Screen cap: AHL TV
The Hershey Bears downed the Bridgeport Islanders, 4-3 (OT), Friday night at the Giant Center in Hershey. Vinny Iorio recorded the overtime game-winner and Ethan Frank extended his goal-scoring streak to five games in the victory. The Bears record improves to 6-2-2-0 on the season.
HERSHEY BEARS LINEUP
Zach Fucale got the start in goal for the Bears. Jakub Skarek got the start between the pipes for the Islanders. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Mason Morelli – Mike Vecchione – Sam Anas
Henrik Rybinski – Henrik Borgstrom – Garrett Pilon
Shane Gersich – Hendrix Lapierre – Ethan Frank
Kale Kessy – Riley Sutter – Matthew Strome
Aaron Ness – Dylan McIlrath
Lucas Johansen – Bobby Nardella
Jake Massie – Vinny Iorio
Scratches: Mike Sgarbossa (paternity leave), Gabriel Carlsson (non-Covid illness), Julian Napravnik and Logan Day.
Recalls/Re-assignments: Alex Alexeyev was recalled by the Capitals on Tuesday, November 8. Lucas Johansen was returned to Hershey on Wednesday, November 9.
FIRST PERIOD
The Islanders struck first on a Bears turnover and subsequent 2-on-1 breakaway. Hudson Fasching (4) notched the game’s first tally just 1:45 into the game. Arnaud Durandeau (6) and Otto Koivula (4) had the helpers.
Bears turnover leads to 1-0 lead for Islanders. #HBH pic.twitter.com/ZxeR5znNr1
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) November 12, 2022
The Bears fired back on a nasty wrister from Ethan Frank (5) at 8:02 of the first frame. Shane Gersich (1) and Lucas Johansen (1) had the assists. It was Frank’s 5th goal in the last five games.
Ethan Frank is on fire! 5th goal in last 5 games. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/kqTpSTOK3K
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) November 12, 2022
The first period concluded with the game tied 1-1. Hershey led in shots 11-8. Both teams were 0 for 1 on the power play.
SECOND PERIOD
The Islanders made it 2-1 on Hudson Fasching (5) second goal of the game at 2:12 of the middle frame. Vincent Sevigny (3) and Parker Wotherspoon (4) had the assists.
Bridgeport takes a 2-1 lead. Hudson Fasching (5) with his second of the game. #HBH pic.twitter.com/FWICI61F33
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) November 12, 2022
The Bears tied the game at 15:04 on Kale Lessy’s first goal of the season. Vincent Iorio (3) and Riley Sutter (1) had the helpers.
Kale Kessy ties it up 2-2. #HBH pic.twitter.com/UXEgpu5txk
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) November 12, 2022
The period concluded with the game tied 2-2. Bridgeport led in shots 15-14 in the middle frame with the Bears leading 25-23 after two period. Bridgeport was 0 for 1 and Hershey 0 for 2 on the power play after 40 minutes.
THIRD PERIOD
The Bears took a lead early in the final frame on Shane Gersich’s second goal of the season at 5:54 of the third. Hendrix Lapierre (6) and Ethen Frank (1) had the assists.
Hendrix Lapierre finds Shane Gersich out front and the Bears lead 3-2 early in the final frame. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/ZaIvjn3v5h
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) November 12, 2022
But this time the Islanders would answer. Kyle MacLean (2) notched the game-tying tally at 9:44. Jeff Kubiak (3) and Cole Bardreau (2) had the helpers.
The game would head to an extra frame.
OVERTIME
Vinny Iorio won it in overtime. It was his first career professional goal.
Vinny Iorio’s first AHL goal is an overtime game-winner! #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/9YECHprcsI
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) November 12, 2022
The same two teams do it again tomorrow night at Giant Center. Puck drop is set for 7PM.
JT might be an Islanders fan, but we are his #1 fans tonight.
After @viorio14’s OT winner, a referee handed JT the puck. Upon hearing it was Vinny’s first goal, JT wanted to give him the puck back.
So a trade – an autographed Vincent Iorio puck for pro goal number one. pic.twitter.com/nCGIb7sPa4
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) November 12, 2022
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 7,964
- Bears led in shots 36-32.
- Zach Fucale stopped 29 of 32 for a .906 save percentage.
- Stars of the game: 1) Vinny iorio, 2) Kale Kessy and 3) Shane Gersich
- The last time the Bears played a three-game weekend home stand was March, 2010.
Way to go Vinny!
Ethan Frank’s shot is the real deal.
Confirmed. Another great find/recruitment by Danny Brooks.
Yeah team, Yeah Danny Brooks. 5 game goal scoring streak? Woa. That ain’t easy.
A few observations from the Bears game tonight.
Lappiere, Frank, and Gersich on the same line was exciting to see. They brought high end speed and seemed to work well together. They were a fun line to watch and would like to see them together some more.
And not to skip Frank. He’s got good speed and an accurate hard shot. As his all around game progresses, he’s going to work himself into the conversation when it comes to getting games with the Caps.
And time to ruffle some feathers 🙂
Lappiere’s game continues to show improvement in some less noticed areas. Compared to what has been seen from CMM, Lappy is showing a better compete level, speed, and the ability to drive play and carry the puck through the neutral zone and into the O zone. He is a better prospect that CMM in my opinion. It’s probably good I’m not ‘officially’ scouting anymore. LOL
Yeah, I think your off a bit on comparing CMM and Lapierre. CMM dominated his 33 games in AHL. Lapierre…not so much. There is a lot of media hype that many fall victim to, but recall, he failed to make the Canadian Junior team 3 times.
Jumping in here to say you sound like the victim to hype. CMM did not dominate in the AHL, not even close to dominating.
Good stuff there Moose. I only watched the highlights here but i have watched a handful of games. Frank looks really good but only on a Hershey contract so he can’t get called up. But he can get a Caps contract and get called up. They should look to sign him before the season is over.
Also agree with you on Lapierre. He is a year younger but he is progressing and growing steadily. He is technically a higher prospect from jump but injury status pushed him down so we got value. Still a ways to go.
Iorio even younger but damn I like his game and the way he moves with the puck. I don’t think he gets to top 6 for Caps next season (replace Jensen or TVR) but he definitely next right handed defensemen up.
What are you basing this on?
AHL stats:
Lapierre 1g, 6a in 10 games at age 20.
McMichael 14g, 13a in 33 games at age 19
Lapierre was 4th in points on his QMJHL team last season. Missed Junior team for 3rd time. McMichael made team twice.
I’m saying he was a top 10 prospect in his draft year but dropped significantly due to neck concerns. He may not have been as fast out of the gate but I have watched his a few times this year and I like how he is playing. Wing for a bit and now center. I also said he is a ways off. I doubt he plays any NHL games this year with bodies coming back.
We haven’t seen anything from CMM lately, except his suits and ties. Way to mishandled a blue chip prospect, Caps!
Rays won. Clay got the win and Bear scored twice.
What were Clays numbers? I’ll look
Ghost Pirates, a brand new team but now the closest team to the Stingrays, so should be a good rivalry. (Still think they should be Ghost Riders.) Bear and Turnbul (Turnbull, 24, is on his rookie campaign after signing an amateur tryout contract with the Stingrays at the end of last season. He joined the Stingrays following a four-year collegiate career at the University of Connecticut where he recorded 59 points (34g-25a) in 122 games.) have looked very good so far.
I heard the “Ghost Pirates” name for the first time last night during the Bears game. Intriguing.
Affiliated with Vegas and Henderson, playing in the South which moved Norfolk to the North division. Not a big fan of their logo. Colors are green, white and black which don’t really go with Vegas and Henderson. It is currently only a one year affiliation.
They’re using a distinctive font, have a good looking mascot (as yet unnamed), and are doing some clever themed marketing as they go on their ‘haunt’ for the Kelly Cup. Heavy educational campaign explaining hockey terms, rules, etc. So it looks like a really good effort to build a fanbase. I think I read once why Ghost Pirates won the naming contest but can’t find it.
I need to get caught up on the recent changes. Side note, we received a message from the ECHL reminding us they are no longer the “East Coast Hockey League”, which we inadvertently stated in a post. 🙄 How come you didn’t catch that, Fyre? 😁👊
Old habits die hard — especially to an old brain. But yes, I should have because I have read them say it enough times. ECHL now stands for nothing but initials. They have now maxed out the 28 teams allowed in their bylaws. But their commish admits that they would like to get to the same number as the AHL and NHL and have a one-to-one relationship with each AHL and NHL team. Rays are celebrating their 30th year this year. Pretty good longevity.
The Rays this year are rookie heavy. They have 6 of the top 20 rookie scorers. But among all scorers Rays rookies Turnbull is tied for 2nd, rookie Bear is tied for 5th, and rookie O’Neil is tied for 15th. Rays lead the South with .75 points%. Clay has a 3.37 GAA and a .896 Save%.
I knew it, too. But like you said, “old habits…”
I have funny history with ECHL and NHL. Grew up in NOVA as a Caps fan. Moved to Raleigh after college and had season tickets to the Raleigh IceCaps for 5 years. One year I was on the season ticket brochure because our seats were right on the glass. Then Hurricanes moved to Raleigh and I was an inaugural season ticket holder for two years before moving to Charlotte. Moved back to NOVA in 2001 and back to being season ticket holder for Caps. To make things more interesting the Captain of IceCaps went on to coach youth hockey in Raleigh and I raised my family in NOVA including a son who played for Little Caps. Our teams played over the years and we became friends culminating with us billeting one of his best players for U18 because they didn’t field a U18 team. But yeah, lots of ECHL memories from when I was younger. Hampton Roads, Richmond, Greensboro, Raleigh, etc.
Cool. I have never lived near any lower pro league — only have experience supporting high school, college, and major pro sports. I started following the Bears, Crunch, Rays, and Solar Bears strictly as pipelines to the Caps and Bolts, but have come to appreciate them as teams. They have their heroes, rivalries, problems, and fans just as the big teams do plus having to worry about callups screwing them up. It’s fun to see how they respond to their fans and interesting to watch their broadcasts on AHLtv and FloHockey, which means listening to the local radio broadcast while watching arena videos. It’s not the same as anything I ever grew up with.
Do you have any insight/update on Bjorklund?
I had completely forgotten about him. Have not seen his name anywhere other than the initial assignment.
opps. forgot to put my name to that comment. Should amend it to say that he is listed on the roster, but has not been in any news or report that I have read or heard.
Please get a new arena announcer.