Game Preview: Bears at Penguins, 6:05 p.m.
December 17, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
(Wilkes Barre Township, PA) - The Hershey Bears continue the 2022-23 season, presented by Penn State Health, as they visit the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for a second straight night, looking to bounce back after a 3-1 defeat on Friday.
Hershey Bears (17-6-2-1) at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (13-6-1-2)
December 17, 2022 | 6:05 p.m. | Game 27 | Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
Referees: Justin Kea (#44), Liam Maaskant (#62)
Linespersons: Patrick Dapuzzo (#57), J.P. Waleski (#14)
Broadcast Information
Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch on the call
RADIO: WFVY-100.1 FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, SportsRadio 98.9-FM & WOYK 1350-AM
WATCH LIVE: AHLTV
LISTEN LIVE: Fox Sports AM-1460 Stream
Radio pre-game coverage starts at 5:35 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT:
The Hershey Bears suffered a 3-1 setback to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last night in the first of two straight head-to-head matchups at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The Penguins bolted out of the gates with a pair of goals in the opening period to take an early lead. Jonathan Gruden opened the scoring, tipping a Xavier Ouellet shot past Hershey goaltender Zach Fucale at 4:57. At 8:37, Tyler Sikura's spinning shot hit the skate of a Hershey defender and redirected past Fucale to make it 2-0. After the second period yielded no scoring, Sam Houde tallied at 3:48 for the Pens on a wraparound to make it 3-0. Dustin Tokarski was solid in goal for Wilkes-Barre/Scraton with 29 saves, but his shutout bid was snapped with just 50 seconds left as Gabriel Carlsson scored for Hershey. The Bears outshot the Penguins 30-26 but were 0-for-4 on the power play while Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was 0-for-3. The loss snapped Hershey's five-game road winning streak.
ON THE MIKE:
With an assist last night, Hershey forward Mike Vecchione has points in each of his past two outings, and in three of his past four games. Vecchione collected four points (2g, 2a) last Friday in Bridgeport, earning First Star honors, before being held off the scoresheet the next night versus Cleveland. He responded with a goal and an assist last Sunday versus the Monsters before providing the lone helper on Gabriel Carlsson's tally last night in the loss to the Baby Pens. Vecchione leads Hershey with 22 points (10g, 12a) in 25 games, and he is already halfway to his career-best of 44 points established in 59 games last season.
GO AS MO GOES :
The Bears seem to go as forward Mason Morelli goes this season. When the third-year Bear scores a point, Hershey is an exceptional 11-1-1-1. However, when Morelli is held at bay by the competition, the Bears are just 6-5-1-0. Morelli, who is set to play in his 150th career AHL game tonight, ranks second on Hershey with 19 points this season (4g, 15a) over 26 games. He's scored twice in seven games versus Wilkes-Barre/Scranton during the current campaign.
GABRIEL'S GOAL:
Gabriel Carlsson scored his first goal as a member of the Bears last night, snapping a shot from the left point through traffic and past Dustin Tokarski. For Carlsson, it was his first AHL goal since Feb. 11, 2020 when as a member of the Cleveland Monsters, he opened the scoring just 1:01 into a 6-2 win over Grand Rapids. His tally was just his seventh career AHL goal and it marked his first point in seven games. Carlsson has six points (1g, 5a) in 20 games this season with the Bears.
BEARS BITES:
The Bears are 6-0-2-0 on Saturdays this season...Hershey defender Michael Kim is a former Penguin, skating in 23 games with the Pens from 2019-20, collecting three assists...The Bears are just 2-for-23 on the power play in the seven head-to-head games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, good for just 8.7% on the man advantage...Tonight's game is Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Teddy Bear Toss. The Pens played their Teddy Bear Toss versus Hershey last year on Dec. 11, with Valtteri Puustinen scoring the goal that sent the stuffed animals flying. Hershey would win the game however, thanks to Axel Jonsson-Fjallby's deciding goal in a 3-2 overtime decision.
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