On Saturday the Hershey Bears recorded their first shutout of the season in a 2-0 win over the Charlotte Checkers. Vitek Vanecek made 25 saves in goal as the Bears handed the Checkers their first loss of the season.
Liam O’Brien continued his hot start to the season, scoring a powerplay goal in the first period off of a centering pass from Brian Pinho. O’Brien leads Hershey with 4 goals and 1 assist in 8 games this season.
In the second period, Steven Whitney scored his first goal with Hershey. Whitney took a bad angle slap shot that ricocheted off of a Checkers’ defenseman into the net.
Juuso Ikonen assisted, tallying his first AHL point in his debut game with the Bears.
The Capitals signed Ikonen to a two-year, two-way contract in May. Ikonen scored 12 goals and added 14 assists in 49 games with Brynäs IF in the SHL last season.
The rest of the game was marred by a season-high 74 combined penalty minutes between the Bears and the Checkers. The Bears (2-5-0-1) had an abysmal start to the season and sit at the bottom of the AHL’s Atlantic Division. However, Hershey is trending in the right direction, as they have picked up 5 out of a possible 6 points in their last 3 games.
The Bears play their next game away from home against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday.
Headline photo: Hershey Bears
