Shepard and Bears Blank Wolves, 5-0

October 20, 2024

The Hershey Bears (3-1-1-0) rebounded from an overtime loss on Saturday with a 5-0 victory over the Chicago Wolves (1-2-0-0) on Sunday afternoon at GIANT Center, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.

Bears head coach Todd Nelson earned his 100th career regular-season win in his 149th game with Hershey. The veteran bench boss improved his career AHL win totals to 409 - currently ranking seventh all-time in league history.

Ethen Frank (2g, 1a) and Ivan Miroshnichenko (1g, 2a) each collected three points, while Hunter Shepard made 26 saves for his third win of the season, and his ninth career shutout for the Chocolate and White, tying Frederic Cassivi for 11th in franchise history.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Ethen Frank opened the scoring at 3:28 of the first period by pouncing on a Chicago giveaway for an unassisted goal and his fourth of the season for the Bears; the goal was his second game-winning tally of the season.
• Hershey converted with the man advantage for the fifth consecutive game when Ivan Miroshnichenko netted his team-leading fifth goal of the season on the power play at 9:10 from Alex Limoges and Mike Sgarbossa.
• Limoges' assist on Miroshnichenko's goal added to his team-leading point totals and extended his point streak to five games (1g, 6a).
• Brad Hunt netted his first as a Bear on the power play just 30 seconds into the middle frame, with Miroshnichenko and Frank assisting; Hunt is tied for second in the AHL among defenseman with three points on the power play (1g, 2a).
• Hershey improved to 1-0-1-0 against Chicago this season and now sports a lifetime 4-0-1-1-0 record in head-to-head play in the regular season against the Wolves.
• The Bears lead the AHL with a power play that is operating at 34.8% (8-for-23).

SHOTS: HER 24, CHI 26

GOALTENDING: HER - Hunter Shepard, 26-for-26; CHI - Yaniv Perets, 19-for-24

POWER PLAY: HER - 2-for-4; CHI - 0-for-4

THEY SAID IT:

"I thought our compete was up higher and [Chicago] played at such a high pace last night. That's hard to keep up for any team. I don't care how good, good a shape you're in. So I think [Chicago's] tempo went down a bit and we were better today. It's just like winning puck battles - we always talk about that, it's important and we got some scoring going, our power play was good, special teams were excellent. So it was a combined effort, but I liked the way we played tonight. Can we get better? Yes, and we will. But that's the game I was looking for from the start of the season." - Todd Nelson on Hershey's response today against the Wolves after Saturday's overtime loss

"Nick Bootland does a great job with the power play, and I think having the same players helps him put them in the right spots. We have two units out there. Like you can't say it's Group One, Group Two, or Group A or B - they're both pretty even and they're well-balanced. If one group's not going well one night, the second group picks it up. Nick does a good job, he does a lot of homework, he works really hard to make sure that he knows what we're going to face, and you saw our [first] power-play goal. It was a really nice goal, good puck movement, and the guys stuck to the plan." - Nelson on what has resulted in Hershey's strong power play to begin the season

"Yeah, it was very rewarding because that line likes playing together. It's the 'Kid Line,' right? They're all really young guys, and I know that both Bogdan and Miro like playing together, and Ryby compliments them fine, they're a hardworking group. The line really does some special things when all three guys are working hard, and it was nice to see them contribute tonight." - Nelson on the line of Miroshnichenko, Rybinski, and Trineyev converting for a goal at 5-on-5 play in the third period

NEXT GAME:

The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they visit the Providence Bruins on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7:05 p.m. at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Hershey is back on home ice when it hosts the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for College Night. The first 500 college students in attendance will receive a t-shirt, courtesy of Enck's Trophies and Screen Printing. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.