Bears Pick Up 2-1 Win Over Amerks On Hall Of Fame Night
March 18, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
(Hershey, PA) - Connor McMichael and Ethen Frank scored as the Hershey Bears (37-16-5-2) picked up a 2-1 victory over the Rochester Americans (28-25-4-2) on Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,562 at GIANT Center. The victory gave Hershey a 3-0-0-0 sweep of the week.
The win gave Hershey its first victory against Rochester since Jan. 19, 2020. The win has also reduced the Magic Number for the Bears to five points.
The Bears also inducted nine individuals into the Hershey Bears Hockey Club Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony. The Class of 2021 was comprised of Barry Ashbee (player), Frederic Cassivi (player), John Henderson (player), Myron Stankiewicz (player), and John Travers (general); the Class of 2022 was comprised of Keith Aucoin (player), Brian Dobbin (player), Don Foreman (official), and Gregg Mace (general).
Rochester took a 1-0 lead at 4:12 of the first period when Michael Mersch smashed a one-timer past Hunter Shepard.
Connor McMichael tied it less than half a minute later on the Bears' first shot of the contest as the forward pounced on a turnover at the Hershey blue line and raced up the right wing on a breakaway before beating Michael Houser to the glove side at 4:40 for his 14th of the season.
The Bears took their first lead of the evening in the second period on a delayed penalty when Benton Maass swatted the puck to keep it inside the offensive zone, and Mike Sgarbossa dished a pass from along the half-boards to Ethen Frank, who drove to the net and roofed a shot over the shoulder of Houser at 3:37 for his 27th of the season to make it 2-1. For Frank, his goal marked the highest total by a Bears rookie since Craig Fisher's franchise rookie record of 43 (1990-91), while Maass' assist marked his first AHL point.
A potential goal for the Bears was waved off 35 seconds into the third period when Dylan McIlrath's blast from the right point was deflected by a high stick from Mike Vecchione.
Although the insurance marker did not stand, the Bears limited Rochester to only seven shots in the third period, with Shepard coming up with a save for each attempt.
Shots finished 32-23 in favor of the Bears. Shepard went 22-for-23 for Hershey in his 15th victory of the season; Houser was 30-for-32 for Rochester. The Bears were 0-for-2 on the power play; the Americans finished 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
Hershey continues the 2022-23 season, presented by Penn State Health, when the Chocolate and White visit the Rochester Americans at Blue Cross Arena on Saturday, March 24 at 7:05 p.m. The Bears return home to GIANT Center where they will host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for Dreamer's Hollow Children's Night, presented by Members 1st Federal Credit Union on Sunday, March 26 at 5 p.m. Purchase tickets for the game.
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