On Wednesday, Washington Capitals third-round pick Chandler Stephenson played in his first game as a Hershey Bear. His team battled the Norfolk Admirals, with whom they were tied in points for eighth and final postseason spot but held the tiebreaker, on the road.
The soon-to-be 20-year-old scored a goal in the first period of the game, on his first shot as a pro. Stephenson received a pass from an unlikely attacker, defenseman Cam Schilling, and beat veteran goalie Brad Thiessen with a long wrist shot.
Stephenson’s goal is at 0:50.
Stephenson become the second Bear in a couple weeks to score his first pro goal in his first pro period of play in the AHL after Caleb Herbert.
Injured Bear Garrett Mitchell, who played with Stephenson in juniors with the Regina Pats when he captained the team in 2010-11 season, was extremely proud of his younger teammate:
So pumped for @CStephenson22 to be playing in his first pro game tonight!!! Then he goes out and scores on his first shot!! #ProudFather
— Garrett Mitchell (@Mitchy1_0) 17 апреля 2014
“Mitchy’s been real good to me,” Stephenson said to The Patriot-News’ Tim Leone. “He’s like a big brother. He talks to me and helps me out, just making sure things are OK, because he knows what it’s like to go through this. He just makes me feel comfortable, as does the whole team. They’ve all welcomed me very well.”
Despite Stephenson’s heroics, the Bears lost the game 5-3 and fell to ninth in the Eastern Conference with two games left in the regular season. They will, however, get a chance to bounce back — their re-match against Norfolk is on Friday.
