The Hershey Bears blanked the Binghamton Devils, 3-0 Saturday afternoon at the Giant Center in Hershey. Bears’ netminder Zach Fucale stopped all 22 shots he faced today and 56 of 57 shots he’s faced in his first two starts for the Bears. The win improves the Bears record to 5-1-2-0 (12 points) on the season.
STARTERS
Zach Fucale (1-0-0-0, 1.01 GAA, .971 sv%) got his second start between the pipes for the Bears. Evan Cormier (2-0-1-0, 2.90 GAA, .889 sv%) started in goal for the Devils. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Scratches: Lucas Johansen (upper body injury), Eddie Whittchow (lower body injury), Macoy Erkamps (lower body injury), Blake Pietila (Illness), Paul Ladue (illness), Kale Kessy, Tyler Nanne, Caleb Herbert.
The Bears released Steve Whitney from his contract on Saturday so that he could pursue an opportunity overseas.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears struck first with a goal from Joe Snively (2) at 5:15 of the opening frame. Garrett Pilon (6) and Mason Morelli (2) had the helpers.
Joe Snively with his 2nd tally of the season. Garrett Pilon with his 6th assist of the season. Bears lead 1-0. #CapsProspect #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/xzfBngvnd6
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) February 27, 2021
That would be all of the scoring in the first frame. The Devils led in shots 7-6 in the first period. There were no power plays.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bears would stretch their lead to 2-0 with a power play goal from Matt Moulson (2) at 16:22 of the middle frame. Connor McMichael (2) and Cameron Schilling (3) had the assists.
The second period would conclude with the Bears leading 2-0. Hershey led in shots 8-3 for the second period, and 14-10 after two periods. Binghamton was 0 for 2 and Hershey 1 for 1 on the power play after two periods.
THIRD PERIOD
The Bears would make it 3-0 with a goal from Mike Sgarbossa (4) at 5:03 of the third period. Garrett Pilon (7) had the primary assist.
Nice play by Garrett Pilon to setup Mike Sgarbossa for the score. Bears lead 3-0 midway through final frame. #Peels has two primary assists today. #CapsProspect #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/l0ugeBicbi
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) February 27, 2021
That would be the final.
The Bears are back in action on Wednesday when they visit the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Puck drop is 7:05 PM.
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 403
- Zach Fucale stopped 22 of 22.
- Binghamton led shots 22-21.
- Stars of the game: 1) Zach Fucale, 2) Garrett Pilon and 3) Joe Snively.
- Garrett Pilon had two primary assists.
- Matt Moulson led all Bears in shots with 3.
- Binghamton was 0 for 3 and the Bears 1 for 2 on the power play.
By Jon Sorensen
Fucale is an interesting piece to the Capitals goaltending situation. Plenty of experience. I could see a swap of Andersen and Fucale at some point in the near future.
Garrett Pilon looked really good the last few games. Granted two of them were against Binghamton, but he seems to be extremely confident. His ice and play awareness has always been next level.