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AHL Hershey Bears

Frank Nets Hat Trick in Bears' Finale for 6-4 Win Over Phantoms

April 15, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


(Hershey, PA)-Ethen Frank recorded his first career hat trick and Bobby Nardella scored twice for the first multi-goal game of his AHL career as the Hershey Bears (44-19-5-4) picked up a 6-4 victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (37-29-3-3) on Saturday night at GIANT Center, in Hershey's regular season finale to its 85th campaign. The Bears finished their regular season series with the Phantoms with a record of 11-2-0-1.

With the victory tonight, Hershey's magic number to clinch the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference titles has been reduced to one. The Bears require Providence to lose its final game of the season tomorrow against Springfield in order to secure both the division and conference crowns.

Hershey took a 1-0 lead when Nardella blasted a one-timer from the right point past Samuel Ersson at 8:17 for his sixth of the season from Garrett Pilon and Joe Snively.

The Phantoms answered almost immediately when Bobby Brink beat Hunter Shepard at 8:42 to make it 1-1.

Frank deflected Mike Vecchione's floating shot from the blue line past Ersson at 4:08 of the second period to put the Bears up 2-1 with his 28th of the season, with Gabriel Carlsson collecting a secondary assist.

Lehigh Valley responded quickly when Brendan Furry found twine just over half a minute later at 4:44 to draw the visitors even at 2-2.

Frank put Hershey ahead 3-2 with his second of the evening at 7:38 when he took a pass from Vincent Iorio and wired a shot above the glove of Ersson and off the crossbar. Vecchione collected a secondary helper.

Louie Belpedio tied it 3-3 for the Phantoms at 12:29 when he recovered his own blocked shot and beat Shepard to the far post.

The Bears broke ahead at 5:59 when Nardella's shot from the left flank arched into the air before dropping onto the back of a sprawled Ersson and play initially continued. Upon the ensuing stoppage, a video review determined the puck had completely crossed the goal line, and Hershey was awarded a 4-3 lead. The assists to Nardella's tally were credited to Snively and Iorio.

Frank then capped his three-goal night when he broke in with Mason Morelli and beat Ersson with a shot above the blocker at 15:59; Shane Gersich added another assist.

The Phantoms trimmed Hershey's lead back to a goal at 17:30 on a tally from Olle Lycksell, but Gersich restored the two-goal advantage with an empty-net tally from Riley Sutter and Aaron Ness at 18:17.

Shots finished 28-24 in favor of the Bears. Shepard went 20-for-24 as he picked up his 20th victory of the season; Ersson was 22-for-27 for Lehigh Valley. The Bears were 0-for-3 on the power play; the Phantoms finished 0-for-3 with the man advantage.

The Bears now await the start of their 2023 playoff run, presented by Penn State Health. Continue to check HersheyBears.com for the latest updates on the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs, including games, dates, times, and ticket information.

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