The Hershey Bears traveled Friday night to take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at the PPL Center. The Bears were coming into Friday’s contest with a three game winning streak.
Hershey added a new face to the line up tonight in Zach Sanford, who was recently assigned to Hershey from the Washington Capitals, while forwards Paul Carey and Jakub Vrana have been called up to the parent club.
Sanford has recorded one assist in his 19 NHL games this season. The decision to send Sanford to Hershey was not based on performance, it has to do with the Capitals limited cap space. In order to give Vrana a shot, there were moves that needed to be made. With the re-assignment, Sanford will be able to get more playing time.
Also returning to the line up tonight after being sidelined by injuries were Madison Bowey and Aaron Ness. With the return of the two defensemen, the Bears
Joe Cannata got the start in net for the Bears tonight. Cannata stopped 23 of 26 shots he faced tonight in the Bears 4-3 win.
Bowey opened the scoring for the Bears tonight at the 17:33 mark of the first period. Christian Thomas and Travis Boyd would add to the goal total for the night. Thomas had a 3 point night (2 goals, 1 assist) against the Phantoms bringing his season points total to 17 (11 goals, 6 assists).
With tonight’s win, the Bears are tied with Bridgeport and Wilkes-Barre Scranton at 28 points on the season.
With tonight’s win the Chocolate and White have won four games in a row. Saturday the Bears will use tonight’s momentum as they will face the Phantoms at Giant Center to wrap up the home-and-home series.
Bears at Phantoms
