Bears Searching For Offense Heading Into March

HERSHEY, Pa. - Finishing up their fourth game in five days, a rather fatigued Hershey team returned to Giant Center Tuesday for the December 5th rescheduled game against in-state rival, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Bouncing pucks and missed opportunities resulted in a 3-1 loss as the Bears search for offensive support continued.

Hunter Shepard did an admirable job, recording just one goal-against in a 22-save performance.

Meanwhile, Hershey’s offense continued to sputter as Brian Pinho recorded the lone goal against Penguin netminder Tommy Nappier.

Hershey’s inability to pass tape-to-tape contributed to the loss, but head coach Scott Allen pointed out additional issues in his post-game press conference including the schedule and a glaring officiating miscue that allowed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to have seven skaters on the ice.

Friday night, the Bears traveled to Utica and earned a 4-0 statement victory over the then-Eastern Conference leading Comets. Hershey was firing on all cylinders as the power play went 1-for-2, passes were crisp and tape-to-tape, and the defensive effort in front of Hunter Shepard sparked the offense as Allen often points out as a key to victory.

Aliaksei Protas opened the scoring with a shot from the right circle, looking almost like a mirror image of Alex Ovechkin on the PP. In the second, birthday boy Mike Vecchione and Pinho each recorded insurance markers. With Kevin Dineen pulling Akira Schmid early, Pinho was able to put the game well out of reach with an empty net goal with just over five minutes left to play. Zach Fucale was a perfect 34-for-34 in a shutout performance.

With Utica also losing to Syracuse Saturday night, it was a desperate Comets club that took to the ice at Giant Center Sunday evening for a rematch.

"There's no question that that team (Utica) had a mindset coming out (in the third) that there was no way they were going to lose three games in one weekend. Again, you've got to give credit where credit is due," said Allen.

After the two teams skated scoreless through 40 minutes, the Comets were finally able to break the ice and get a puck past Vitek Vanecek - who was in town making a conditioning start for the Bears.

The Comets would add a second tally minutes later that bounced off of a Hershey skate and past Vanecek.

Jake Massie tried to spark a Hershey comeback with a powerplay goal to make it a one-goal deficit, but with Vanecek on the bench for the extra attacker, the Bears were unable to retain possession of the puck and the Comets scored again for the 3-1 victory.

Special Teams Weekly Recap

Hershey PP was 2-for-10 (Protas - Utica/Friday; Massie-Utica/Sunday)

Hershey PK was 12-for-12

Three Takeaways

1. The Gloves Come Off

Scott Allen is notorious for not commenting negatively about the officiating, but in his post-game presser Tuesday night, the gloves came off as Allen expressed his extreme displeasure with the schedule that forced the Bears, once again, to play an inordinate number of hockey games in too few days.

"We're playing four games in five nights, which is not legal in the American Hockey League (AHL) bylaws; you're not allowed to play four games in five nights," said Allen, noting that he was not disappointed in his team's effort even though they've had little time to rest.

Additionally, Allen, for the first time, teed off on the officials for a missed call late in the third period.

"I think it's the first time in 26 years coaching and ten years playing that I've seen seven guys actively participating in the play. How it gets overlooked is absolutely shocking," Allen said.

2. Vitek’s (Not-so) Triumphant Return

Stick taps to the fans in attendance Sunday who chanted Vitek multiple times throughout the game. Additionally, stick taps to Vitek for his shout out to the fans during the pre-game starting lineup announcement. This kid remembers his roots.

From his play Sunday, it was clear that a recall to Washington was imminent. It was announced early Monday morning.

In his one start for Hershey, he made 21 saves on 23 shots, some of them incredible feats of skill and agility. He's definitely ready to get back between the pipes for Washington.

Too bad the Bears offense didn't generate enough goals for the team to win. After Sunday’s loss, Allen said, "I liked Vitek's game. I've been here three years. I've liked Vitek's game every time he's put a Bears jersey on," noting that Alex Westlund, the goalie coach in Hershey, does an excellent job.

3. Where’s the Offense?

For the seventh time this season, the Bears were held to one goal. They’ve lost all seven of those games (they’ve also been shutout by Providence twice).

"It’s tough only scoring one goal, right? Friday night, in their building, it was great to play with the lead and lock things down so to speak."

Allen has a point because the Bears are 13-2-2-1 when leading after the first and 17-2-1-1 when leading after the second, so it seems that in order to be successful, the Bears need to score early and more often.

Of course, getting a few guys back from injury wouldn't hurt either (see: Notes below).

Scott Allen Quotable

"I talked about it going into the third period how fortunate we were here February 27th and we're playing, and we're playing a playoff hockey game because that's what it felt like: the atmosphere, the style, 0-0 going into the third period, both teams playing well defensively. That team is for sure a hard-out. I'd like to think we are too. We're far from being a finished product."

Notes

"Our lineup changed minutes before warmups... that's just where it's at. We'll get through it," Allen said of Brian Pinho's last-minute removal from Sunday's lineup.

Hershey was down even more guys due to injuries on Sunday as Lucas Johansen (UB), Pinho (UB), and Kody Clark (LB)  joined Mike Sgarbossa (UB), Garrett Pilon (UB - progressing), Matt Moulson (Surgery), and Bobby Nardella (UB - progressing) on the injury list.

Suffice it to say, with Hershey down that list of manpower, keeping the game scoreless through two with Utica was pretty remarkable.

Traffic Advisory

PennDot announced that Route 39, which leads from 22 to Giant Center, will have a partial closure at the Swatara Creek Bridge this week.

This means those traveling to Wednesday night’s Hershey/Charlotte game should expect delays and find an alternate route to Giant Center.