Bear Tracks as Hershey Preps for Hartford Tonight
Heading into Tuesday night at Giant Center, there was a palpable buzz around the arena. While part of that buzz was the Mike Vecchione bobblehead giveaway that night, the Bears form was part of that too.
Coming into the game, Hershey had won four straight games, and had secured a point in their last six, with the back to back batterings of (likely) playoff bound Cleveland on their own rink the highlights of that mini-streak.
There was reason to believe the streak would continue against Providence- the Bears were a perfect 5-0 against the P-Bruins on the season, an impressive record against one of the few teams that are even close to the Bears in the standings. It was an impressive record, and a nice reversal on how the regular season series against the Bruins has usually gone for the Bears in the last couple years.
But just like the Bears would do in those last couple seasons, the Bruins would get their licks in. The game was defined by opportunities on the power play. Providence would capitalize on their first opportunity on the man advantage, as former Bear Jayson Megna put home a rebound with just under four minutes remaining in the first to put Providence up 1-0.
However, the Bears would gain some momentum of their own, after killing off a penalty right after, and 40 seconds after the kill ended, Logan Day blasted one home on a beautiful feed from Joe Snively and sent the Bears into the locker room with the game tied at the end of one.
However, that ended up being the last bright spot of the game for Hershey. Just over two minutes into the second, the Bruins capitalized on a four-on-four opportunity, as defenseman Michael Callahan snuck one past Clay Stevenson to put the Bruins up 2-1.
Penalties would then be the name of the second period. Eight were called in the second period alone, with the Bears seeing the majority called against them, with not all being clear what they were for. Providence would score on the PP again, as Anthony Richard beat Stevenson to make it 3-1 Bruins.
A dismal second got worse for the Bears, as a turnover while attempting to clear the zone saw the puck fall right to Marc McLaughlin, who blasted it by Stevenson to extend the Bruins lead to 4-1.
Frustrations nearly boiled over for the Bears at the end of the second. A missed call on a elbow close to the head on Ryan Hofer nearly saw a line brawl make out that the Bears ended on the wrong side of penalty wise. Then, Matt Strome got in a wrestling match that somehow only ended in him getting called for roughing.
To the Bears credit, they regained their focus, killed off those penalties, and played a much better third period, which should’ve at least given them back a goal. However, four hit posts on multiple opportunities just further highlighted it wasn’t the Bears night.
Talking to coach Todd Nelson, Riley Sutter and Alex Limoges after the game, all three were clear in their statements the Bears have to be cleaner when it comes to penalties.
Look for a cleaner sheet in that category as Hershey looks to bounce back tonight, on the road against another division foe in the Hartford Wolf Pack. Puck drops tonight at 7PM.
Photos: Hershey Bears / Tori Hartman
