Ilya Protas is on a three-game goal streak after scoring in every game of the Hershey Bears’ three-in-three this weekend.
The 19-year-old younger brother of Aliaksei Protas scored the game-tying goal in Hershey’s 2-1 overtime win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday.
After taking a pass from D.J. King, head coach Derek King’s son, Protas sent a backhand shot under Aleksei Kolosov that tied the game with 6:48 remaining. Andrew Cristall got the secondary assist.
Kolosov had saved Hershey’s previous 28 shots before Protas found paydirt and gave Hershey life.
Hershey went on to win in overtime after Connor Mayer, a defenseman called up earlier in the day from the ECHL South Carolina Stingrays, ripped a shot from the slot and scored.
Over the weekend, Protas had multi-point games in two of his three outings and posted five points (3g, 2a).
In Hershey’s 2-1 win over Syracuse Crunch on Friday, Protas scored his first career power-play goal and tallied an assist on Andrew Cristall’s game-winning goal.
Ilya Protas PPG against Syracuse on 11/14
The next night, Protas had a goal and an assist, getting an apple on Matt Strome’s first goal of the night. Hershey defeated Lehigh Valley 4-3 at Allentown’s PPL Center.
Ilya Protas goal against Lehigh Valley on 11/15
The Bears wore all three of their games, improving their record to 9-4-1. Protas has 10 points (5g, 5a) in 14 games and now leads Hershey in points.
“He’s coming along nice,” Derek King said of Protas after the game. “I can’t take all the credit for him. But he’s a pro. You can tell he’s been around a hockey family. And we’ve talked about it before. He just keeps getting better and better every week.”