Photo: Cleveland Monsters
The Hershey Bears downed the Cleveland Monsters, 3-0 Sunday afternoon at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. The victory improves the Bears record to 41-16-5-4 (91 points) on the season and secures a first-round bye in the 2023 postseason.
The Bears opened the game with goals from Connor McMichael and Garrett Pilon in the first period and Henrik Rybinski added a tally in the middle frame. Zach Fucale pitched a shutout, his second shutout of the season. The Bears penalty kill went a perfect 12 for 12 in Cleveland this weekend. The Bears improve to 7-0-0-2 in their last nine games.
LINEUP
Zach Fucale (19-10-4-1, 2.58 GAA, .899 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Bears. Pavel Cajan (7-8-2-0, .3.55 GAA, .873 sv%) got the start in goal for the Monsters. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Mike Vecchione – Mike Sgarbossa – Garrett Pilon
Joe Snively – Connor McMichael – Sam Anas
Mason Morelli – Hendrix Lapierre – Henrik Rybinski
Beck Malenstyn – Riley Sutter – Shane Gersich
Gabriel Carlsson – Dylan McIlrath
Aaron Ness – Logan Day
Bobby Nardella – Vinny Iorio
Scratches: Ethen Frank (upper body injury), Lucas Johansen (cramps, migraines), Matt Strome, Julian Napravnik, Jake Massie, Henrik Borgstrom and Bogdan Trineyev.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bears opened the scoring on a beautiful give-and-go between Joe Snively and Connor McMichael, who finished for his 16th goal of the season at 12:54 of the opening stanza. McMichael now has points in 10-straight games.
Connor McMichael and Joe Snively go full “Harlem Globetrotters”. McMichael with the finish for his 16th goal of the season. He has points in 10-straight games. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/JFEq7HoCV0
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) April 2, 2023
The Bears quickly extended their lead to 2-0 on Garrett Pilon‘s ninth goal of the season at 15:54. Mike Sgarbossa (37) and Bobby Nardella (20) had the helpers.
𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙝 🧈
It’s @gpilon41‘s ninth of the season!
🍎 Sgarbossa
🍏 Nardella pic.twitter.com/cI3cLMdyym— X – Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) April 2, 2023
The first period concluded with the Bears holding another 2-0 lead. Cleveland led in shots, 9-8. There were no penalties called in the first frame.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bears extended their lead to 3-0 on Henrik Rybinski‘s fifth goal of the season at 12:22 of the middle frame. Hendrix Lapierre (15) and Mason Morelli (27) had the assists.
Go to the net, good things will follow – fifth of the season for Rybinski!
🍎 Lapierre
🍏 Morelli pic.twitter.com/RkYBeWxXo0— X – Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) April 2, 2023
And that was it for the middle frame. Cleveland led in shots 10-6 in the second period and 19-14 after two periods. The Monsters were 0 for 3 on the power play after two periods while the Bears did not have a man advantage.
THIRD PERIOD
The Bears and Monsters skated to a scoreless draw in the final frame.
The Bears face the Providence Bruins on Wednesday with first place on the line.
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 10,405
- Cleveland led in shots 29-17.
- Stars of the game: 1) Connor McMichael, 2) Zach Fucale and 3) Joe Snively
- Zach Fucale stopped 29 of 29 shots faced for his second shutout of the season.
- ‘Hershey was 0 for 3 and Cleleland 0 for 7 on the power play. The Bears penalty kill went a perfect 12 for 12 in Cleveland this weekend.