The Hershey Bears (1-1-0-0) used three first-period goals to fuel their first victory of the 2023-24 season, a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Monsters (1-1-0-0) on Sunday evening at GIANT Center.
Forward Ethen Frank led the way for Hershey with a three-point (1g, 2a) outing, while linemate Mike Vecchione netted the game-winning tally and an assist.
Hershey opened the scoring with its first goal of the season at 7:32 of the first period when Hardy Haman Aktell's shot from the left point deflected into the air and dropped behind Pavel Cajan into the net to put the Bears up 1-0. For Haman Aktell, the goal marked his first American Hockey League goal, while Ivan Miroshnichenko earned the primary assist for his first AHL point; Pierrick Dube earned a secondary helper on the goal.
Hershey converted with the man advantage to take a 2-0 lead when Frank buried his first of the season from the left circle at 11:59 from Alex Limoges and Mike Sgarbossa.
Brendan Gaunce got the Monsters on the board at 15:19 when he chopped at a loose puck following a point shot from Jake Christiansen and knocked it past Clay Stevenson.
Vecchione restored the two-goal edge for the Bears at 17:28 when he broke in with Frank on a 2-on-1 and zipped a cross-ice pass behind Cajan for his first of the season. The tally also marked Vecchione's 100th career professional and AHL goals, along with his 100th point as a Bear.
Cleveland again drew back to within a goal at 8:54 of the second period when Marcus Bjork skated up the right side and banked the puck into the cage off the far post.
With less than a minute remaining in the stanza and the Bears on the power play, Dube found twine just before the penalty to Cleveland's Trey Fix-Wolansky expired at 19:05, giving Hershey a 4-2 edge to head into the intermission. Hendrix Lapierre and Joe Snively assisted on the goal.
Sgarbossa put the game away in the third at 16:37 when the Bears were able to enter the offensive zone on another 2-on-1 rush and the forward snapped his first of the season past the glove of Cajan.
Shots finished 27-21 in favor of the Bears. Stevenson picked up his first win of the season with a 19-for-21 performance; Cajan went 22-for-27 in net in the loss for Cleveland. Hershey was 2-for-4 on the power play; the Monsters went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
The Bears embark on a four-game road trip when they face the Providence Bruins at the Amica Mutual Pavilion on Friday, Oct. 20 at 7:05 p.m. Hershey is back on home ice when it hosts the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at GIANT Center on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. for PNC Bank Magnet Schedule Night, when the first 8,000 fans in attendance will receive a 2023-24 season magnet schedule, courtesy of PNC Bank. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.
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