Hershey Beats Rochester 4-1; Fehervary, Pinho, Pilon and Sutter Score For Bears

Photo: Caroline O’Connor/Great Save Productions/Hershey Bears

The Hershey Bears beat the Rochester Americans 4-1 Sunday evening at the Giant Center in Hershey. After a scoreless first frame, Martin Fehervary would score the game’s first goal late in the middle frame to give the Bears a 1-0 lead at the second intermission. The Bears would make it 2-0 early in the final frame with a goal from Brian Pinho and add goals from Garrett Pilon and Riley Sutter later in the third period for the 4-0 lead. Rochester would score their lone goal with 27 seconds left in the game to spoil the shutout for Vitek Vanecek. The win improves the Bears record to 25-13-2-3 (55 points) on the season.The Bears are now tied with the Hartford Wolf Pack for first place in the Atlantic Division.

STARTERS
Vitek Vanecek (12-7-1-1, 2.45 GAA, .907 sv%) started between the pipes for the Bears. Ukko Pekka Luukkonen (0-0-1-0, 2.80 GAA, .885 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Amerks. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Lineup for 1/19/2020 vs. Rochester ⬇️ #HBH pic.twitter.com/SVFo13kbcX

— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) January 19, 2020

Scratches: Mike Sgarbossa (lower-body injury, day-to-day), Joe Snively (upper-body injury, week-to-week), Steve Whitney (upper body injury, week-to-week), Lucas Johansen and Connor Hobbs were the injury scratches. Kale Kessy, Kody Clark, Eddie Whitchow and Chris McCarthy were the healthy scratches. Matt Weis was recalled from South Carolina on Friday.

FIRST PERIOD
The Bears and Amerks would skate to a scoreless first frame. Rochester led in shots on goal 11-8 for the first frame. Rochester was 0 for 2 and Hershey 0 for 1 on the power play in the first 20 minutes.

Bears and Amerks scoreless after one. Bears best flurry came with 3 1/2 minutes left. Off of the faceoff, Brett Leason hit the cross bar, then seconds later, Martin Fehervary hit the left post. Amerks lead in SOG 11-8. pic.twitter.com/AkGsP8Fmue

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) January 19, 2020

SECOND PERIOD
The Bears would finally dent the twine with a goal from Martin Fehervary at 15:32 of the middle frame. The goals was unassisted.

Marty starts the party! #CapsProspect Martin Fehervary scores game’s first goal. pic.twitter.com/g1PR5Il6Pf

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) January 19, 2020

The second period would conclude with the Bears leading 1-0. Hershey outshot Rochester 16-12 for the middle frame, and led 24-23 after two periods. Rochester was 0 for 4 and Hershey 0 for 3 on the power play after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD
The Bears would stretch their lead to 2-0 with a goal from Brian Pinho (12) at 8:20 of the final frame. Beck Malenstyn (4) and Erik Burgdoerfer (6) had the helpers.

Pins! #CapsProspect Brian Pinho makes it 2-0. It’s his 12th of the season. Malenstyn and Burgdoerfer with the helpers. pic.twitter.com/6zLrtLa7tn

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) January 20, 2020

Moments late the Bears would make it 3-0 with a goal from Garrett Pilon (11) at 9:14 of the final frame. Liam O’Brien (15) and Tyler Lewington (4) had the assists.

Peels! #CapsProspect Garrett Pilon makes it 3-0. pic.twitter.com/wXlTQnMmei

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) January 20, 2020

The Bears would make it 4-0 with a goal from Riley Sutter at 13:48 of the third period. Christian Djoos (17) had the lone assist. It was Sutter’s first professional goal.

#CapsProspect Riley Sutter scores his first professional goal, makes it 4-0 Bears. pic.twitter.com/tAJ83Vg779

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) January 20, 2020

The Amerks would spoil Vanecek’s shutout with a tally with 27 seconds left in the game for the 4-1 final.

The Bears return to action this Wednesday when they visit the Thunderbirds in Springfield. Puck drop is set for just after 7:00 pm.

SHAVINGS