Capitals prospect Riley Barber scored in his fourth-straight game and continued an impressive run in the Hershey Bears’ 5-2 loss to the Cleveland Monsters on Saturday.
Barber leads the Bears in scoring with 14 points and is second in goals with 7 in 15 games. All of his goals in the four-game streak have come on the power play. The Bears are 2-2 in the past 4 games, and they sit in sixth place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division.
Barber’s offensive growth this season can be seen in his goals the past four games. Similar to Alex Ovechkin, he starts on the Bears’ first power play unit and uses an impressive shot from the faceoff circles to rack up the goals.
November 10 vs Springfield
Barber showed off his power play prowess in the Bears’ 3-2 victory over the Springfield Thunderbirds on November 10. At the beginning of the third period, Michael Sgarbossa slid the puck to the top of the left circle, and Barber hammered a one-timer top shelf past the Thunderbirds’ goaltender.
November 11 vs Syracuse
Barber kept his hot streak going in the Bears’ 7-2 loss to the Syracuse Crunch. Even though the Bears went down 5-0 to start the game, Barber salvaged one positive from the game as he blasted home a one-timer in the third period.
November 16 vs Monsters
In the Bears’ 6-1 drubbing of the Cleveland Monsters, Barber scored another goal the power play. In the first period, The Bears picked apart the Monsters with a beautiful passing sequence on the power play. Barber deposited a sharp angle one-timer past the Monsters’ goaltender off of a beautiful feed from Nathan Walker.
November 17 at Monsters
The following night, Barber scored another goal against the Monsters in the Bears’ 5-2 loss at home. Barber received a pass on in the high slot and snapped a quick shot past the Monsters’ goaltender on the power play.
Barber posted 20 goals and 18 assists in 60 games last season. The Bears need him to stay hot on the power play to claw their way back into playoff contention. Barber is on pace to set a career high in goals (34) if he stays healthy and keeps scoring at this rate. Barber’s previous best season was 26 during the 2015-16 campaign.
Barber will try to extend his goal-scoring streak Friday as the Bears take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Headline photo: Hershey Bears
