Photo: Hartford Wolf Pack
The Hershey Bears downed the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 4-1 Sunday night at the Giant Center in Hershey. Zach Fucale stopped 22 of 23 shots faced, Mike Sgarbossa scored two goals and Bobby Nardella notched his first tally of the season in the win. The Bears record improves to 3-2-2-0 on the season.
LINEUP
Zach Fucale got the start in goal for the Bears. Sam Ersson got the start between the pipes for the Phantoms. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Mike Vecchione – Mike Sgarbossa – Garrett Pilon
Sonny Milano – Henrik Borgstrom – Sam Anas
Mason Morelli – Hendrix Lapierre – Henrik Rybinski
Shane Gersich – Riley Sutter – Matthew Strome
Aaron Ness – Dylan McIlrath
Alex Alexeyev – Bobby Nardella
Gabriel Carlsson – Vinny Iorio
Scratches: Lucas Johansen (upper body injury), Ethan Frank (upper body injury), Jake Massie, Julian Napravnik and Kale Kessy were the scratches.
Recalls/Reassignments: Martin Has was re-assigned to South Carolina earlier this week. Beck Malenstyn was recalled by the Capitals last week.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears got the scoring started just 43 seconds into the contest with a nice give-and-go from Mike Vecchione (4) to Mike Sgarbossa (1). Sam Anas (2) had the second assist.
The Mike And Mike show get it started. Vecchione to Sgarbossa 42 seconds in. Bears lead 1-0. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/ax1OL4wibw
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) October 30, 2022
Mike Sgarbossa (2) would make it 2-0 with a power play tally at 12:01 of the first frame. Mike Vecchione (5) and Sam Anas (3) had the assists, again.
Mike Sgarbossa with his second goal of the game, this time on the power play. He’s on hatty watch in the first period. Bears lead 2-0. #ALLCAPS #HBH pic.twitter.com/525C9bIdYs
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) October 30, 2022
Lehigh Valley answered with a power play goal of their own at 15:30. Jackson Cates (1) knocked home a rebound to make it 2-1. Olle Lycksell (3) and Louie Belpedio (1) had the helpers.
Lehigh Valley answers with a PPG from Jackson Cates at 15:30. Bears lead 2-1. #HBH pic.twitter.com/QNQSUNpOdi
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) October 30, 2022
The first period concluded with the Bears holding on to a 2-1 lead. Shots on goal were tied 9-9. Hershey was 1 for 1 and Lehigh Valley 1 for 2 on the power play in the first 20 minutes of play.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bears and Phantoms skated to a scoreless draw in the middle frame.
Hershey led in shots 10-8 in the middle frame and 19-17 after two periods.
Lehigh Valley was 1 for 2 and Hershey 1 for 3 on the power play after two periods.
THIRD PERIOD
The Bears stretched their lead to 3-1. Bobby Nardella received a nice feed from Hendrix Lapierre (3) for the score from the slot. Mason Morelli (5) had the second assist.
The Nard Dog! Bobby Nardella, on a nice feed from Hendrix Lapierre, makes it 3-1 Bears. It’s Nardella’s first of the season. #ALLCAPS #HBH pic.twitter.com/eHJc7gA8LP
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) October 30, 2022
Moments later the Phantoms’ Issac Ratcliffe hit Zack Fucale right between the legs with his stick, but no penalty was called.
Phantoms’ Isaac Ratcliffe knocks Zach Fucale right between the legs. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/Q0MW3Dwifs
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) October 30, 2022
Mike Vecchione made it 4-1 with a power play marker at 7:34 of the final frame. Bobby Nardella (4) and Garrett Pilon (4) had the helpers.
Mike Vecchione gives Bears a 4-1 lead. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/ry2kyxOn9E
that would — Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) October 30, 2022
Dylan McIlrath and Jordy Bellerive dropped the gloves in the final minute of play, with the decision going to McIlrath.
Dylan McIlrath and Jordy Bellerive drop the gloves. #ALLCAPS #HBH pic.twitter.com/sFGQa27DBa
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) October 30, 2022
4-1 would be the final.
The Bears are back in action on Saturday when they visit the Penguins in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the first game of a home-and-home set. Puck drop on Friday is set for 6:05 PM.
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 6,436
- Hershey led in shots 34-23.
- Mike Sgarbossa led all Bears in shots with 4.
- Zach Fucale staopped 22 of 23 shots faced.
- Lehigh Valley was 1 for 3 and Hershey 2 for 5 on the power play.
- Stars of the game: 1) Mike Vecchione (1g,2a), Mike Sgarbossa (2g) and Bobby Nardella (1g)
Good win for the boys. Both Fucale and Shepherd playing well.
What happened to Johansen and how did Alexyev look?
Upper body injury. It’s not a callup, if that’s what you were wondering. That move, if necessary would come today.
No I didn’t think it was a callup as it was noted he had UBI. Just didn’t know what happened to him or how long he might be out.
I know Alexyev played on Friday and Sunday and not on Saturday. He won’t be Caps ready for a while. I spoke to a beat reporter and he says team is not worried about him clearing waivers because there is no book on him. So likely he will be waived for purposes of a loan with little to no risk. But i do hope he progresses over the next month.
If JC74 is out, we’ll be looking at Irwin in the lineup.
That “beat reporter” is crazy. Young, first round draft pick, no worries about clearing waivers? That’s ridiculous.
Touché on the “crazy” comment.
Of course there is always risk, but highly unlikely. If you think about AJF and Leason, they both had a lot of NHL games and AJF was already claimed once (Buffalo) so there is an NHL history and book on them. So there was interest in picking them up to put on an NHL roster. But for Johansen, Pilon, and Malenstyn, there is no book because all of their history is in AHL and teams aren’t generally going to pick those players to put on NHL roster, so they cleared. Malenstyn probably won’t clear now because teams are seeing how they perform in the NHL. So while Alexyev is important to us, nobody else really cares. They have their own rosters they need to deal with.
I’d be interested to know which beat reporter told you that. They are poorly informed.
The commentary around Leason, AJF, Beck, etc, is my personal commentary based on relationships I have and my knowledge of how hockey works from a business perspective. They are not anyone else’s opinion. But the comment about Alexeyv being waived and assigned to Hershey with very little fear of a claim comes from someone closer to the decision makers than i am.
Curious why you think he is poorly informed. Is that because you know something we don’t? You talk to B-Mac and Lavi regularly like he does? Or you just disagree?
Jon, I’m getting notified of new articles but for the past few days (maybe a week) even though I write my name and email address and click the “notify me of followup comments by email” I am not getting the email from WordPress telling me to subscribe. I then get no notifications of followup comments either. And yes, I did check the spam folder. Nada.
I had this happen to me on Saturday as well. Seems to be working fine again today.
to that point, one of the things i was wondering, is if there is a way to avoid having to confirm every new thread. I post a lot and I hate having to confirm every time. 🙂
I know… first world problems.
I had thought of asking the same question, how could I get on am ‘always’ list. Glad it’s working for you, but I just tried two more articles (5 today) and no responses on any of them. Nor this one. Last request I got was Wed Oct 26. So it’s still broken for me.