Hershey Closing In On Franchise Win #3000

HERSHEY, Pa. - It’s about time. That was the theme Tuesday night when Hershey hosted Lehigh Valley in a contest originally scheduled for December 22.

With Lucas Johansen and Mike Sgarbossa returning to the lineup, the Bears are inching closer to full strength, but they did not need everyone back to secure a 4-0 victory over the visiting (and also short-handed) Phantoms, who in an odd turn of events, had to summon Kirill Ustemenko from Reading to fill in as backup when Pat Nagle got ill.

After skating deadlocked through the first and nearly half of the second period, Dylan McIlrath unleashed a bomb from the point that Beck Malenstyn deflected into the net. In the third, Malenstyn would get the lone assist on Brett Leason’s second goal of the season just 1:38 into the final period. Just over two minutes later, Garrett Pilon would score from the prone position, a dribbler that Wilson and Hogberg were unable to help Sandstrom keep out of the net. Hershey’s final goal came from Malenstyn on the empty net. Zach Fucale stopped 26 shots for the shutout victory.

Scott Allen said, "We have guys who play with courage and not surprisingly... Zach Fucale made note of guys laying it on the line and blocking shots, snuffing things out. Again, that's a lot of courage, that's discipline, that's playing within our system."

On Friday night the winning continued as the Bears traveled to Bridgeport and earned a 2-1 victory.

All of the goals came in the first period as Johansen tallied first at 5:04. Bridgeport tied the game despite the protests of Pheonix Copley and Scott Allen, who insisted Copley had been interfered with, but the Bears rebounded nicely in the face of adversity as Malenstyn earned the eventual game-winner just six seconds later off of a Eddie Wittchow shot.

Copley earned victory number 2997 for Hershey with a 27-save performance.

"You can't say enough about those two," Malenstyn said of Copley and Fucale. "They're extreme competitors every day in practice. They're both characters. We love them in the room, so guys are willing to do anything for them too, right? Laying out to block a shot is no problem when you see what they do for us."

The contest was relatively penalty-free with Bridgeport getting the game's only power play opportunity when Malenstyn was called for boarding, a penalty that Bridgeport argued should have been a major. Late in the third, both teams were assessed matching minors when Kody Clark was hooked but whistled for diving/embellishment at the same time.

The Bears were able to move one step closer to franchise win number 3000 Sunday evening as Fucale posted his third consecutive shutout as Hershey swept the week with a 2-0 victory over Lehigh Valley.

"He just set two shutout records this year in the NHL and the AHL. Mixed in with Pheonix Copley's unreal performance the other night, I love it…it’s a testament to everybody," Allen said.

It was the first time Hershey swept a week since the end of December-beginning of January. After a scoreless first period, Marcus Vela deflected a Mason Morelli shot into the back of the net for what would become the eventual game-winner.

Late in the game, as the Phantoms attempted to pull Sandstrom for the extra attacker, Mike Sgarbossa sent the puck three-quarters of the length of the ice for the empty net goal, sealing the victory for the Bears who were wearing their 2020 St. Patrick’s Day jerseys. The jerseys were auctioned off after the game.

Special Teams Weekly Recap

Hershey PP was 0-for-9

Hershey PK was 9-for-9

Three Takeaways

1. Fucale is on Fire

Fucale’s third straight shutout sent Hershey staff scrambling through the record books Sunday evening before confirming that it was a team record. As remarkable as that may seem on a team with a deep history and some terrific goaltenders throughout their 84 years, this is not the first record of the year for Fucale who also holds the NHL record for longest shutout streak to begin a career when he made starts for the Washington Capitals this season. In truth that streak might be ongoing had it not been for a miscue on a delayed penalty, but Fucale would likely be the last person to lament that gaffe.

"He puts a lot of time into his craft with Alex Westlund and they do a tremendous job… you can just tell when our guys are dialed in," Allen said of Fucale.

2. Oh, Canada

This weekend marks Hershey’s annual trip north of the border, one that did not happen last year due to COVID-19, which still causes concern for staff and management as border testing can impact who enters and returns from Canada.

Sunday evening, Allen raised other concerns with the trip as the Bears play Toronto at 1:30 Thursday, travel to Belleville for a 7:00 start Friday, and then play in Laval Saturday at 3:30.

"We (have) got a massive road trip ahead of us right now with tough travel, tough scheduling all the way through. We play on Thursday afternoon at 1:30 in Toronto. I don't know if anybody has ever seen Toronto rush hour traffic; it's not pretty. [Then] we finish off a three-in-three in Laval with a 3 o'clock game, which is absurd," Allen said, noting that the closeness of this team will be relied on heavily to get his team through this week.

3. D-E-F-E-N-S-E

While the goaltending may have (rightly) taken center stage this week, Hershey is getting back to basics and using solid defensive efforts, including holding Lehigh Valley to zero shots on a powerplay Tuesday night, to spark offensive chances.

“It’s big in just how we swept it as well because after we beat this team five days ago, they went and had two big wins," Allen said. "They scored four goals in the Friday game, and they scored six goals (Saturday), so they scored ten goals and then to shut [Lehigh Valley] down again was big."

Scott Allen Quotable

Sgarbossa made his return to the lineup Tuesday night and scored Sunday as Sandstrom was making his way to the Lehigh Valley bench for the extra attacker.

"It's a huge addition," Allen said of Sgarbossa's return from injury. "He’s a top player in the American Hockey League. He can control the play, he can control pucks, he can make plays. He has the ability to score. It takes a little pressure off of other guys who are playing up into roles that are challenging to guys at this point in their career."

Mike Sgarbossa on returning to the lineup

"It was nice to get out of the house. I'm sure I was driving my wife crazy. It felt good to be back with all of the guys and be in the mix again and contribute for a win too. That was even better. I think we got this back on track and it felt good."

The Road Ahead

Following this weekend's trip to Canada, the Bears return home to host Lehigh Valley on March 23rd, which will be Matt Moulson Bobblehead Night (for the first 4000 fans).

Milestone alert

The Bears are just two wins shy of 3000, which would make them the first team in AHL history to eclipse that milestone.

Cody Franson is just two goals away from his 100th.

Dylan McIlrath is one point from his 100th in the AHL.

New Deal

The Washington Captials announced Wednesday they signed forward Joe Snively to a two-year, $1.6 million contract. The contract will carry an average annual value of $800,000 at the NHL level.