The Washington Capitals announced Monday that they recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from the Hershey Bears. Shepard has been Hershey’s backup for much of this season but has vastly outperformed Zach Fucale in the last month.
Shepard’s recall was not a surprise as the Hershey Bears signed an emergency goaltender to be Fucale’s backup against the Baby Penguins on Sunday and Shepard was not with the team.
Shepard will likely serve as Charlie Lindgren’s backup if Darcy Kuemper cannot suit up against the Edmonton Oilers.
NEWS | The Capitals have recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from the Hershey Bears.#ALLCAPS https://t.co/7zur1e0NYv
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 5, 2022
The transaction was made necessary after Kuemper left Saturday’s loss to the Calgary Flames with an upper-body injury. He was officially listed as day-to-day by head coach Peter Laviolette on Sunday.
Kuemper’s injury appeared to stem from an elbow to the head by Tyler Toffoli as the Flames forward was skating backward toward the crease. The 32-year-old netminder pulled himself out at the next whistle and backup Charlie Lindgren finished the game in net.
On the season, Kuemper holds an 8-9-2 record with a .916 save percentage and a 2.56 goals-against average. He has started 20 of 26 games for the team and coming into the game against Calgary, had played the most minutes of any NHL goaltender (1,089:58).
the elbow here pic.twitter.com/tm4woYIpYl
— Mike (@mikeFAIL) December 4, 2022
Shepard was initially signed out of college by Hershey in 2020. The 27-year-old prospect was named the AHL’s Goalie of the Month for November after going undefeated in six starts. The Minnesota native posted a 1.63 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage for the Chocolate and White, stopping 147 of the 157 shots he faced.
Shepard made a diving glove stop against the Thunderbirds on Nov. 23 (after being run over behind the net) that earned him an appearance on ESPN Sportscenter’s Top 10 list.
We're thankful for a lot of things. @shepDadyy is near the top of the list.
His amazing save was #2 on @ESPN Sportscenter's #SCTop10! pic.twitter.com/kgrTZ8jCv6
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) November 24, 2022
Shepard’s recall forced the Bears to sign Justin Kapelmaster to a professional tryout to ensure they have some coverage in their net in the coming days (they next play Tuesday). Kapelmaster made his surprising Hershey debut on the same day he was signed after Fucale allowed seven goals on 21 shots against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Kapelmaster did not give up a goal in the 7-3 loss.
Here’s the full press release from the Caps:
Capitals Recall Hunter Shepard
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.
Shepard, 27, has posted a record of 6-0-2 with a 1.83 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in eight games with Hershey this season. The 6’0″, 215-pound goaltender ranks first in the AHL in goals-against average and save percentage and tied for ninth in wins. Shepard was named the AHL Goaltender of the Month for November after posting a record of 6-0-0 with a 1.63 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage in six games played.
The Cohasset, Minnesota native appeared in nine games with Hershey during the 2021-22 season, finishing with a 5-3-0 record with one shutout, a 2.06 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. Shepard also appeared in 23 games for the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL, posting a record of 12-9-2 with a 2.88 goals-against average, a .917 save percentage and two shutouts.
In 20 career AHL games with Hershey, Shepard has a record of 14-3-2 with a 1.80 goals-against average, a .934 save percentage and two shutouts. Shepard has a 24-15-4 record with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage in 44 career ECHL games with South Carolina.
Shepard signed an AHL contract with Hershey on June 30, 2020, following a four-year career with the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in the NCAA. In 119 games with the team – which included an NCAA-record 115 straight games from Oct. 21, 2017 to March 7, 2020 – Shepard finished with a 76-37-5 record, ranking first all-time in Bulldogs history in wins, goals-against average (1.94), save percentage (.922) and shutouts (17). Shepard won back-to-back NCAA Championships with the Bulldogs in 2018 and 2019, was twice named the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Goaltender of the Year (2019 and 2020), earned First-Team All-American honors in 2019 and Second-Team All-American honors in 2020. Shepard finished his NCAA career as a three-time Mike Richter Award Finalist – given to the NCAA’s top goaltender – and a three-time All-NCHC selection.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
