The Hershey Bears downed the Charlotte Checkers, 4-2, Tuesday night at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. Hendrix Lapierre scored in his third-consecutive game and Sam Anas notched his 6th goal of the season in the victory. With the win the Bears record improves to 15-5-2-0 (32 points) on the season.
HERSHEY BEARS LINEUP
Zach Fucale (8-5-0, .895 sv%, 2.49 GAA) got the start in goal for the Bears. Alex Lyon (6-4-1 .906 sv%, 2.78 GAA) got the start between the pipes for the Checkers. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Mike Vecchione –Mike Sgarbossa – Ethen Frank
Henrik Borgstrom – Connor McMichael – Sam Anas
Mason Morelli – Hendrix Lapierre – Henrik Rybinski
Kale Kessy – Riley Sutter – Shane Gersich
Gabriel Carlsson – Aaron Ness
Bobby Nardella – Dylan McIlrath
Lucas Johansen – Vinny Iorio
Scratches: Jake Massie, Garrett Pilon (lower body injury), Julian Napravnik, Logan Day, Matthew Strome.
Hunter Shepard was officially recalled by the Capitals on Monday. The Bears recalled Clay Stevenson from ECHL South Carolina on Monday.
The Hershey Bears announced on Sunday that they signed goaltender Justin Kapelmaster to a professional tryout agreement (PTO). They released Kapelmster on Tuesday.
FIRST PERIOD
It was a choppy, disjointed opening twenty minutes, with neither team able to find the back of the net. Charlotte lead in shots, 8-7 for the first period. The Checkers were 0 for 1 on the power play while the Bears did not have a man advantage in the first frame.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bears broke the seal on the scoring early in the middle frame. Mason Morelli tossed a shot towards the net from the right side. The puck bounced around in the crease and across the goal line. Hendrix Lapierre (7) was credited with the goal at 5:32 of the period. Henrik Rybinski (4) and Mason Morelli (11) were credited with the helpers.
Hendrix Lapierre with his 7th of the season. Bears lead 1-0. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/fB9Bh21Oc1
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) December 7, 2022
The Bears made it 2-0 on a shot by Sam Anas (6) from below the goal line that also took a fortuitous bounce. Connor McMichael (2) and Vincent Iorio (7) had the assists.
Sam Anas, from below the goal line, calls bank. Bears lead 2-0. #HBH pic.twitter.com/oR82gPIEof
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) December 7, 2022
The Bears quickly made it 3-0 on a shot from the point by Bobby Nardella (3) which took a circuitous route to the back of the net. Mason Morelli (12) had the lone assist.
Bobby Nardella makes it 3-0 with a deflected shot of his own. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/5DNZD9tLQE
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) December 7, 2022
The middle frame concluded with the Bears leading 3-0. Charlotte led in shots 14-10 in the second period and 22-17 after two periods. Both teams were 0 for 2 on the power play after two frames.
THIRD PERIOD
The Checkers immediately cut into the Bears on a shorthanded goal from Connor Bunnaman (3) just 18 seconds into the final period. Riley Nash (14) had the lone assist.
Good defense ➡️ good offense pic.twitter.com/hkCuM1LlP9
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) December 7, 2022
The Checkers closed the gap to a single goal on a tally by Riley Nash (7) at 7:00. Henry Bowlby (4) and Gerry Mayhew (5) had the helpers.
Stuck with it! pic.twitter.com/pQz8cKUbj9
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) December 7, 2022
Mike Vecchione added an empty net goal for the 4-2 final.
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 5,501
- Charlotte led in shots 36-23.
- Both teams were 0 for 3 on the power play.
- Zach Fucale stopped 34 of 36 for a .944 save percentage.
- Stars of the game: 1) Zach Fucale, 2) Henrik Rybinski and 3) Riley Nash
Good For Vincent
Vincent?
Time to seriously put Eller on the trading block and when he goes bring up Lapierre.
Nope. Not yet if at all. Neither one of our young centers are ready.
I agree that they need more time in the AHL. However, Lapierre is showing qualities that we haven’t seen much of from CMM. His attitude, effort, and hustle stands out. And although he still needs some work on the defensive side of the ice he is battling and hustling. It’s too bad CMM isn’t displaying those qualities but maybe it will come.
Having watched al his games in Hershey, he still needs work on the defensive game, and puck and board battles, as he still getting blasted off the puck. But development progress overall is going great.
I do think they need to deal Eller at/before trade deadline, so they get something for him before he becomes free agent. (If Caps aren’t in a serious playoff contention)
Sorry Jon about it misspelled Vinny name I am on phone a lot autocorrect made a mistake
No worries Briana, I caught the reference to Iorio but did understand in what regards you were referencing him.
Ignoring the soft third period, the first two period were much more back to “normal” for the Bears, making the previous game’s shear collapse harder to fathom.