Rapid Reaction: Bears Put Forth Defensive Effort in Win Over Wolf Pack

For the second straight game, the Hershey Bears played a stifling brand of hockey that limited their opponents’ chances. This time, however, they got the outcome they desired.

After outshooting the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 43-16 on Sunday only to suffer a 5-0 defeat, the Bears’ fortunes turned with a 4-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack on Wednesday, outshooting the visiting team 38-15, limiting the Wolf Pack to just three shots in the first period, and eight shots through the first 40 minutes of action.

In a strange way, the best defense was a good offense, according to head coach Derek King. Hershey came out of the gates flying, with Josh Dunne driving the net of Joonas Korpisalo – down in the AHL on a conditioning loan from the New York Rangers – and knocking his fifth of the season past the Hartford netminder at 5:35 of the first period.

“It’s like, let’s get some pucks to this guy early and maybe we’ll tire him out,” King said. “But I like the way we played.

“We still throw some hope plays in that, which we’ve got to get out of our game, but we’re holding pucks down below the goal line. We’re using our ‘D’, our ‘D’ are keeping pucks in. Our F3’s been real responsible, and we just keep cycling. When we get a low-to-high, our ‘D’ are getting shots through, and we’re getting bodies to the net.”

Having a power play go 2-for-2 also allowed the Bears to keep pressure on the Wolf Pack, as Louie Belpedio and Alex Suzdalev converted for Hershey with the man advantage in the second frame.

“I think it’s way better when we’re in the offensive zone – it’s a lot more fun. There’s nothing worse than when you get stuck out there and the other guys are buzzing and they’re able to change, fresh guys come out, and you’re stuck, and it’s just rapid fire,” Belpedio said. “We’ve done a really good job of causing chaos the last couple games, not being selfish, and making those offensive zone changes, and it’s kind of freed us up a ton. You have way more energy when you do have to play defense for just quick break outs and quick transitions, and I think it’s been two games now, but that’s something that we should definitely try to keep going moving forward.”

Certainly the addition of defenseman Dylan McIlrath – playing in his first game with Hershey at GIANT Center since leading the club to its second consecutive Calder Cup in 2024 – provided a boost to the club’s defensive acumen. McIlrath liked what he saw out of the group tonight.

“I think it was the mindset coming in. I know the guys had lost the last two games. It was on record we needed a good start, and it seemed like we were suffocating them,” McIlrath said. “They couldn’t generate anything. Credit to the guys. They were working their butts off and coming back, tracking back, and then we’d go right down and play in their end, and obviously they couldn’t get much of any sustained O-zone.”

The penalty kill also went 4-for-4 on the night, the effort of which was noticed by McIlrath.

“I thought every guy was on the same page, and it’s a really effective, really aggressive kill,” McIlrath said. “[We] didn’t give up too much. I was a small part of it tonight and I was in the box for one, so I got to watch the guys kill. I thought the guys really battled.”

When Mitch Gibson was tested, he rose to the occasion as the last line of defense – including coming up with a breakaway stop on Nathan Aspinall late in the second period to maintain Hershey’s 3-0 lead – rebounding from giving up 11 total goals over his last two starts.

“It definitely is tricky coming off of those two games, and just having the belief, we put a lot of work in every day, especially with [associate goaltending coach Juha Lehtola],” Gibson said. “And I always feel like whenever you have a couple of bad games, the way to win the next one isn’t always going to be perfect. It’s not going to be pretty. And tonight certainly was a weird one with just a limited shot count, and I just had to stay in the zone, keep my mind quiet, and I felt like we did a great job tonight, and just credit to the guys. They made it really easy for me tonight.”

King was glad to see the response of his netminder.

“We’ve got confidence in him. He wasn’t happy with his performance [Sunday], but we didn’t help him either, and then we couldn’t score to help him that way,” King said. “But he’s part of our team and we need both of our goalies being able to kick, and it was good to see him rebound like that.”

Written by Bears media specialist Jesse Liebman