Hershey Bears Weekly Notebook 11/29/22

HERSHEY, Pa. - For the first time this season, the Hershey Bears completed a road sweep.

Wednesday night, the team defeated the Thunderbirds in Springfield 2-1 thanks in large part to the efforts of Hunter Shepard in net.

With the day off for Thanksgiving, Hershey stayed in the northeast ahead of back-to-back games with the Wolf Pack in Hartford. The Bears won 2-1 Friday and 1-0 in the shootout on Saturday.

Last Week

Wednesday, November 23: Hershey - 2 at Springfield - 1

In the Thanksgiving Eve game, the Thunderbirds took the lead in the second period, but 22 seconds later Connor McMichael scored to tie the game. It was McMichael’s first of the season after returning from Washington.

In the third, Shepard provided the Sports Center #2 highlight with a diving save from behind the goalline to keep the game tied.

Moments later, Mason Morelli executed a swipe-and-score to give the Bears a 2-1 lead. Shepard finished the game with 26 saves.

*Friday, November 25: Hershey - 2 at Hartford - 1

After last week’s second game with Hartford, Todd Nelson said, "Yeah, we just need to get rested up and get ready to go. We just have to stick to our game plan. When you're fatigued, you make decisions that you wouldn't normally make. And it was frustrating, obviously, but the guys, they just didn't have it."

Message delivered and received as Friday night in Hartford, the Bears jumped out to an early lead when Mike Vecchione scored just 34 seconds into the contest.

Hershey would tally again in the first on the powerplay when Henrik Borgstrom scored his fifth goal of the season.

The Wolf Pack denied Shepard a shutout, scoring in the third period, but Hershey and Shepard stood tall the rest of the way for back-to-back road wins for the first time this season. Shepard recorded 30 saves.

***Saturday, November 26: Hershey - 1 at Hartford - 0 (SO)

In Saturday’s rematch, the Bears and Pack battled scoreless through three periods and OT to force a shootout.

n the shootout, Hartford’s Jonny Brodzinski and Hershey’s McMichael each tallied in the first round.

In the second round, Zach Fucale made a save on Bobby Trivigno and Sam Anas’s attempt was turned away.

In the third round, Fucale once again stood tall while Mike Sgarbossa ended things with a wrister.

Fucale made 16 saves in the contest as both netminders earned shutouts.

Quotable

"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,” Nelson said earlier in the season.

That couldn’t have been more true this past weekend as the Bears were away from home and their respective families on Thanksgiving and returned home with six points.

The Week Ahead

The Bears return home to host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 7:00 on Tuesday in Truly Takeover Tuesday. They travel to Allentown on Wednesday for a 7:05 start and are back home Sunday against the Penguins again for Team Photo and Autograph Night.

Tuesday, November 29: W-B/Scranton at Hershey, 7:00 p.m. ET Wednesday, November 30: Hershey at Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. ET Sunday, December 4: W-B/Scranton at Hershey, 3:00 p.m. ET

Team Leaders

Points: Mason Morelli - 13 Goals: Henrik Borgstrom, Ethen Frank, Mike Vecchione - 5 Assists: Mason Morelli - 10 +/-: Vincent Iorio +9 (T-11th in AHL) PIM: Dylan McIlrath - 36 (T-16th in AHL) Saves: Zach Fucale - 232 (19th in AHL) SV%: Hunter Shepard .940 ( 2nd in AHL) / Zach Fucale .913 (T-17th in AHL) GAA: Hunter Shepard 1.69 (1st in AHL) / Zach Fucale - 2.00 (4th in AHL)