Hershey's Holiday Hustle

HERSHEY, Pa. - The Hershey Bears (7-5-3) continued their home-ice, Hockey Fights Cancer winning streak Sunday with a 4-2 victory over the Charlotte Checkers, but fell 7-3 in Hartford Saturday following a horrific third period where they gave up five unanswered goals.

In Hartford, the Bears fell behind 2-0 after the first period, but responded with three straight goals in the second to re-claim the lead.

Shane Gersich and Dylan McIlrath both scored their first goals of the season with Gersich scoring just 93 second into the second period unassisted.

Nearly nine minutes later, Mike Sgarbossa tallied his sixth of the season to tie the game. Lucas Johansen and Beck Malenstyn earned assists.

Gersich and Michal Kempny were credited with the helpers on McIlrath’s goal, but then the proverbial wheels came off the bus in the third Hartford scored three even-strength goals, a powerplay goal, and a shorthanded goal.

Zach Fucale suffered the loss in net but made 21 saves on 28 shots.

Sunday evening, things did not appear to be looking any better as the Checkers got on the board first courtesy of a powerplay goal. Mason Morelli was called for interference, and the Checkers needed only 25 seconds to take the lead. Former Bear, Connor Carrick had the primary assist.

In the second period, Matt Moulson scored his second goal of the season to tie the game on the powerplay and Charlotte responded just 64 seconds later to regain the lead, but Sgarbossa scored his second of the weekend to knot the game at 2-2 heading into the second intermission.

In the third, it was all Hershey as Joe Snively scored a powerplay goal and Sgarbossa scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season with an empty netter before the final buzzer. Phoenix Copley stopped 24 of 26 shots en route to the victory for the Bears.

Special Teams Weekly Recap

Hershey PP was 2-for-9 (Moulson and Snively goals against Charlotte) - Hartford scored a shorthanded goal Hershey PK was 8-for-10 (Hartford and Charlotte scored one each)

Three Things

1. Sgarbossa Shines

With three goals in two games this past weekend, Sgarbossa is proving once again to be a valuable cog in Hershey’s success.

Now with eight goals and six assists through 15 games, Sgarbossa sits 6th in the league in goals scored, just two behind Adam Ruzicka, the league’s leader. And while he got off to a slow start Sunday, Scott Allen noted that Sgarbossa was the one to make the corrections during intermission.

"A guy like Mike Sgarbossa in the American Hockey League is a game-breaker...that’s what we needed from him [Sunday night]...he was a little caught up in the emotional aspect of it (the cause) and was able to recapture himself and utilize his emotions in a positive manner," Allen said.

On Wednesday, Washington announced they called up Sgarbossa, in addition to forward Beck Malenstyn.

2. Snively’s Smart Decisions

Joe Snively could easily be tied with Sgarbossa for the team lead in points, but a smart decision Sunday kept that potential off the table for the moment.

Late in a shift, Snively could have easily attempted to skate in alone on Gibson, but instead made the smart choice for the team, dumped the puck, and headed for a change.

Allen said, "A lot of guys would have tried to stay on the ice and leg that out. I thought it was impressive [that he passed up that opportunity and went to the bench for the change after a long shift]."

In truth, Snively’s speed has led to quite several opportunities and goals already in this young season.

3 Physical Force(s)

Sunday’s game was full of hard hits as Eddie Wittchow and Cody Franson returned from injury this weekend and Dylan McIlrath skated in both games after missing part of last weekend due to a suspension.

Add in Kale Kessy and Beck Malenstyn, who also like to mix things up, and you have a recipe to take just about any team off their finesse game, including Charlotte Sunday afternoon.

"I think the biggest thing in regards to that...when those guys come out and establish that type of physicality, it is a very important aspect...we're here for a full 60 minutes," said Allen said after referring to the game as a trap game since the Checkers were off Saturday and the Bears arrived back home early Sunday morning from Hartford.

Hershey’s heavy hitters help establish a tone, especially with several pieces still missing from the line-up (Mike Vecchione, injury; Brian Pinho, injury; Brett Leason, recall; Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, just returned from recall; Aliaksei Protas, recall; Garrett Pilon, just returned from recall).

Up Next

Hershey has a long week ahead of themselves with games on each end of Thanksgiving, as well as a Sunday home game against rival Lehigh Valley.

Wednesday, November 24: Providence at Hershey, 7:00 p.m. ETFriday, November 26: Hershey at Rochester, 7:05 p.m. ETSunday, November 28: Lehigh Valley at Hershey, 5:00 p.m. ET