A timely goal challenge and a third-period comeback sparked the Hershey Bears (53-13-0-5) to a 4-3 win over the Charlotte Checkers (38-25-7-0) on Wednesday night at GIANT Center.
With two points earned from the win, Hershey has guaranteed it will finish the 2023-24 regular season on Saturday with the best single-season points percentage in franchise history, besting the 2009-10 team's mark of .769 (80-game schedule). The Bears need to earn at least one more point in their rematch with Charlotte on Saturday in the season finale to surpass the 1992-93 Binghamton Rangers' American Hockey League points percentage record of .775 (80-game schedule). Hershey has also continued to add to its win total for the second-most wins in a single season in club history, behind only the 2009-10 team's league mark of 60.
Hershey also improved to 5-2-0-0 against the Checkers this season, setting a new club record for most wins against Charlotte in a single season.
Joe Snively opened the scoring with his 13th of the season at 2:08 of the first period as he took a pass from Matthew Phillips and threaded it past Magnus Hellberg. Jake Massie earned a secondary assist.
Matt Strome was awarded a penalty shot just over a minute later at 3:13 after he was hooked by two Charlotte players on a breakaway, and the forward converted for Hershey's first penalty shot goal since Riley Barber scored vs. Lehigh Valley's Alex Lyon on Oct. 28, 2018 by snapping a shot past the blocker of Hellberg for his seventh of the season.
The Checkers responded with a pair of goals, as Wilmer Skoog struck at 12:33, and Mitchell Vande Sompel put a power-play goal behind Clay Stevenson at 16:42.
Skoog then scored with the man advantage at 6:27 of the second period to give Charlotte the lead for the first time.
The Checkers appeared to widen their lead to 4-2 at 9:36, but a successful challenge by the Bears took the goal off the board after video review by the officials determined the puck had been kicked into the net, returning the score to 3-2.
That successful challenge kept the Bears in striking distance, and Alex Limoges redirected a shot from Ethen Frank at 5:04 of the third for Limoges' 24th of the season, a new career high. Mike Vecchione also assisted.
Hershey got the game-winning tally when Pierrick Dube recovered the puck at his own blue line and skated in on a breakaway to beat Hellberg for his 28th of the season at 10:28.
Shots finished 30-26 in favor of the Checkers. Stevenson went 27-for-30 in the victory for Hershey to earn his 24th win of the season; Hellberg took the loss for Charlotte with a 22-for-26 effort. The Bears went 0-for-3 on the power play; the Checkers went 2-for-4 with the man advantage.
The Bears conclude the 2023-24 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they host the Charlotte Checkers at GIANT Center on Saturday, April 20 at 7 p.m. for Fan Appreciation Night, including the pre-game Player Awards ceremony and the post-game Jerseys Off Our Backs ceremony. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.
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