Bears Beat Wolf Pack, 2-1, But Shooting Woes Continue; Henrik Rybinski Scores Shorthanded Tally

Photo: Hartford Wolf Pack

The Hershey Bears downed the Hartford Wolf Pack, 2-1, Saturday night at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. Mike Sgarbossa scored his 16th of the season, Henrik Rybinski scored a shorthanded tally late in the first period and Hunter Shepard stopped 33 of 34 shots faced in the victory. Hershey’s record improves to 30-12-4-1 (65 points) on the season.

LINEUP

Hunter Shepard (12-3-3-1, 2.16 GAA, .916 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Bears. Dylan Garand (8-9-3-2, 3.28 GAA, .887 sv%) got the start in goal for the Wolf Pack. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Mason Morelli –Mike Sgarbossa – Mike Vecchione
Joe Snively – Connor McMichael – Henrik Borgstrom
Shane Gersich – Hendrix Lapierre – Garrett Pilon
Beck Malenstyn – Riley Sutter – Henrik Rybinski

Aaron Ness – Bobby Nardella
Gabriel Carlsson – Dylan McIlrath
Lucas Johansen – Vinny Iorio

Scratches: Ethen Frank (illness), Sam Anas (abdominal surgery, out indefinitely), Kale Kessy (upper body injury), Jake Massie, Julian Napravnik, Logan Day and Matthew Strome.

Recalls and Reassignments: Aliaksei Protas was recalled by the Capitals from Hershey on Friday.

FIRST PERIOD

Connor McMichael would leave the game midway through the first frame after receiving a hit up high prom a Wolf Pack player.

Replay. Stick catches him in the face area. He shed all his equipment and went right to the room. #ALLCAPS #HBH pic.twitter.com/aFbLZexTdV

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) February 12, 2023

The Bears opened the scoring with a gritty goal from Mike Sgarbossa (16) at 12:13 of the opening stanza. Mike Vecchione (22) had the lone helper.

Hard work pays off as Sgarbossa bags his 16th of the season 💪

🍎 Vecchione pic.twitter.com/Ip6bkl69KN

— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) February 12, 2023

The Bears made it 2-0 with a shorthanded tally from Henrik Rybinski (3) at 15:08. Shane Gersich (8) made a beautiful outlet pass to spring Rybinski for the score.

Henrik Rybinski receives a nice outlet pass and motors past Wolf Pack player, finishes for a shorthanded tally. Bears lead 2-0. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/vRrbrfi4l8

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) February 12, 2023

The period concluded with the Bears leading 2-0. The Wolf Pack outshot the Bears 15-5 in the first 20 minutes. Hartford was 0 for 1 and Hershey 0 for 2 on the power play in the first period.

SECOND PERIOD

Connor McMichael would return for the start of the second period.

The Wolf Pack cut the Bears lead midway through the middle frame. Will Cuylle (15) notched the Pack’s first score at 10:56. Tanner Fritz (22) and Brandon Scanlin (8) had the helpers.

“Ope, just gonna sneak right past ya” – Will Cuylle, probably, as he nets his team leading 15th goal of the season pic.twitter.com/w7qqy9Ayyu

— Hartford Wolf Pack (@WolfPackAHL) February 12, 2023

Hartford’s goal sparked a bit of scrum in the moments following the tally. Dylan McIlrath would find himself quickly throwing uppercuts in the middle of the disturbance.

Assorted unpleasantries. pic.twitter.com/dcZBd5L43B

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) February 12, 2023

The Wolf Pack were awarded a four-minute power play late in the period after Hendrix Lapierre caught a Hartford player with a high stick to the face.

The Wolf Pack were unable to score before the end of the period, with 1:12 carrying over to the final frame.

Hartford led in shots 12-7 in the second period and 27-12 after 40 minutes of play. Hartford was 0 for 4 and Hershey 0 for 3 on the power play after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD

The Bears and Wolf Pack skated to a scoreless draw in the final frame.

The Bears are back in action on Wednesday when they visit the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Wilkes-Barre. Puck drop is set for 7PM.

SHAVINGS

• AHL box score
• Attendance: 10,254
• Hartford led in shots 34-20.
• Stars of the game: 1) Hunter Shepard, 2) Henrik Rybinski and 3) Mike Sgarbossa
• Hunter Shepard stopped 33 of 34 shots for a .970 save percentage.
• Mike Sgarbossa played in his 200th game for the Bears