Bears Shut Door on Monsters for 5-0 Win

March 23, 2024

The Hershey Bears (46-11-0-5) put on an impressive offensive display with four goals - including three with the man advantage - in the third period en route to a 5-0 win over the Cleveland Monsters (35-21-3-4) on Saturday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Ethen Frank and Joe Snively led the way with a goal and two assists each, while Alex Limoges netted a pair of goals in his 200th professional game.

Goaltender Hunter Shepard stopped all 20 shots he faced for his second consecutive game with a shutout (extending his overall shutout streak to 141:29) for his fourth overall clean sheet of the season. Combined with teammate Clay Stevenson's AHL-leading seven shutouts this season, Hershey's 11 total shutouts earned by its goaltenders has established a new franchise record, besting the mark of 10 set during the 2014-15 campaign (Philipp Grubauer, 6; Pheonix Copley, 3; Justin Peters, 1). Shepard also jumped ahead of Stevenson to take over the league lead for goals-against average (1.89).

The win was Hershey's fourth straight victory and sixth straight game with a point (5-0-0-1). The victory, coupled with Providence's 3-2 overtime loss to Charlotte, also reduced the Bears' Magic Number for clinching the Atlantic Division title to six points. Hershey finished its regular-season series against Cleveland with a 4-0-0-0 record and finished its slate of North Division opponents with a record of 11-3-0-2.

BOX SCORE

The first two periods were scoreless before Matt Strome beat Malcolm Subban with a shot from a sharp angle at 19:35 of the middle frame. Ryan Hofer earned a secondary helper on the strike.

That was merely a warmup for Hershey's third-period scoring binge, as Frank scored with a 5-on-3 man advantage at 9:35, one-timing his 24th of the season past Subban on assists from Snively and Pierrick Dube.

With the Bears still on the power play, Limoges netted his 20th of the season at 10:10 from Snively and Frank.

Minutes later, with both teams at full strength, Logan Day stole the puck in the Monsters' zone and slid a pass through a defender's legs across to Snively, who snapped his 11th of the season into the top corner of the net at 12:23. The first three goals scored in the third period represent the fastest three-goal sequence (2:48) by the Bears this season.

Limoges capped the scoring with his second of the night on Hershey's final power play of the evening, redirecting Frank's shot through the pads of Subban at 18:15, with Day earning a secondary assist. The four goals scored in the third period comprised the fastest four-goal sequence (8:40) by Hershey in the 2023-24 campaign; Hershey's five total goals were scored in an 18:40 span, another team-best for the season.

Shots finished 28-20 in favor of the Bears. Shepard's performance earned the goaltender his 23rd victory of the season; Subban took the loss for Cleveland with a 23-for-28 effort. The Bears went 3-for-4 on the power play; the Monsters went 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

The Bears continue the 2023-24 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they return home to GIANT Center against the Providence Bruins on Tuesday, March 26 at 7 p.m. for Toyota Mike Vecchione Bobblehead Night and TRULY Takeover Tuesday. The first 4,000 fans in attendance for the game will receive a Mike Vecchione bobblehead. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.