Special Teams Not Special For Hershey

Hershey Bears

Julie Beidler

Nov 17, 2021 — 3 min read

HERSHEY, Pa. - Recalls, injuries, and a suspension once again took center stage for Hershey as the Bears fell 4-1 to Lehigh Valley Wednesday night at Giant Center, won 5-4 in a shootout Saturday in Syracuse, and fell 5-2 to Charlotte Sunday at Giant Center.

On Wednesday night, Mike Sgarbossa scored early in the first period for the Bears, but that was the extent of Hershey's offense as the Phantoms rattled off four-straight, unanswered goals including a powerplay goal and a pair of shorthanded goals in a 3:08 span in the 2nd to earn their first victory of the 2021-2022 season on Giant Center ice.

Bears head coach Scott Allen summed it up as "Three-and-a-half minutes cost us the hockey game tonight."

Phoenix Copley stopped 18 of 22 shots in the loss.

After a day off to regroup, the Bears had to go to the shootout to earn a 5-4 victory over the Crunch in Syracuse.

Once again, the Bears got off to a roaring start as Beck Malenstyn scored his first goal of the season just 43 seconds into the game, but once again, the team failed to hold the lead for long as the Crunch responded just 32 seconds later.

Joe Snively, fresh off of a hattrick last week, tallied a powerplay goal to give the Bears the lead, but Syracuse scored before the end of the period to tie the game, 2-2.

In the second, Snively and Ryan Dmowski scored within 8 seconds of each other, but the Crunch responded in the third to tie the game and eventually force a shootout where both Sgarbossa and Snively connected while Copley turned away two of the three shots he faced to secure the victory. On the evening, Copley stopped 34 of 38 shots in 64:43 of action.

On Sunday, the Bears once again took an early lead, but five unanswered goals, four of them powerplay goals, from Charlotte allowed the Checkers to earn their first victory over Hershey on the season, 5-2.

Garrett Pilon, who has since been recalled to Washington, and Riley Sutter, who tallied his first goal of the season, scored for Hershey.

Hunter Shepard, who had been reassigned to Hershey while Zach Fucale (see below) was recording his first NHL start, a shutout victory in Detroit, made 21 saves on 26 shots.

Three Things

1. Powerless Play?

It was a very ugly week for Hershey's special teams. The Bears went 1-for-9 on the man-advantage, Snively's first goal in Syracuse on Saturday night. To make matters worse, the powerplay unit gave up a pair of short-handed goals to Lehigh Valley Wednesday night in under a minute. Not a good look for a team that is usually one of the best in the league.

As if that wasn't enough, the penalty kill took a huge hit this weekend with a 3-for-7 performance Sunday night against the Checkers going down as their worst of the season to date.

"Obviously they scored four powerplay goals, so that's a tough mountain to overcome, so when you are taking bad penalties and having a tough time killing penalties, it's a recipe for disaster," said Hershey Bears head coach Scott Allen.

In all, the Bears were whistled for 26 infractions, 23 minors, two fighting penalties and one misconduct.

2. Roster Issues Continue

In case anyone out there hasn't heard, Washington has been dealing with a string of injuries, prompting recalls of Connor McMichael (assigned to Hershey on October 11, but recalled the next day and has remained in the lineup for the Caps), Brett Leason (October 29), Alaiksei Protos (first recall was November 1, with most recent recall on November 10), Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (recalled November 7 - earned first NHL point November 12), Zach Fucale (November 10 - returned November 13, more below), and Garrett Pilon (November 15).

In addition, Hershey is dealing with four injuries (Brian Pinho, Eddie Wittchow, Mike Vecchione, and Cody Franson).

Allen said, "Some guys are certainly longer than others...we're also leaving out the fact that Dylan McIlrath received a two game suspension [for elbowing, which was not called on the ice by the officials in the November 7 game against Springfield]. It's unfortunate, but it's opportunity-time for other guys."

3. Ole, FUCALE!

One in a string of players to earn a recall to Washington and a first NHL start this year, Zach Fucale managed to steal the show, becoming the first goalie in Washington Capitals history to record a shutout in his first start. Fucale, who has waited a long time for the opportunity, did not disappoint, turning away 21 shots, credited the guys in front of him for keeping pucks from the netfront.

Now back in Hershey after Vitek Vanecek was cleared for action, Bears fans are hoping to witness that same magic now that the netminder has returned to Hershey.