Hershey Bears: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly From Games 5-7 of 76 (Canada Trip)

HERSHEY, Pa. -- The Hershey Bears (4-2-1) managed four out of a possible six points last week on a road swing through Canada, finding themselves tied for second in the Atlantic Division standings -- just two points behind first place Hartford.

The Good

Hershey went 2-1 on a difficult road trip to Canada that started with a 4-3 setback to the still undefeated Toronto Marlies.

After a pair of first period goals from Toronto, the Bears battled back, but could never tie the game. Axel Jonsson-Fjallby recorded  pair of goals and Liam O’Brien notched his first of the season in the loss.

In Bellville against former head coach Troy Mann, the Bears once again found themselves in an early first period deficit, but they exploded for five goals to earn their first victory north of the border. Jonsson-Fjallby recorded his third goal in two games, O’Brien added his second, and Mike Sgarbossa, Beck Malenstyn, and Steve Whitney found the back of the net as well. D-men Christian Djoos and Alex Alexeyev each recorded a pair of assists in the 5-1 victory.

Continuing the trend in Laval, the Bears once again gave up an early goal, but rallied for a 4-2 victory over former Hershey teammates Karl Alzner and Riley Barber. Connor Hobbs, Brian Pinho, and Joe Snively all recorded their first goals of the season while Liam O’Brien added an empty-netter. Martin Fehervary, back from a quick recall to Washington, recorded a pair of assists.

The Bad

The powerplay struggled, going 0-for-10 on the weekend, including a combined 0-for-5 against Bellville and Laval without the services of Travis Boyd who was recalled to Washington after the in-game collision of Jonas Siegenthaler and Richard Panik, who has since been placed on long-term IR. Expect Spencer Carbery and his staff to continue to search for the right combinations on the PP.

The PK unit, on the other hand, went 9-for-12 on the weekend, giving up a pair of goals to Toronto and then a delayed-call 6-on-4 score in Laval.

The Ugly

Through seven games, Joe Snively is a -7, one of only three skaters on the team on the wrong side of the +/- category. When Boyd returned, Carbery and the staff put Snively on Boyd’s line, a move that definitely helped. But with Boyd back in DC, it remains to be seen if the goal against Laval is a hallmark of the potential for this rookie or not.