Photo: Twitter: @WolfPackAHL
The Hershey Bears downed the Hartford Wolf Pack, 2-1 Friday night at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. Henrik Borgstrom notched his 5th goal of the season, Hendrix Lapierre recorded his 8th assist of the season and Hunter Shepard stopped 30 of 31 in the win. The Bears record improves to 11-4-2-0 (24 points) on the season.
HERSHEY BEARS LINEUP
Hunter Shepard (4-0-2, .935 sv%, 1.80 GAA) got the start in goal for the Bears. Louis Domingue (4-2-3 .908 sv%, 2.57 GAA) got the start between the pipes for the Wolf Pack. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Mike Vecchione –Mike Sgarbossa – Ethan Frank
Henrik Borgstrom – Connor McMichael – Sam Anas
Mason Morelli – Hendrix Lapierre – Henrik Rybinski
Kale Kessy – Riley Sutter – Matt Strome
Gabriel Carlsson – Aaron Ness
Bobby Nardella – Dylan McIlrath
Jake Massie – Vinny Iorio
Scratches: Shane Gersich (upper body injury), Garrett Pilon (lower body injury), Lucas Johansen (lower body injury), Julian Napravnik and Logan Day.
Recalls/Re-assignments: Connor McMichael was re-assigned to Hershey on Sunday, November 20. Alex Alexeyev was recalled to the Capitals on Tuesday, November 8. Lucas Johansen was returned to Hershey on Wednesday, November 9.
The Bears announced on Wednesday, November 23 that the club has recalled defenseman Michael Kim from South Carolina (ECHL), and also signed forward Kevin O’Neil to a professional tryout agreement (PTO).
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears wasted all of 34 seconds before they dented the twine. Mike Vecchione (5) cleaned up the loose change to make it 1-0, early in the first frame. Dylan McIlrath (3) and Mike Sgarbossa (4) had the helpers.
Bears aren’t messing around. 34 seconds in, Mike Vecchione makes it 1-0. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/BfGaHPN2Hy
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) November 26, 2022
Kale Kessy and Cristiano DiGiacinto dropped the gloves early in the first frame, although it wasn’t much of a tilt.
Kale Kessy wasting no time as well. #HolidaySpirit #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/HlrK9qebP2
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) November 26, 2022
The Bears were awarded two power plays late in the first frame. They were unable to convert on the first opportunity, but cashed-in on the second man advantage. The Bears made it 2-0 on a nice dish from Hendrix Lapierre to Henrik Borgstrom (5) at 18:04 of the first. Hendrix Lapierre (8) and Mason Morelli (10) had the assists.
Nice feed from Hendrix Lapierre to Henrik Borgstrom, Bears lead 2-0. #ALLCAPS #HBH pic.twitter.com/caLqBwCEsq
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) November 26, 2022
The first period concluded with the Bears leading, 2-0. Hartford led in shots, 12-10. Hershey was 1 for 2 and Hartford 0 for 1 on the power play in the first frame.
SECOND PERIOD
Henrik Borgstrom left the game late in the second period. He would head down the tunnel holding a towel to his face.
The Bears were awarded a 5-on-3 power play for 50 seconds late in the middle frame, but were unable to convert on the two-man advantage or the subsequent 5-on-4 power play.
The second period would ultimately go without a goal. Hartford led in shots on goal 8-7 in the middle frame and 20-17 after 40 minutes. Hershey was 1 for 4 and Hartford 0 for 2 on the power play after two periods.
THIRD PERIOD
The Wolf Pack cut the Bears lead to a single goal early in the final frame. Tim Gettinger (6) converted on a turnover by the Bears in their own zone at 4:07, making it 2-1.
Turnover in their own zone and Hartford draws to within one. #HBH pic.twitter.com/d2tJdcAwqF
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) November 26, 2022
Dylan McIlrath was called for interference late in the third period. The Wolf Pack would also pull their netminder for a 6-on-4 power play.
Dylan McIlrath “of Kahn” called for interference. Late power play for Wolf Pack. #HBH pic.twitter.com/UwoWiCcwTn
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) November 26, 2022
But the Bears penalty kill came up huge, keeping the one goal lead intact.
Henrik Borgstrom, injured earlier in the game, returned to the Bears bench with 2:55 left in regulation.
The Bears would hold on for the 2-1 win.
The same two teams do it again tomorrow in Hartford. Puck drop is set for 7PM.
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 4,835
- Hunter Shepard stopped 30 of 31 in the game.
- Stars of the game: 1) Hunter Shepard, 2) Mike Vecchione and 3) Tim Gettinger
- Hunter Shepard was the first star of the game for the 2nd consecutive game.
- Hunter Shepard is now 5-0-2 with a 1.69 GAA and a .940 save percentage on the season.
Shep Daddy has been incredible
This Bears team is pretty good. My top of the call ups list right now: goaltender: Shepard, Forward/Center: Henrik Borgstrom and defense: Gabriel Carlsson.
those are good choices. Not our top prospects, but all playing well and worthy of a callup. But hopefully we are going in the other direction, and we’ll be giving Hershey players and not taking them away. When Orlov comes back, we’ll need to send someone down and i suspect that will be Alexyev.
He is on a roll
Rays lost. Tyler was in net, Bear Hughes got an assist.
Bura scored two goals for the Kraken, Gruby in net as they beat Vegas.
What is the status of Pilon and LuJo? Anyone have a sense of how much longer those guys will be out?
Jon, I know it’s early yet, and will expect there to be an adjustment, but can you give me an impression of how McM played in the game? I am going to be very keen on how he does in Hershey, and definitely interested in how he does in his first few games. Energy, rust?, sog and offensive activity, presence at both ends, ect?
Did he basically stick to the same line throughout the game?
C-Mac had a good game, but no points. Made a couple of nice defensive plays, stole a puck and drew a penalty.
Thanks!