HERSHEY, Pa. - Henri Jokiharju gave Providence a spark with two goals, but it wasn’t enough to pull the Bruins out of a 5-3 loss to the Hershey Bears on Saturday night at the Giant Center.
Mikey Eyssimont continued his hot start for Providence, scoring once and adding an assist, while Dans Locmelis picked up two helpers. The Bruins, though, spent most of the night chasing the game after Hershey struck first and kept answering every push.
The Bears opened the scoring with 14:48 left in the first period when Lynden Lakovic one-timed a shot from the right circle past the diving goaltender on the power play. Hershey made it 2-0 at the 12-second mark before intermission, as Eriks Mateiko jammed in a rebound that was sitting in the crease.
Providence finally broke through at 13:27 of the second. Locmelis set up Eyssimont in the right circle, and Eyssimont’s wrist shot got under the cross bar to trim the deficit to 2-1. Riley Duran earned the secondary assist.
The Bruins had the equalizer almost immediately. Just 17 seconds later, Lukas Reichel found Jokiharju, who carried toward the right circle and ripped a wrist shot from a tough angle that slipped under the goaltender’s pads to make it 2-2. Ty Gallagher got the secondary assist.
Hershey grabbed control again after that. Cam Allen restored the lead at 12:01 of the second with a wrist shot from the high slot that beat the goaltender on the blocker side. Josh Dunne then added another with 2:16 left in the period, chipping in a rebound from above the crease to make it 4-2.
Grant Cruikshank pushed the Bears ahead 5-2 at 11:06 of the third, finishing a 2-on-1 rush with a snap shot inside the left post from the left circle.
Jokiharju wasn’t done. With 6:14 left, a loose puck slid into the slot, and he stepped down from the point to hammer a slap shot into the upper-right corner, cutting the margin to 5-3. Eyssimont and Locmelis were credited with assists on the play.
The numbers told the rest of the story. Simon Zajicek stopped 23 of 28 shots, and Providence finished with 34 shots on goal. The Bruins went 0-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.
Eyssimont now has four goals and one assist in his first three games with Providence, while Jokiharju scored his first two goals of the season.
The Bruins stay in Hershey for a rematch against the Bears on Sunday, October 18 at the Giant Center. Puck drop is set for 3:00 p.m.
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