Hershey Bears Fall to Manchester Monarchs 6-3

Photo credit: Tori Hartman

The Hershey Bears had a pretty good start and matched pace with the league leading Manchester Monarchs. It didn’t end so well for the Hershey Bears as they fell to the Monarchs 6-3. The game was backed by some outstanding goaltending at both ends. Dmitry Orlov played his first game for the Hershey Bears since November 27, 2013 after being reassigned by the Washington Capitals for a conditioning stint. Even with Orlov‘s return, the Hershey Bears couldn’t pull out a win against the Monarchs.

The first period started off very fast, and Manchester came strong with their youth and strength. About midway through the first, it appeared that Manchester took the lead, but after reviewing the goal, it was kicked in and the game remained scoreless. Manchester continued the pressure in the first, and I mean piled on the pressure. They finished the period with a 22-5 shot advantage. Thanks for not letting any in Grubauer!

The second period evened out a little more and the puck began to find the back of the net for both teams. Jim O’Brien started the scoring with a deflection from Dmitry Orlov on the power play to put the Hershey Bears up 1-0. At 8:06, Sean Backman would tie the game for Manchester. Then, it was back to the power play for the Hershey Bears, and we saw almost a repeat goal. Jim O’Brien again deflected a slapper from Dmitry Orlov at the point, and the Bears were up 2-1. Shortly after that it was Manchester’s turn on the power play, but not so fast. Chandler Stephenson scored a beauty short handed goal to extend the Hershey Bears lead to 3-1. Michael Mersch and Zach O’Brien would pick up the other two goals for the Monarchs in the period, and the game would wind up tied 3-3 after the second period.

As it turns out, Chandler Stephenson‘s goal would be the end of the Hershey Bears scoring for the evening, and Manchester would continue on to get five unanswered goals, two in the second and three more in the third. To sum it up, Mersch finished off his stellar evening by netting two more goals and sealing off his hat trick. Jordan Weal would twist the dagger in the wounded Hershey Bears by making the final score of 6-3. The Monarchs registered 48 shots on goal compared to Hershey’s 24. Ouch. Grubauer still made a phenomenal 42 saves tonight.

If the Hershey Bears would have continued the same pressure as they did in the first and second period, they would have walked away with the two points. The team should have gotten motivated from Stephenson‘s shortie, but instead fell back and were dominated by the Monarchs. I have to say, though, this Monarchs team is exciting to watch. They are going to be a huge competitor in the playoffs, and I believe they have a really good chance of going all the way. When the game first started, I found myself thinking whoa they are fast. They are speedy, strong, and big. Also, J. F. Berube is fun to watch. He made some really flashy saves tonight. Berube looks good, that is for sure. The Hershey Bears will have their work cut out for them on Saturday.

As far as Dmitry Orlov‘s game, I thought he looked pretty good for this being his first game in almost a year. He slotted in at the point on the second power play unit, which got more time on the ice than the first PP unit. He made some good passes and his hard slapper from the point definitely helped. For the regular 5×5 play, he looked alright. It’s his first game back in a really long time, so I wasn’t expecting great things. He did have one pretty bad turn over that lead to Mersch’s third goal; it was not pretty. Overall, not a terrible performance from Dmitry Orlov.

It’s important for the Hershey Bears to win the game against Manchester on Saturday. The Syracuse Crunch overtook the Hershey Bears for second place in the Eastern Conference. WBS won tonight and cut the Hershey Bears lead to only four points, and Manchester extended their points lead to five. Come out to Giant Center and help motivate these boys for the two points.

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