The Hershey Bears blanked the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2-0 Sunday afternoon at the Giant Center in Hershey. The victory improves the Bears record to 14-5-2-0 (30 points) on the season.
The Bears opened the scoring midway through the first period with a goal from Aliaksei Protas for a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. It was Protas’ first career AHL goal. After a scoreless second period, the Bears would add an empty net goal from Brian Pinho for the 2-0 win.
STARTERS
Pheonix Copley (5-2-1-0, 2.73 GAA, .893 SV%) got the start between the pipes for the Bears. Max Lagace (4-2-1-0, 2.15 GAA, .906 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Penguins. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Scratches: Lucas Johansen (upper body injury), Macoy Erkamps (lower body injury), Kody Clark (upper body injury), Blake Pietila, Tyler Nanne (injury), Mason Morelli, Andrew Nielsen.
The Bears recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from ECHL South Carolina on Monday and returned him to South Carolina on Friday.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears opened the scoring with a goal from Aliaksei Protas (1) at 12:14 of the first frame. Joe Snively (9) and Brett Leason (6) had the helpers. It was Protas’ first career AHL goal.
Aliaksei Protas scores first AHL goal. Bears lead 1-0. #CapsProspect #ALLCAPS #HBH pic.twitter.com/TjFlvFOY93
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) April 11, 2021
That would be all the scoring in the first frame. The Bears led in shots 10-5. Both teams were 0 for 1 on the power play in the opening frame.
SECOND PERIOD
Midway through the second period Martin Fehervary received a huge hit along the boards and Kale Kessy quickly objected, dropping the gloves with Kyle Olson at 9:21 of the middle frame.
Martin Fehervary gets smoked along the boards and Kale Kessy wastes no time in dropping the gloves. pic.twitter.com/L2WaayrdqG
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) April 11, 2021
The second period would go scoreless.
The Penguins led in shots on goal 9-8 in the second period. The Penguins were 0 for 2 and the Bears 0 for 4 on the power play after 40 minutes of play. The Bears had 57 seconds of power play time carry over to the final frame.
THIRD PERIOD
The Penguins appeared to tie the game at 12:30 of the final frame, but the officials determined it was not a goal. Replay showed the puck likely went in, but the ruling held, no goal.
The Penguins would generate a flurry at the nine-minute mark, but Pheonix Copley was up to the task, making a nice toe save to keep the game 1-0.
Brian Pinho would add an empty net goal late in the third period for the 2-0 win.
The Bears are back on the ice on Wednesday when they host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Giant Center. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM.
SHAVINGS
- The AHL box score
- Attendance: 1,445
- Stars of the game: 1) Aliaksei Protas, 2) Pheonix Copley and 3) Max Lagace
- Pheonix Copley stopped 21 of 21 shots faced.
- Hershey led in shots 22-21.
- Connor McMichael led the Bears in shots with 4.
- The Penguins were 0 for 4 and the Bears 0 for 5 on the power play.
Carbery: Alex Alexeyev skated for first time today. Was off for a week (quarantine). No timeline yet. #CapsProspect #ALLCAPS
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) April 11, 2021
By Jon Sorensen
Follow @nova_caps
SCENES FROM HERSHEY
