Bears Kick off Homestand with 1-0 Blanking of Bruins
December 28, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
Hershey, PA - Mike Vecchione scored and Hunter Shepard made 22 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Hershey Bears (22-6-2-1) took down the Providence Bruins (16-6-5-2) by a 1-0 score on Wednesday night in front of a sellout crowd of 10,515 at GIANT Center. The match marked the opening contest of a season-high seven-game stretch on home ice, and the first of two straight between the top two teams in the American Hockey League.
With the victory, Bears head coach Todd Nelson has clinched his spot to represent the Atlantic Division at the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic in Laval, Quebec.
Hershey took a 1-0 lead 12:59 into the first period when Jake Massie found Vecchione in the slot, and the forward wristed the puck past the glove of Brandon Bussi into the top-right corner of the net for his team-leading 12th of the season. Vincent Iorio received credit on the secondary assist.
A check by Providence's Chris Wagner on Bears forward Connor McMichael along the boards in the neutral zone at 15:09 of the second period prompted a scrap between Mason Morelli and Wagner. The resulting penalties levied a match penalty to Wagner for a check to the head and a five-minute fighting major, while Morelli received a 10-minute misconduct for instigating, a five-minute fighting major and a two-minute minor for instigating. Morelli finished the night with a career-high 19 penalty minutes.
Shots finished even 22-22. Shepard's shutout performance was his eighth victory of the season and eighth consecutive win, along with his third career clean sheet with Hershey; Bussi was 21-for-22 for the Bruins. The Bears were 0-for-4 on the power play, while Providence went 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
Hershey continues the 2022-23 season, presented by Penn State Health, when the Chocolate and White dig into their season-high seven-game homestand at GIANT Center as they say goodbye to 2022 with a New Year's Eve clash with the Providence Bruins on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 5 p.m. Purchase tickets for the game.
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