Bears Back And Busy Following Two-Week COVID Hiatus

HERSHEY, Pa. - Saturday marked the triumphant return of the Hershey Bears after a two-week hiatus due to COVID protocols.

The Bears traveled to Wilkes-Barre to take on their instate rivals, the Penguins, for the first time this season (they did play a preseason game against the Baby Penguins) in what was also the Penguins' first game back from their own COVID-related troubles.

After the Penguins scored the game's opening goal, Bobby Nardella scored his first goal of the season off an assist from Mike Vecchione who returned to the lineup after missing several games due to injury.

In the second, Cody Franson scored a powerplay goal, his first of two on the weekend, to make it 2-1 Hershey. But 28 seconds later, the Penguins responded to tie the game.

The game remained tied at 2-2 throughout the third period.

In OT, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby scored with just 51 seconds remaining to give the Bears their first win in their first December outing.

On Sunday night at Giant Center, the Bears faced off against the Laval Rocket for the first time this season in a trap game as Laval was off Saturday night. But it was the Bears who were buzzing early as Franson unloaded from the center point on the powerplay to put the Bears ahead midway through the first.

Laval then got back-to-back goals at the end of the first and early in the second (shorthanded) to take the lead.

Later in the second, the Bears tied the game on Alex Alexeyev’s perfectly placed shot, his first goal of the season.

In the third, Mike Vecchione appeared to have given the lead back to Hershey, but the officials ruled that he kicked the puck into the net. "What were your thoughts? I get in trouble if I talk about my thoughts," quipped Allen.

To add insult to injury, Laval, while on the penalty kill, was awarded a penalty shot. Rafael Harvey-Pinard beat Zach Fucale on the penalty shot and tacked on another goal towards the end of the third period to secure the victory for Laval.

Allen added, "I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of the way we played. We came here after playing last night in Wilkes in an OT game. They were sitting here waiting for us. I thought we did enough in the game to deserve a better fate than we got tonight."

Special Teams Weekly Recap

Hershey PP was 2-for-9 (Franson against Wilkes-Barre and Laval; Laval scored two shorthanded goals - one of the two was a penalty shot)

Hershey PK was 7-for-7

Three Things

1. Slammed Schedule

The holidays alone usually make for some jam-packed schedules, but add the two week hiatus and rescheduled games to the mix and it’s a recipe for a LOT of hockey in a FEW days for the Bears.

"We just have to stay in the moment; that's it," said Scott Allen. "Starting yesterday begins a stretch of 8 games in 12 days... we go 5 games in 6 days, which certainly is not ideal, but that's the hand we're dealt. We're going to chip away at this one day at a time. Rest and recovery is going to be crucial even though we're very limited in that situation."

Adding to the scheduling issues, Giant Center hosts PIAA Wrestling and Basketball and other pre-scheduled events, so making up games is not as easy as it sounds.

2. League Leader

Cody Franson, a veteran off-season acquisition for the Bears, has been a monster on the power play and is currently among the league lead in power play goals by a defenseman (tied with Sean Durzi and Janis Moser).

The team also leads the league in penalty minutes with 326 minutes over 19 games for an average of 17.16 minutes per game. That includes 113 minor penalties, ten majors, three 10-minute misconducts, and two game misconducts.

Hershey has had a league-leading 12 penalties twice this season.

Ironically, no individual player is currently in the top five in the league for penalty minutes or minor penalties.

3. Schedule Adjustments

There are plenty of rescheduled games, including the makeup of December 8th's game in Wilkes-Barre against the Penguins which is being played Tuesday night.

November 28 game against Lehigh Valley will be January 5 at 7:00 at Giant CenterDecember 4 game at Lehigh Valley will be February 13 at 2:05 at PPL CenterDecember 5 game against Wilkes-Barre will be February 22 at 7:00 at Giant CenterDecember 8 game at Wilkes-Barre will be December 14 at 7:05 at Mohegan Sun Arena

The Road Ahead

After Tuesday night's game in Wilkes-Barre, the Bears begin a dreadful five games in six nights stretch before a five-day break for the holidays.

Tuesday, December 14: Hershey at W-B/Scranton - 7:05 p.m. ETFriday, December 17: Hershey at Springfield - 7:15 p.m. ETSaturday, December 18: W-B/Scranton at Hershey  - 7:00 p.m. ETSunday, December 19: Rochester at Hershey - 5:00 p.m. ETTuesday, December 21: Hershey at Lehigh Valley - 7:15 p.m. ETWednesday, December 22: Lehigh Valley at Hershey - 7:00 p.m. ET