Plenty for Bears to be Thankful for Coming Out of Thanksgiving Eve Performance

November 24, 2023

After going through some stressful wins throughout early to mid-November, the Hershey Bears grinded out a close game against a divisional foe on Wednesday night, defeating the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in front of a crowd of 9,000-plus enthusiastic fans on Thanksgiving Eve. In doing so, the Bears earned another two points to stay atop the standings in the American Hockey League.

The mood was certainly lighter in head coach Todd Nelson's postgame press conference, but Hershey's bench boss remains ever watchful for potential areas of improvement, as the Bears get set to host the Iowa Wild for the first time this weekend with a pair of games at GIANT Center on Saturday and Sunday.

"I think tonight's game, and also the last game we played in Bridgeport, we played solid hockey for 60 minutes, and if you remember the night before that game in Bridgeport, we were hanging on for dear life in the third period," Nelson said. "That's two solid games out of our hockey team. Obviously there needs to be improvement, we have to get our power play going. If our net stayed on [during a disallowed goal in the third period], maybe we have a power play goal tonight; [but we're] seeing a lot of positive signs. I thought tonight's game was a good hockey game. Both teams played well and it's kind of a chess match as you go along."

While Nelson can be thankful for the developing consistency, a few other Bears also had reasons to be thankful following the game Wednesday.

Sutter, Strome catching fire

Two big offensive performers as of late have been forwards Riley Sutter and Matt Strome, both known more primarily for their dependable 200-foot style of play.

The pair were slotted on a line with Ivan Miroshnichenko on Wednesday and were key to Hershey getting the victory, with Sutter assisting on Dylan McIlrath's first-period tally, then redirecting a behind-the-back feed from Miroshnichenko past Joel Blomqvist for the eventual game-winner; Strome assisted on Sutter's tally.

For both players, cited by their coach as typically among the first over the boards for the Bears when Hershey sends out its penalty-killing unit, their performance extended their individual point streaks to a career-high three games.

"Whenever you can produce or do anything offensively, it's always nice and it's going to boost everyone's confidence," Sutter said. "It's not my role to put the puck in the net every night, but whenever I have an opportunity to do, it's a good feeling. I think if I just continue to do the little things right, hopefully our team can keep putting the puck in.

"'Stromer' and I were talking before the game - we were like, obviously [Miroshnichenko]'s a shooter, so let's just try to get him the puck as much as possible. Obviously there's a bit of a language barrier there, but he's a smart enough player to understand where he needs to be and at the right time. I think all three of us had a lot of fun tonight."

Strome, playing in his fifth pro season and his second with Hershey, has seen some bounces go his way, resulting in him picking up three assists over his last three games; he is only two points away from matching his entire production from the 2022-23 campaign.

"I think last year though, I wasn't really getting the bounces. Now this year, things are kind of bouncing my way and getting those secondary assists, Strome said. "It's fun. I think the coaches trust me and Sutter on the penalty kill and we've been doing a good job. We're talking to the D coach, Pat Wellar in intermissions trying to find new things to do on the penalty kill, trying to disrupt their plays, and I think it's working so far."

New deal for Osipov

Prior to Wednesday's game, the Bears announced that defenseman Dmitry Osipov, who had started the season on a professional tryout, had been signed to an AHL contract for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.

The seventh-year pro with 297 games of experience split between the AHL and ECHL was elated.

"It's insanely exciting. It's the first time that I've been in that kind of situation going from a PTO and trying to flip myself over to an AHL contract. But overall I'm excited as hell," Osipov said. "Obviously Hershey's a great team, a great organization to be in - the coaching staff, teammates, like everyone. I'm proud to wear that logo on the ice; it's a big legacy. I'm just stoked to be continuing the season here, and seeing us continue to roll against teams and see where it leads us."

It took until mid-November, when Dylan McIlrath received a call-up to Washington, for Osipov to enter the lineup for his regular season Bears debut, appearing in three contests to date so far. But Nelson has liked what he has seen out of Osipov in game action, in addition to his overall body of work in practice and in the locker room, helping Russian youngsters such as Miroshnichenko and Bogdan Trineyev.

"In those three games he played really well. He was arguably one of our better defensemen," Nelson remarked. "He's a big body, he can skate pretty well, he moves the puck firm. If some fisticuffs have to happen, he's there for our hockey team, especially if a guy like McIlrath gets called up. We have that toughness - he addressed it in the first game he played, and people know when he's on the ice. He plays a really simple game, which I like, keeps his end clean and he's worthy of the contract.

"We have an added bonus where we have a Russian player that can speak fluent English and help out 'Miro' and 'Bogdan,' - it's really beneficial having a person like that. Plus, he's a good character guy and a good guy in the room - he's all in."

Written by Jesse Liebman, Bears media specialist.