Bears Week 6 Recap: Shutdown
It’s week six of the AHL season and the Hershey Bears have hit their worst stretch of hockey thus far. GM Doug Yingst sent down Austin Fyten to start the week after he played in just two games. Fyten will return to South Carolina, where he has already played six games and tallied three points (one goal, two assists).
Matt Murray and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins shutout the Bears 7-0 with seven different goal scorers on Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. Dan Ellis saved 10 of the 14 shots he faced and Justin Peters stopped 16 of 19 in his relief. This marked the first time shutout against the Bears since April 3rd last year against Norfolk.
Their return to GIANT Center proved no different as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers shut them out 5-0 on Saturday night. Bracken Kearns scored 39 seconds into the game on Justin Peters and that was all they needed. Peters saved six on 10 shots before Ellis relived him and made 11 saves on 12 shots.
Paul Carey ended Hershey’s 199:14 scoring drought when he took Aaron Ness’s defensive zone pass up ice on a breakaway before going high glove on Nathan Lieuwen, who guessed five-hole. William Carrier tied it for the Rochester Americans when his no-look backhand pass hit Travis Boyd’s skate and slid by an unsuspecting Ellis. Hershey captain Garrett Mitchell regained the Bears’ lead with 3:47 left to play in the third and Zach Sill scored on the empty net to win 3-1. Ellis made 25 saves in the win.
NEXT WEEK
The Portland Pirates will visit GIANT Center for a weekend series with the Bears. In the two games at Cross Insurance Arena in October, the Pirates won 3-2 and 5-2. The Pirates are currently on a three-game winning streak after dropping five of the six after Hershey visited them.
CURRENT STANDING
4th in Atlantic Division, 7-5-0-3 (W-L-OTL-SOL), 17 points