Screen cap: AHL TV
The Hershey Bears downed the Springfield Thunderbirds, 4-1 Wednesday night at Giant Center in Hershey, PA. Hunter Shepard stopped 33 of 34 shots he faced in the win. The victory improves the Bears record to 32-7-0-2 (66 points) on the season, best in the AHL.
Hunter Shepard (15-2-1-1, 2.29 GAA, .907 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Bears. Malcolm Subban (8-9-4-0, 2.85 GAA, .906 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Thunderbirds. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:
Joe Snively – Mike Sgarbossa – Ethen Frank
Mike Vecchione – Jimmy Huntington – Pierrick Dube
Ivan Miroshnichenko – Garrett Roe – Bogdan Trineyev
Ryan Hofer – Riley Sutter – Henrik Rybinski
Aaron Ness – Dylan McIlrath
Lucas Johansen – Vincent Iorio
Hardy Haman Aktell – Chase Priskie
Hunter Shepard
Clay Stevenson
Scratches: Alex Limoges (upper-body), Matt Strome (upper-body), Jake Massie, Logan Day, Dmitri Osipov, Kevin O’Neil, Tyson Empey and Hendrix Lapierre (expected to join Hershey later this week).
Re-assignments: Hendrix Lapierre was officially re-assigned from the Capitals to the Bears on Tuesday.
1ST PERIOD
The Bears and T-Birds skated to a scoreless draw in the first frame.
Springfield led in shots 11-7 in the opening stanza. Both teams were 0 for 1 on the power play in the first 20 minutes.
2ND PERIOD
The Bears finally opened the scoring with a goal from Mike Vecchione (11) at 9:37 of the middle frame. Pierrick Dubé (7) and Joe Snively (23) had the helpers.
A quick flick of the wrist, and Veccs has his 11th of the season!
🍎Dubé
🍏Snively https://t.co/Dz1cD20jDH pic.twitter.com/cSRBOLFzQX— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) January 25, 2024
The Bears made it 2-0 on Jimmy Huntington‘s 8th goal of the season at 17:03 of the middle frame.
These Bears mean business – Jimmy buries his eighth of the season to make it 2-0!
🍎Miroshnichenko
🍏Shepard https://t.co/o6pOwOIOsF pic.twitter.com/aJrHuzcb94— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) January 25, 2024
The Bears held the 2-0 lead into the second intermission. Springfield led in shots 11-5 in the middle frame and 22-12 after two periods. The T-Birds were 0 for 4 and the Bears 0 for 2 on the power play after two periods.
3RD PERIOD
The Thunderbirds cut the Bears lead to 2-1 with 7:24 remaining in the final frame. Mathias Laferriere (3) notched the T-Birds initial tally. Mackenzie MacEachern (13) and Dylan Coghlan (13) had the helpers.
LAFFY GETS US ON THE BOARD IN HERSHEY pic.twitter.com/SltgxAFnFq
— Springfield Thunderbirds (@ThunderbirdsAHL) January 25, 2024
But the Bears added empty net goals from Ethen Frank and Pierrick Dube in the closing moments to extend their lead to 4-1, the final.
Thoughts from head coach Todd Nelson following tonight’s 4-1 win over the Springfield Thunderbirds at GIANT Center. pic.twitter.com/0OQprc2nyI
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) January 25, 2024
SHAVINGS
- AHL box score
- Attendance: 8,020
- Hunter Shepard stopped 33 of 34 shots faced.
- Springfield led in shots 34-22.
Why is Lappy only joining the team later this week?
Wasn’t specifically stated. Vets typically get some extra time, particularly if housing is involved.
Great win. Lappiere gets a day to travel. Empney and Day will likely both go back to SC. Roe probably comes out for Lappy. I have really loved Trineyev’s game and like him at 3RW. When Limoges comes back that probably pushed Trineyev down to 4th line but I like his trajectory a lot!
great luxury to be able to call players who can play in AHL. But numbers game.
The Bears regular season is a snoozer. They are THAT good.
Disagree. If they won every game the same way I would agree. But they don’t. And their roster each game looks different as players are shuffled in and out. They aren’t The Avengers. But they are extremely adaptable and have some phenomenal goaltending.
Jon, what are the NovaCaps definition of rookie and prospect? I think you’ve given them before when doing your reviews but I can find them.
It’s very controversial, but it means anyone in the Caps system (drafted or under NHL contract) but not on Capitals roster. A “prospect” has the prospectus of being called up to Capitals roster. I know others place an age range, but that just doesn’t work for all cases. Some players are late bloomers (see Clay Stevenson, Hunter Shepard, etc.)
Sorry, I misremembered, I thought there was a difference between the two and didn’t want to refer to anyone with the wrong label. How do NHL stats determine rookie status? First year you get called up even if for only one game? For example, they list Miro and his 4 games. Does this mean they would not consider him a rookie next year?