The Washington Capitals announced that they recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from the Hershey Bears on Thursday afternoon.
Shepard arrives on an emergency loan basis after backup netminder Darcy Kuemper left Wednesday’s practice early in pain after appearing to tweak something in his back. The 28-year-old Shepard was last recalled by the Capitals in early March after Kuemper went out with an illness.
NEWS | The Capitals have recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from the Hershey Bears. https://t.co/etpC8epyr6
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 4, 2024
Kuemper did skate with the team on Thursday morning without any noticeable cause for further concern. The Capitals have a set of back-to-back games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday and Friday and will need the extra insurance as they have to travel to Raleigh for the back half.
Charlie Lindgren is slated to start against the Penguins. He was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate.
Darcy Kuemper is on the ice this morning after leaving practice yesterday in apparent pain. pic.twitter.com/6MARqB61QE
— Katie Adler (@katieEadler) April 4, 2024
Shepard arrives in DC after he and Clay Stevenson recently broke the Hershey Bears’ single-season shutout record with a 5-0 victory over the Cleveland Monsters. Shepard owns five of the record-setting 12 shutouts, posting his most recent one on Tuesday in a 19-save effort against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Overall this season, he is 25-3-3 for the Bears with a 1.80 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. Hershey has their own set of back-to-back games this weekend against the Iowa Wild. The Bears have recalled goaltender Garin Bjorklund from the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays to replace Shepard.
The @Capitals have recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from Hershey. Additionally, goaltender Garin Bjorklund has been re-assigned to the Bears.
rabbittransit | Roster Moves
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) April 4, 2024
Here’s the Capitals’ press release on Shepard’s recall:
Capitals Recall Hunter Shepard
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.
Shepard, 28, has a record of 2-1-1 with a 3.19 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage in four games with the Capitals this season. Shepard made his NHL debut and earned his first career win on Oct. 25 at New Jersey. On Nov. 11 against the New York Islanders, Shepard stopped 36 of 37 shots and was named the game’s First Star in a 4-1 Washington win. In 31 games with Hershey, Shepard has posted a record of 25-3-3 with a 1.80 goals-against average, a .927 save percentage and five shutouts. Shepard leads the AHL in goals-against average and save percentage and ranks tied for third in wins and shutouts.
Shepard appeared in 33 games with Hershey last season, posting a record of 20-8-5 with a 2.18 goals-against average, a .916 save percentage and one shutout. The 6’0″, 219-pound goaltender ranked second among AHL goaltenders in goals-against average and tied for sixth in save percentage. Shepard, who was awarded the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the MVP of the Calder Cup Playoffs, started all 20 playoff games for the Bears,posting a 14-6 record with a 2.27 goals-against average, a .914 save percentage and three shutouts en route to the franchise’s league-record 12th championship. In 76 career AHL games with Hershey, Shepard has a record of 53-14-8 with a 1.96 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage and eight shutouts.
A native of Cohasset, Minnesota, Shepard won back-to-back NCAA Championships with Minnesota-Duluth in 2018 and 2019. In addition, he was twice named the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Goaltender of the Year (2019 and 2020) and earned First-Team All-American honors in 2019 and Second-Team All-American honors in 2020. With Minnesota-Duluth, Shepard started an NCAA-record 115 straight games from Oct. 21, 2017 to March 7, 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.
