Bears Grinched by Penguins in 1-0 Loss
December 22, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
(Hershey, PA) - The Hershey Bears (18-9-3-0) wrapped up the weekend before heading into the holiday break with a 1-0 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (16-8-1-0) on Sunday evening at GIANT Center, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.
NOTABLES:
Tristan Broz scored the lone goal for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at 4:27 of the second period during a scramble in front of the net of Hunter Shepard.
Penguins netminder Filip Larsson earned his third shutout of the season to tie for the league lead with 33 stops.
Ethen Frank and Brad Hunt led Hershey with four shots on goal.
Hershey was without Henrik Rybinski (recalled by Washington on Saturday) along with five skaters listed unavailable due to injury: Jake Massie (lower-body), Alex Limoges (upper-body), Pierrick Dubé (lower-body), Mike Sgarbossa (upper-body), and Ethan Bear (lower-body).
The loss marked the first time the Bears had dropped three consecutive home contests in regulation during the regular season since their final three home contests of the 2021-22 campaign.
The Bears are now 1-2-0-0 in the regular-season series with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, with the road team winning each game.
SHOTS: HER 33, WBS 25
GOALTENDING: HER - Hunter Shepard, 24-for-25; WBS - Filip Larsson, 33-for-33
POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-3; WBS - 0-for-2
THEY SAID IT:
Bears head coach Todd Nelson on evaluating the team's play today and contrasting it with the performance on Saturday:
"I thought the first period we were fine, I thought the second period we sucked; third period, we're better again. [Hunter Shepard] was outstanding tonight. He was awesome for us to keep the game tight and it was a better defensive effort [than Saturday], but we had some chances in the third to tie it up - didn't work out that way."
Nelson on what led to the team struggling to manufacture goals:
"We just couldn't find the back of the net. We're struggling offensively because we don't have the firepower that we normally have. You take Sgarbossa, Limoges, and Dubé out, it's a pretty big part of the offense and also with Rybinski called up and [Ivan Miroshnichenko's] been up for quite a while. So with the group we have, we have to find a way to manufacture goals. Last night we scored three - and gave up too many, obviously - but all three goals we had were basically shots from up top, with good traffic and found the back of the net. I think that the guys gave us what they had, so I was happy with the effort. But it goes to show you when you miss key players from your lineup, it does hurt."
Nelson on if he plans on making any major adjustments prior to facing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton next Saturday after returning from break:
"Not really, no. We both know each other well. I thought the game plan was fine, we made some adjustments as the game went on. We just put a bit more pressure on them and they bent, but they didn't break, and we've just got to find the back of the net - that's the bottom line."
Bears captain Aaron Ness on digesting the loss and turning the page before resuming play next Saturday against the Penguins:
"Obviously you'd like to come away before going into a break with a win. We've lost a handful of games now. It's just one of those things where a shot here or there changes the game. Both [teams] played well. I think we have a good team, we know that to beat them, we're going to have to bring our best. And now let's take the break, you know, get away from the game a little bit, and come back energized and ready to go.
NEXT GAME:
The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they return from the holiday break to host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center. Purchase tickets for the game.
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