Bears Blow Another Lead, Fall To Amerks, 4-3 In Shootout; Connor McMichael Scores Third Goal In Last Four Games
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Screen cap: AHL TV
The Hershey Bears fell the Rochester Americans, 4-3 (SO) Friday night at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. Mike Vecchione and Sam Anas notched tallies in the first five minutes of the game and Connor McMichael scored his third goal in the last four games early in the second period.
The Amerks scored three unanswered goals in the second period, ultimately pushing the game to overtime and the shootout. The loss drops the Bears record to 37-16-5-3 (82 points) on the season.
LINEUP
Zach Fucale (19-10-2-1, 2.57 GAA, .899 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Bears. Malcolm Subban (15-13-3-2, 3.00 GAA, .903 sv%) got the start in goal for the Americans. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Mike Vecchione – Mike Sgarbossa – Ethen Frank
Joe Snively – Connor McMichael – Sam Anas
Mason Morelli – Hendrix Lapierre – Garrett Pilon
Beck Malenstyn – Riley Sutter – Henrik Rybinski
Gabriel Carlsson – Dylan McIlrath
Aaron Ness – Logan Day
Bobby Nardella – Jake Massie
Scratches: Lucas Johansen (upper body injury), Vinny Iorio (upper body injury), Henrik Borgstrom (upper body injury), Shane Gersich, Julian Napravnik, Bogdan Trineyev and Matt Strome.
Bears head coach Todd Nelson says Vinny Iorio (upper body injury) and Lucas Johansen (upper body injury) are “probably a day away” from returning. They are on the road trip and could go tomorrow at Syracuse.
Recalls/Re-assignments: Zach Fucale and Gabrriel Carlsson were re-assigned from Washington to Hershey on Thursday. Benton Maass and Clay Stevenson were re-assigned to ECHL South Carolina on Friday.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears wasted just 29 seconds before denting the twine. Mike Vecchione (21) knocked home a rebound at 0.29. Mike Sgarbossa (34) and Ethen Frank (18) had the helpers.
That didn’t take long for @mvecc8 to collect his 21st of the season!
🍎 Sgarbossa
🍏 Frank pic.twitter.com/uS043ksZU2— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) March 24, 2023
Less than five minutes later the Bears made it 2-0 on Sam Anas‘ ninth goal of the season. Dylan McIlrath (12) and Joe Snively (11) had the assists.
Second in his last three games since returning to the lineup for @samanas7!
🍎 McIlrath
🍏 Carlsson pic.twitter.com/iioBlLEb3L— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) March 24, 2023
The first period concluded with the Bears holding the 2-0 lead. Rochester led in shots 10-8. There were no power plays in the first frame.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bears made it 3-0 on Connor McMichael‘s 15th goal of the season at 1:35 of the middle frame. Joe Snively (12) made the nice feed in traffic. Aaron Ness (12) and the second helper.
Connor McMichael on the door step for his 15th goal of the season. Joe Snively with the sweet dish. C-Mac is heating up, has points in six straight and 8 of last 9 games. #ALLCAPS #HBH pic.twitter.com/xJxFdkRwqE
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) March 25, 2023
But this time the Amerks would answer. Joseph Cecconi (2) notched Rochester’s first goal of the game at 2:52 of the second period. Brendan Warren (3) and Tyson Kozak (5) had the helpers.
THERE IT IS, JOSEPH CECCONI 👏 pic.twitter.com/4BJSUiBtS1
— Rochester Americans (@AmerksHockey) March 25, 2023
The Amerks later cut the Bears lead to a single goal. Brett Murray (18) potted the Amerks second goal at 12:03. Mason Jobst (18) and Lawrence Pilut (20) had the assists.
BIG MURR 🚨 pic.twitter.com/M6mIXYgoCA
— Rochester Americans (@AmerksHockey) March 25, 2023
Rochester completed the comeback in the middle frame. Brett Murray (19) scored a power play goal with 90 seconds remaining in the middle frame, making it 3-3. Mason Jobst (18) and Lawrence Pilut (20) had the helpers.
x
And that would be it for the second period. Shots in the second period were tied 10-10. Rochester was 1 for 1 on the power play while the Bears did not have a man advantage in the first 40 minutes of play.
THIRD PERIOD
The Bears and Amerks skated to a scoreless final frame.
Shots were tied 6-6 in the final 20 minutes. Rochester led in shots 26-25 in regulation.
Hershey was 0 for 1 and Rochester 1 for 2 on the power for regulation.
OVERTIME/SHOOTOUT
There was no scoring in the extra frame, sending the game to the shootout. The Amerks would take it in the skills competition.
- Amerks: Jobst: Good; Hershey: McMichael: No Good
- Amerks: Rousek: No Good, Hershey: Snively: No Good
- Amerks: Kisakov: Good
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 6,411
- Mason Morelli played in his 200th AHL game
