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AHL Hershey Bears

Frank Scores Twice as Bears Top Thunderbirds 5-3

January 13, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


(Hershey, PA) -Ethen Frank scored twice, while Logan Day and Mike Sgarbossa each picked up two assists as the Hershey Bears (24-8-3-1) topped the Springfield Thunderbirds (15-15-1-4) 5-3 on Friday night at GIANT Center.

The Bears officially hit the season's halfway mark with their best record through the first 36 games of a season since the 2009-10 campaign. The win also gave Bears head coach Todd Nelson his 499th professional head coaching win.

The Bears came out of the gates flying in the first period, out-shooting the Thunderbirds 18-4 in the game's opening 20 minutes.

Hershey got its first goal of the night at the 15:03 mark when Connor McMichael intercepted a pass in the defensive zone and sent a feed up the left wing to Joe Snively, who skated into the Springfield end and beat Joel Hofer with a snapshot into the upper-right corner of the net for his first of the season. The goal also extended Snively's franchise-record home point streak with the Bears to 16 games (10g, 13a) dating back to Nov. 14, 2021.

Beck Malenstyn collected his second of the season at 16:22 when he pressured Springfield's Matthew Kessel into fumbling the puck after it was sent ahead by Mason Morelli, and knocked it through Hofer to put Hershey ahead 2-0. Day collected the secondary assist.

Frank pushed his team-leading goal totals to 14 on the season at 18:02 when he swatted in a rebound from Day behind Hofer. Sgarbossa earned the secondary helper on the goal.

A match penalty to Riley Sutter for a check to the head of Greg Printz behind the Springfield net at 14:31 of the second period put Hershey on an extended penalty kill, and the Thunderbirds converted early into the man advantage when Brady Lyle rocketed a shot past Zach Fucale at 14:59.

Frank netted his second of the evening at 1:01 of the third when he broke up the right side and roofed a shot over the glove of Hofer. Sgarbossa and Gabriel Carlsson earned assists.

Mathias Laferriere tallied another power-play goal for the Thunderbirds at 3:24 to pull Springfield back to within two of Hershey.

With the Bears on a power play midway through the frame, Henrik Borgstom completed a gorgeous give-and-go passing play with Garrett Pilon and Hendrix Lapierre by burying his sixth of the season at 13:38 to make it 5-2.

Will Bitten scored at 14:40 to once again bring the Thunderbirds, and a Hershey penalty at 17:08 prompted Springfield to pull Hofer for an extra skater in an attempt to close the gap.

Frank nearly completed a hat trick with approximately half a minute remaining, but his backhand shot on the empty net hit the right post. He then appeared to have scored with 12.9 seconds left in the game, but the play was nullified by the play being offside.

Shots finished 28-22 in favor of Hershey. Fucale went 19-for-22 for Hershey to earn his 12th victory of the season, setting a new personal-best for the netminder during his Bears tenure; Hofer was 23-for-28 for the Thunderbirds. The Bears were 1-for-3 on the power play, while Springfield went 2-for-5 with the man advantage.

Hershey continues the 2022-23 season, presented by Penn State Health, when the Chocolate and White host the Springfield Thunderbirds at GIANT Center on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m., as the Bears salute one of their all-time greats with the raising of Chris Bourque's #17 to the rafters in a special pregame ceremony on Chris Bourque Jersey Retirement Night, presented by Highmark Blue Shield.GIANT Center doors will open at 4:45 p.m., with the ceremony promptly starting at 5:45 p.m. The first 10,000 fans in attendance will receive a commemorative Chris Bourque mini banner, courtesy of Highmark Blue Shield. During warmups, players will wear "Swiper Bear" inspired jerseys from the 2009-10 season that will be auctioned off postgame to benefit local charities. All players will honor Chris Bourque by wearing #17 for the last time, and the jerseys will feature a commemorative patch to mark the retirement of the number. Purchase tickets for the game.

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