Bears Weekly #3: Big Week Has Hershey Trending Upwards
Published on October 23, 2018 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
(Hershey, PA) - After a 0-5-0-0 start to the season, the Hershey Bears used a big week to get back on track in the competitive Atlantic Division. Against divisional opponents, Hershey collected 5-of-6 points last week, improving the club's record to 2-5-0-1. The Chocolate and White scored its first win of the season last Wednesday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, dropped a shootout decision Friday in Charlotte, and bounced back the next night to blank the Checkers.
Last Wednesday, the Bears snapped an eight-game losing streak to rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a 3-2 win over the Penguins. Axel Jonsson-Fjallby scored just 1:40 into the game, and Liam O'Brien also tallied. After the Penguins scored twice to start the third period, former Penguin Jayson Megna scored his first goal as a Bear, and the tally stood up as the game-winner. Netminder Vitek Vanecek stopped 40 shots and earned his first win over the Penguins since Dec. 9, 2016.
On Friday, Hershey scored three power play goals, but fell to the Checkers 4-3 in a shootout. Brian Pinho, Shane Gersich, and Lucas Johansen notched goals on the man-advantage, but the Checkers scored twice in the shootout while Hershey was left empty-handed in the loss.
Last Saturday, Vanecek led the way for the Chocolate and White, stopping 25 shots in the 2-0 win over Charlotte. O'Brien scored an early power play goal, and Steve Whitney scored his first goal as a Bear in the second period. Hershey posted a season-high 42 penalty minutes in the win.
UPCOMING GAMES AND PROMOTIONS:
Ticket information: http://www.hersheybears.com/tickets/single-game.php
Friday, Oct. 26 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 27 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7 p.m.
Promotion: Reese's Trick-or-Treat Night (All fans 12 and under)
Sunday, Oct. 28 vs. Lehigh Valley, 5 p.m.
Promotion: David A. Smith Team Photo Night (First 5,000 fans), Team Autograph Night, Dietz & Watson Dollar Dog Night
VANECEK HONORED: On Monday, Hershey goaltender Vitek Vanecek was named the CCM/AHL Player of the Week. Vanecek sparked Hershey's big week, starting all three games, and posting a 2-0-1 record. He collected a 1.62 goals against average and a .949 save percentage on the week, stopping 94 of 99 shots in three road starts. He made a career-high 40 saves in Wednesday's win at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and recorded his eighth AHL shutout with a 2-0 whitewashing of Charlotte on Saturday. The honor was the second of Vanecek's AHL career.
HOBBS HELPING HAND: Defender Connor Hobbs enjoyed a strong past week for the Chocolate and White. The Regina, Saskatchewan native tallied an assist in all three of Hershey's road games last week, and tying him for the team lead with five points (one goal, four assists). Hobbs, who posted 85 points in his final WHL season with the Regina Pats, is in his second season with Hershey. He had 16 points (three goals, 13 assists) in an injury-shorted 2017-18 campaign.
LIAM LEADS THE WAY: Hershey forward Liam O'Brien is off to the best start to a season in his AHL career. The fifth-year winger leads the club with four goals through the first eight games. Last year, O'Brien set a career-high with 17 goals in 69 games for the Chocolate and White, however it wasn't until O'Brien's eighth game of the 2017-18 campaign that he scored his first goal. In 2016-17, a year in which O'Brien had a personal-best 30 points, he didn't score a goal until the 10th game of the season.
SPECIAL TEAMS TURNAROUND: After a slow start to the season on special teams, the Bears got things going in the right direction last week. On the penalty kill, Hershey went 18-for-20 last week, including posting a perfect 8-for-8 evening last Saturday in Charlotte. On the power play, Hershey has struck in back-to-back games, and the Bears three power play goals in a single game on Friday in Charlotte was the first time the Bears had accomplished this feat since Feb. 3. In that contest, also versus Charlotte, Hershey was 3-for-5 on the power play in the 6-5 shootout win at Giant Center.
BEARS BITES: With netminder Ilya Samsonov nursing a lower body injury last Wednesday, local goaltender Padraig Carey signed an amateur tryout agreement and backed up in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton...Hershey defender Aaron Ness is two points from 200 in his AHL career...Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Brian Pinho, and Shane Gersich all scored their first AHL goals last week.
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