Hershey Stays Hot in Syracuse, Win 4-1

The Hershey Bears will try and keep their “night of firsts” momentum going tonight, when they face the Syracuse Crunch for a second straight game. The Bears won for the first time on a Friday in the last five Friday games.

Philipp Grubauer got his first start for Hershey, after 16 games with the NHL Washington Capitals. Grubauer recorded 29 saves in Hershey’s 4-1 win over Syracuse. Steve Oleksy also returned to Hershey’s lineup for the first time since March, when he was called up by the Caps.

The Bears wanted to make sure they did not repeat the performance in Syracuse from last Friday. Hershey came out more aggressive, resulting in a first period goal from Casey Wellman, on a one timer that gave his team a 1-0 lead. In the second, David Kolomatis made a perfect pass to Wellman in front, giving the Bears a 2-0 advantage.

Matt Watkins found a wide open net to give Hershey a 3-0 lead before former Bears star Jon DiSalvatore beat Grubauer to his left, for the only Syracuse goal of the game, Watkins added an empty netter finishing off a 4-1 win. Grubauer was solid and poised in the nets, helping Hershey to their seventh win in their last nine games. Hershey won a third straight game for the first time this season.

Although the Bears were 0-5 on the power play, they continued to look confident in setting plays and taking advantage of Syracuse mistakes. Despite the win, the Bears are still a point behind St. John’s for the 8th and final playoff spot.

Now Hershey finds themselves only six points out of the 4th conference playoff position. The Bears face Syracuse again tonight at 7pm at Giant Center. They will complete another three game weekend taking on Wilkes-Barre Scranton at Giant Center Sunday at 5pm.