Hershey Bears Weekly Notebook 1/17/23

HERSHEY, Pa. - At least twice this season the Hershey Bears have responded after some constructive criticism from Todd Nelson.

Most recently, after last Wednesday night's loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, a disappointed Nelson said that he "might shake up the lines and some guys might be surprised at what color jersey they'll be wearing tomorrow" in practice.

And just like when he "expressed loudly to the bench" that they should be shooting instead of passing in odd-man rushes in a game earlier in the season, the Bears responded with a pair of weekend victories over the Springfield Thunderbirds.

Last Weekend

Friday, January 13: Springfield - 3 at Hershey - 5

In Friday night's game, Hershey came out firing, quite literally, with 18 first period shots.

Joe Snively, Beck Malenstyn, and Ethen Frank all scored first period goals for the Bears. Frank’s second goal of the game was sandwiched by a pair of Springfield power play goals. Hershey also recorded a power play goal from Henrik Borgstrom.

Springfield cut the lead to a pair of goals late in the game before Frank nearly recorded a hatrick, but the play was ruled offsides.

Zach Fucale made 19 saves in the victory.

Saturday, January 14: Springfield - 2 at Hershey - 6

Saturday night's game featured the retirement of Chris Bourque's #17 prior to warm-ups, and a fired up Hershey team did their former star proud with six goals on the evening.

Hendrix Lapierre got things started with a first-period powerplay goal, but Springfield tallied twice before the period ended.

In the second, Connor McMichael tied the game before Garrett Pilon scored his first of two goals on the evening.

Frank and Snively each recorded goals as well for the Bears who saw 11 skaters earn at least a point on the score sheet. Hunter Shepard made 21 saves. Fucale, who briefly had to replace Shepard after a blade fell out of Shepard's skate late in the first period, did not have to make any saves in the contest.

Quotable

After posting helping Nelson earn his 500th victory in Saturday night’s game, the game puck and Bear head were both given to Nelson.

In a team-released video clip, Nelson said, "Over the years, I've worked with a lot of good players, and this year is no different. Let's keep this thing going on the road."

The Week Ahead

Hershey heads across the border this week with games in Laval on Friday and Belleville on Saturday.

Friday, January 20: Hershey - 2 at Laval - 3 (OT) Saturday, January 21: Hershey at Belleville, 7:00 p.m. ET

Team Leaders

Points: Mike Sgarbossa - 32 Goals: Ethen Frank - 16 (T-10th in AHL) Assists: Mike Sgarbossa - 19 +/-: Ethen Frank +16 (T-11th in AHL) PIM: Kale Kessy - 68 (10th in AHL) Saves: Zach Fucale - 432 SV%: Hunter Shepard .919 SV% (6th in AHL) GAA: Hunter Shepard 2.13 GAA (2nd in AHL), Zach Fucale 2.50 GAA (13th in AHL)