SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Hershey Bears staged a thrilling comeback Friday night, defeating the Syracuse Crunch 2-1 in overtime at Upstate Medical University Arena. Ethen Frank's late-game heroics tied the contest with just 1:40 remaining in regulation, setting the stage for Bogdan Trineyev's game-winning goal in overtime.
The Bears overcame an early deficit after Jesse Ylonen opened scoring for Syracuse at 3:20 of the first period. Despite struggling to find offensive momentum for most of the game, Hershey was able to add to its league-best road record at 11-1-2-0.
Goaltender Clay Stevenson was instrumental in the victory, making 24 saves and delivering a crucial breakaway stop against Conor Sheary just 1:16 into overtime.
“It’s a pretty clean view from the far blue line, so, you know, honestly I’ve just been working on presenting bigger to the shooter on breakaways – like working with guys in practice – and closing in on him as he is getting closer to me and not thinking too much about it, just make a clean save and just battle for my guys. That’s all I was thinking about,” Stevenson said.
His performance was particularly noteworthy given his challenging start to the season, which he attributed to overthinking his game.
"Honestly, there's no secret behind it," Stevenson said. "I trusted my foundation as a goalie and who I am as a person...maybe a couple games at the start, six goals against, five goals against, obviously those aren’t what you want at the start of the year, but I trusted my foundation, I trusted my game, and with that I can find a way to be successful stopping those pucks more often than not. So honestly from then to now, not too much has changed. Just a different kind of different mentality into it, not thinking too much about the game. Perhaps that was probably a problem early on in the season, just thinking too much out there, but you know, you play free and that’s it.”
The game-tying goal came when Frank, the league's leading goal scorer, netted his 19th goal with an assist from Mike Sgarbossa and Brad Hunt. Sgarbossa's assist marked his 20th of the season, keeping him tied for the league lead in helpers.
Trineyev's game-winning goal came moments after Stevenson's critical save, with Vincent Iorio sending an outlet pass to Henrik Rybinski, who then found Trineyev streaking into the offensive zone. The goal marked Trineyev's first career game-winning goal.
“Before we scored, Mud made that great save, it gave us power heading into the next shift. Then great passing from Vinny and Ryby - without them I can’t just score. They made it simple for me,” Trineyev said.
Bears head coach Todd Nelson praised his team's composure and resilience. "We didn't get off to a good start, but we got better as the game went on," Nelson said. "What I liked about it is that we got stronger as the game went on and we did not panic, we just played our game."
The victory was also a milestone for Nelson, who earned his 424th career AHL head coaching win, tying him with John Anderson for sixth on the league's all-time head-coaching wins list.
Statistically, the game was evenly matched, with both teams recording 25 shots on goal. Neither team converted on their power play opportunities, going 0-for-4.
The Bears have been particularly strong in overtime, with four wins—tied for the second-most in the league—and 15 total points earned through overtime and shootout games.
Hershey faces the Charlotte Checkers tomorrow at Giant Center at 7pm. It's Aaron Ness bobblehead night.
The Bears are back on FOX43.2 Antenna TV on Sunday, December 22 at 5pm versus the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.