Bears Back In Action Tuesday Night Against Penguins

HERSHEY, Pa. - The Hershey Bears (19-12-5) are in the thick of things in the Atlantic Division, sitting in fourth place entering the final week of January.

On Saturday night, the Bears unleashed the fur (pun intended for those who are Washington Capitals fans) in a huge way, breaking their own World Record from 2019 with 52,341 stuffed items thrown after Axel Jonsson-Fjallby’s goal just 6:13 into the game.

Jonsson-Fjallby followed up his opening goal by netting two more for a hat-trick on this memorable evening as the Bears routed the Wolf Pack 5-0. Jonsson-Fjallby’s first goal came as the Bears moved the puck around the offensive zone on the game’s first powerplay. Shane Gersich, who recorded the primary assist, provided traffic in front of Keith Kincaid and watched as the puck sailed into the back of the net. After play resumed following ice cleanup, Brian Pinho scored prior to the end of the first period. After a scoreless second period, Joe Snively scored an unassisted goal just 23 seconds into the third period ahead of two more Jonsson-Fjallby goals. Pheonix Copley earned the shutout by making 23 saves.

READ ALSO: Re-live Saturday Night's World Record-Setting Teddy Bear Toss -> https://insideahlhockey.com/article/re-live-saturday-nights-world-record-setting-teddy-bear-toss-in-hershey

In the rematch on Sunday afternoon, the Wolf Pack, who had five players returned from the Rangers, squeaked out a 3-2 victory in a tight contested game. Hershey, without the services of Brian Pinho and Cody Franson, got game-tying goals from Snively, who was left alone on the backside of the play for a power play strike with just 58 second remaining in the first period,and Mike Vecchione who scored from one knee in the second, but had no answer for Hartford’s late third period tally. Following the game, Scott Allen said he was disappointed with the outcome. "Nineteen shots against. We had opportunities. Very disappointed in the game-winning goal for sure. It's a very disappointing loss for sure."

Special Teams Weekly Recap

Hershey PP was 2-for-7 (Jonsson-Fjallby - Saturday, Snively - Sunday)

Hershey PK was 3-for-3

Three Things

1. Discipline

"It doesn't matter if we win or lose, we still find certain aspects of our game to improve upon. That's exactly what we did this past week. We broke it down into a handful of situations that we wanted to work on and worked on a couple each day," said Allen, noting that the defensive effort was better this week.

Additionally, the Bears stayed out of the penalty box for the most part this weekend, only being called for three total penalties over the course of two games.

2. Lineup Hits Just Keep Coming

Cody Franson and Brian Pinho played Saturday, but suffered injuries and were not available Sunday.

"We were missing two very good players from our lineup that played yesterday. That's two big holes to fill. I give credit to both guys who stepped in. Going into warmup Eddie Wittchow was going to play forward for us."

Allen subsequently referred to Wittchow as the team's Kordell Stewart, noting that he takes reps as a forward and a defenseman during the week.

3. New Deals

Drake Rymsha signed an AHL contract with the team, which was announced Monday. Ryan Dmowski, who was also on a PTO, signed a second PTO with the team following the Toronto game.

"Upper management does a tremendous job identifying certain guys that can fill a void and fill a need for us. It's not just anybody. They have to be a special personality too; they have to fit into the foundation of the type of player we're looking for," said Allen.

Up Next

No time to waste for Hershey, who is back in action on Tuesday night with a home matchup against rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Tuesday, Jan 25: W-B/Scranton at Hershey - 7:00 p.m. ETSaturday, Jan 29: Bridgeport at Hershey - 7:00 p.m. ETSunday, Jan 30: Hershey at Lehigh Valley - 5:15 p.m. ET