 5-0 final score.
The final score is a bit misleading as to how the game played out. Cleveland managed to keep Hershey off the scoreboard for nearly 40 minutes despite being significantly undermanned. Thanks to some last-minute roster juggling by their NHL affiliate in Columbus, Cleveland elected to play a man short as neither an addition from the Blue Jackets or an ECHL call-up arrived in time for the game. This weekend’s set of games is not representative of how a prospective playoff series might go, as the Monsters would have significant reinforcements from the NHL.
A steady diet of penalties stymied the Bears from establishing their offensive game for the first half of this game. After being flagged for six penalties a day prior, the Bears had to kill off five in Saturday’s game. Hershey only had two power plays all weekend prior to the third period. However, the Bears got the opening goal with seconds to spare in the second period as Matt Strome beat Malcolm Subban from along the goal line. Strome opened the scoring in nearly identical fashion a day prior, with Saturday’s goal his sixth of the season. His point streak extends to five straight games and officially sets new career-highs in goals, assists, and points this season.
The Bears took control of the game in the third when the Monsters took some penalties. Hershey got a two-man advantage for 28 seconds and scored with both chances. Ethen Frank ripped a shot from the point through traffic for his 24th goal of the season followed quickly by Alex Limoges tallying his 20th of the year. Frank has tallied goals in three consecutive games while Limoges has picked up at least one point in the same stretch. Limoges becomes the third Bears skater to hit the 20-goal mark and accomplishes the feat in his 200th professional game.
Surrendering the two quick goals seemed to deflate the Monsters in a major way. The Bears seemed to cycle the puck in the offensive zone with ease after struggling in large stretches. Hershey tacked on another goal as Joe Snively got loose and had his shot hit the crossbar before the net. Snively has been more of a playmaker this season, but showed how lethal his shot is in scoring his 11th goal of the year.
Hershey tacked on one more on another power play. Limoges added his second goal of the game on a deflection of a Frank shot to make it 5-0. The Penn State product hit 20 goals for the third time in as many full seasons at the AHL level and is only two goals away from matching his career best at 23. Simply put, the Bears have been fortunate to have his excellent play this season.
The win lifts the Bears to 46-11-0-5 this season, good for 97 points and nearing triple digits. Hershey already secured a bye from the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs courtesy of Friday’s win. Saturday’s decision whittles down their magic number to clinch the Atlantic Division to just six points. The Providence Bruins lost in overtime to the Charlotte Checkers, with that point lost adding to the Bears’ cause. Hershey continues to eye the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for highest points percentage in the AHL, an award they last won in the 2020-21 season.
Hershey is back in action on Tuesday in a showdown with the Providence Bruins at Giant Center. The game is the first of two straight Tuesday tilts at home, the only two of the regular season. This week’s game is the highly anticipated Mike Vecchione Bobble Head Night for the first 4,000 fans, a promotion that’s advised to arrive early for. The Bears have just ten games remaining in the regular season in 2023-24, as hard to believe as it is, six of which will be at home.
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