Hershey Bears Weekly Notebook 10/21/22

HERSHEY, Pa. - The Hershey Bears opened the 2022-2023 season with a roar, defeating both the Utica Comets and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in back-to-back nights - handing new head coach Todd Nelson a pair of victories right out of the proverbial gates.

Last Week

Saturday, Utica - 1 at Hershey - 3

On Saturday night, the Bears jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first behind a strong first period.

Newcomer Henrik Borgstrom scored Hershey’s first goal of the new season on a rebound of Hendrix Lapierre’s blocked powerplay shot. Nine minutes later, Mike Vecchione added a tally of his own, a seeing-eye puck that found the back of the net thanks to traffic in front provided by Mason Morelli and Kale Kessy.

Hershey’s two-goal lead did not last long into the second period as the Comets, who ended the first period on the powerplay, got a goal from former Bear, Brian Pinho.

"I thought that the first period we came out really strong... then they have momentum from the powerplay in the second, but we regained our composure," Nelson said after the game.

After battling scoreless through the remainder of the second and majority of the third, Utica took a chance and pulled starting goaltender Akira Schmid late in the third, but Riley Sutter took advantage of the empty net and added an insurance marker with just 30 seconds left in the contest.  Zach Fucale earned the victory with a 19-save performance.

Sunday, Lehigh Valley - 1 at Hershey - 2

In-state rival Lehigh Valley came to town Sunday for the first of 14 meetings between the teams this season. Nelson rolled the same lineup and got the same result, this time a 2-1 victory despite a late-game 6-on-4 for the Phantoms who pulled Sam Ersson with a little under two minutes to go.

Lapierre, who recorded his first assist last night, scored the game-opening goal - his first in the AHL - late in the first period, with rookie blueliner Vincent Iorio recording the secondary assist for his first AHL point. Lapierre actually recorded an NHL goal already while suiting up for the Capitals last season.

In the second, Lehigh Valley tied the game, but in the third, Mike Sgarbossa connected on the powerplay to put Hershey back on top.

Zach Fucale, who made back-to-back starts, earned AHL victory #50  with a 14- save performance. The low number of pucks Fucale faced seems to be caused by the style of game Nelson is asking the Bears to play.

"We want to be a fore-checking team. We want to get pucks in deep. I think we're getting really comfortable with the offensive zone scheme that we want to use. There's good movement," Nelson said Saturday night. "But we want to be an aggressive team and you want to take the fight. I just feel anytime you sit back, wait for bad things to happen, they will happen."

The Week Ahead

Hershey travels to Charlotte for a back-to-back set with the Checkers who sit atop the Atlantic Division with the Bears and Providence.

Friday night's contest is set for 7:00 p.m. ET, while Saturday's is set for 6:00. The Bears do not return home to Giant Center until Saturday the 29th when they host Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the second game of their first three-in-three of the season.

The good news for Hershey Sonny Milano, who was signed by the Capitals this weekend, cleared waivers and has joined the team.

Nelson said, "Well, they're very important; every game is important, but I just want to see how our team responds. We played a couple (of road) games in exhibition (and) we didn't have a full lineup. So we have a lot of good character guys, and they're not concerned with playing at home or on the road. Those are character builders for us. You want to go through a tight game like we did today.”

Quotable - Nelson on personnel and game style - "And we're playing a similar style as Washington but also like, there's certain areas of the game where I put my hand [on things] predominantly because we don't have the same personnel as Washington, right?”

Team Leaders

Points - Vecchione, Lapierre, Mason Morelli - 2

Goals - Vecchione - 2 (T-10th in AHL)

Assists - Morelli - 2

Penalty Minutes - Bobby Nardella - 4

Saves - Fucale - 33

Save % - Fucale - .943 (9th in AHL)