Bears Bounce Back Against Rochester, 4-1

HERSHEY, PA – Philipp Grubauer, seen here at the Outdoor Classic, made 35 saves in Hershey’s 4-1 win over Rochester (Kyle Mace – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

A day after watching their point streak get snapped in the hands of the Toronto Marlies, the Hershey Bears returned to the United States to face the historic Rochester Americans. Looking to jump back into the win column, four different Bears score combined with a solid performance by Philipp Grubauer to cap a 4-1 victory in New York.

Both teams were scoreless through the opening period with Rochester possessing a slight 10-9 shot advantage. The Americans power play proved to look deadly early on, as they barely missed open nets and pounded the cross-bar twice. Philipp Grubauer early on looked to be in his prime, making a countless saves when having a host of bodies camped in front of the net.

Right out of the starting gate in the second frame, Hershey wasted no time to crack their goose egg on the scoreboard.
Starting the period shorthanded, Ryan Potulny scored the Bears’ first shorthanded tally since November 17th against Wilkes-Barre.

Potulny entered the offensive zone and ripped a snapshot between the wickets of Amerks’ goalie Nathan Lieuwen only 26 seconds into the middle period. With 14:42 left in the stanza, Ryan Stoa’s great weakened continued with his third goal of the road trip.

Moments after a quick 2-on-1 developed in the low-slot, Peter LeBlanc sent a cross-ice pass to the tape of Stoa’s stick. He finished the play into a wide-open net to give Hershey a quick two goal lead. Rochester out shot Hershey 26-17 after 40 minutes, but Grubauer appeared to be making a solid bid for his first AHL shutout. The Bears entered final period carrying the “worst lead in hockey”, leading 2-0.

At the 9:48 mark of the final frame, Patrick Rissmiller broke Grubauer’s bid for his first shutout and capitalized on a 3-on-2 offensive rush. However minutes later in similar fashion, captain Boyd Kane on an odd-man rush of his own finished his eleventh goal of the season to regain his team’s two goal advantage.

Before the Americans could even place the extra attacker on the ice with 1:42 remaining, Garrett Mitchell stormed the crease and sealed the deal with a pretty move and a goal. A day after having a seven game point streak snapped, the Bears bounced back with an impressive 4-1 road win in Rochester.