The first-place Hershey Bears (22-6-0-0) take on a pair of Atlantic Division opponents this weekend before heading into the holiday break. The Bears visit Springfield on Friday, before turning around and coming back to Hershey to host the Providence Bruins at GIANT Center on Saturday.
TEAM LEADERS:
Goals: Pierrick Dube (14)
Assists: Mike Sgarbossa (23)
Points: Mike Sgarbossa (28)
Power-Play Goals: Ethen Frank (7)
Shorthanded Goals: Hendrix Lapierre [Washington], Bogdan Trineyev (1)
Plus/Minus: Ivan Miroshnichenko [Washington] (+12)
Wins: Hunter Shepard (12)
GAA: Clay Stevenson (1.70)
SV%: Clay Stevenson (.934)
Only includes qualified players
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:
LOCAL PRACTICE SCHEDULE FOR WEEK OF DEC. 18:
Monday, Dec. 18
DAY OFF
Tuesday, Dec. 19
Practice at 10:30 a.m. at GIANT Center
Wednesday, Dec. 20
Practice at 10:30 a.m. at GIANT Center
Thursday, Dec. 21
Travel to Springfield
All practices are open to the public. Practice dates and times are subject to change.
UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE:
Video Coverage: AHLTV; Radio Coverage: Bears Radio Network, Capitals Radio Network; Tickets: HersheyBears.com
All times Eastern
TEAM NEWS AND NOTES:
ROE THE BOAT:
Veteran forward Garrett Roe scored his first goals of the season, along with his first-ever pro hat trick and his first-ever four-point game in the AHL in Saturday's 7-1 romp over the Laval Rocket. The Vienna, Virginia native became the first Bear to score his first Hershey goals as part of a hat-trick performance since Devante Smith-Pelly did so on March 10, 2019 at Hartford.
BEARS CONTINUE RECORD-SETTING PACE:
Thanks to three more wins last week, the Bears enter this week with a 22-6-0-0 record, good for 44 points in the standings to have Hershey firmly entrenched in first place in the American Hockey League. The club's pace in terms of wins and points through the first 28 games of the season are both franchise marks, eclipsing the previous club records of 20 wins (2020-21, 2008-09) and 43 points (2006-07).
RYBINSKI RETURNS:
Second-year forward Henrik Rybinski made his return to the lineup for Hershey on Sunday, skating on a line with center Riley Sutter and fellow winger Matt Strome. Rybinski had missed 13 games with an upper-body injury between Nov. 17 vs. Bridgeport - Dec. 16 vs. Laval, tied with Jake Massie for the most amount of time missed by a player this season due to injury or illness. So far this season, Hershey has accrued 42 man-games missed due to injury or illness.
SHEP-ING UP:
Goaltender Hunter Shepard enjoyed arguably his most consistent three-game stretch of the season last week, as he started all three of the Bears games, posting a 3-0-0 record, while only yielding three goals in 183 minutes of action for a 0.98 goals-against average, and a .949 save percentage on 59 shots. The fourth-year pro also earned his first shutout in nearly a year, making 18 saves against Springfield on Sunday in Hershey's 1-0 win. Shepard's performance gives him 12 wins on the season, tied for first in the AHL with Tucson's Matthew Villalta.
SOUPED-UP SGARBOSSA:
Forward Mike Sgarbossa continues to add to his scoring totals this season, picking up back-to-back two-assist games on Wednesday and Saturday, giving him 28 points (5g, 23a) in 28 games this season. Sgarbossa's offensive output has him third in the race for the John B. Sollenberger Trophy for the AHL scoring title, behind only Texas Stars teammates Mavrik Bourque (32 points) and Logan Stankoven (30 points). Sgarbossa's 13 points earned on the power play are tied for the most in the league with Lehigh Valley's Cooper Marody.
NELSON PASSES MORRIS:
Sunday's home win against Springfield marked Todd Nelson's 100th game as the head coach of the Bears. Since his hiring prior to the start of the 2022-23 campaign, Nelson has racked up 66 wins in the regular season at the helm of the Chocolate and White, and guided the team to its 12th Calder Cup title win last June. Sunday's victory also marked the 375th regular-season win as an AHL head coach, moving him past former Manchester Monarchs and Charlotte Checkers bench boss Mark Morris for sole possession of 10th place in AHL head coaching wins history.
TAKING IT TO THE T-BIRDS:
Hershey's win over the Thunderbirds on Sunday extended its win streak against Springfield at home to 10 games in the victory, dating back to March 13, 2019 (5-3 W). Overall, since the Thunderbirds entered the league in 2016-17, the Bears have gone 15-2-1-0 on home ice versus Springfield. Now the Bears will make their first visit of the season to MassMutual Center this Friday, where Hershey has gone 4-0-2-0 since Jan. 24, 2020, and 10-4-2-1 in total since the 2016-17 campaign.
CONFIDENCE BRUIN:
The Bears continued to get results against the Providence Bruins with a 3-2 overtime win last Wednesday at home, improving to 3-0-0-0 overall against their Atlantic Division foe in head-to-head competition this season. The triumph marked the first time Hershey has opened a season series against the Bruins with three consecutive wins; the last time the Bears won three consecutive games at any point against Providence was during the 2016-17 season, when Hershey defeated Providence in its final three games of the regular-season series. The last time a Bears team opened a season series against a Providence-based AHL franchise with three straight wins was the 1971-72 campaign, when Hershey went 5-0-1 overall against the Providence Reds.
BEARS BITES:
Forwards Hendrix Lapierre and Ivan Miroshnichenko were recalled by the Washington Capitals earlier today, while defender Lucas Johansen has been loaned to the Bears after clearing waivers this afternoon...Hershey leads the AHL with 17 regulation wins, and 21 regulation + overtime wins...The Bears are the only AHL club to have won at least four games in overtime and have not lost a single game beyond regulation...Hershey is 7-0-0-0 on home ice in games decided by one goal...The Bears are 16-0-0-0 this season when leading after the second period...Hershey is the only team without a loss when tied after the first period this season, owning a 5-0-0-0 record...The Chocolate and White have gone 9-for-26 (34.62%) on the power play and 24-for-27 (88.89%) on the penalty kill in their last eight games...Pierrick Dube has nine goals in his last 11 games; Hershey is 15-0-0-0 this season when he finds the net.
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
vs
