The Hershey Bears started their two-game weekend with a rough defeat, falling to the Utica Comets 1-0.
The Bears have not been shutout since the season opener, where they fell to the Belleville Senators 3-0 on their Banner Raising Night.
The Comets’ lone goal came from forward Robbie Russo with 9:15 in the game left. Utica’s Ryan Schmelzer passed to Russo in the slot, where he fired it past Hunter Shepard in net for the goal.
Even with the goal, Hunter Shepard’s nearly-perfect showing him earned Third Star of the Game recognition for his 25-save performance. The First Star of the Game award went to the Comets netminder Isaac Poulter.
Both the Bears and the Comets played extremely physical games, racking up 42 penalty minutes between the two teams. Those minutes include a 10-minute misconduct from Utica’s Comet Felix, who amassed 19 total penalty minutes.
The game also included two fights, including one between Bears’ forward Tyson Empny and Comets’ Will MacKinnon after the opening faceoff.
The second came between Bears’ Dmitry Opisov and Colin Felix with two minutes left in the second period.
Felix earned his 10-minute misconduct for instigating the fight.
Here were the lines against Utica:
Tonight's projected lineup against the Comets📝
Joe Snively carries a seven-game home point streak (1g, 8a) into tonight's match at GIANT Center!
Catch the broadcast:
🖥️ https://t.co/HaxQBmLCRZ
📻@FroggyValley, @foxsports1460am, @WOYK1350, @CapitalsRadio pic.twitter.com/Mfw7UhXGVV— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) March 2, 2024
Regulars missing from the Bears lineup are Ethen Frank, Mike Sgarbossa, Ivan Miroshnichenko, and Hendrix Lapierre. All except Frank (injury) remain up in Washington replacing injured players.
Below is the full Bears’ press release:
BEARS’ HOME WIN STREAK SNAPPED IN 1-0 LOSS TO COMETS
Hershey blanked by 27-save shutout from Utica’s Isaac Poulter
(Hershey, PA – March 2, 2024) – One goal was all that was needed to deal the Hershey Bears (41-10-0-3) their first home loss in nearly two months, as Hershey fell 1-0 to the Utica Comets (23-22-4-3) on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 10,549 at GIANT Center. The loss ended a seven-game home win streak and snapped a five-game (4-0-0-1) point streak for the Bears.
The Bears have now completed three-fourths of their 72-game 2023-24 schedule, with 18 games remaining. Despite the loss, at 41-10-0-3 (85 points), Hershey has still maintained its best start through the first 54 games of a season in team history. Hershey’s Magic Number remains at nine points as a result of tonight’s loss and Springfield’s 7-3 win over Laval.
The game stayed scoreless through the first two periods of play, with Hunter Shepard and Isaac Poulter trading saves at each end of the ice.
Robbie Russo scored the lone goal of the game when he buried a feed at 10:45 of the third past Shepard.
Shots finished 27-26 in favor of the Bears. Shepard went 25-for-26 in the loss for Hershey, his first regulation defeat since Dec. 8 at Syracuse, ending a 14-game stretch without a regulation loss; Poulter earned the shutout victory for Utica with a 27-for-27 effort. The Bears went 0-for-4 on the power play; the Comets went 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
