Ahead of the 2016-17 season, Capitals 2013 second-round pick Madison Bowey hoped to challenge for a game or two in Washington as an injury replacement. Instead Bowey suffered a major setback early in the season.
On December 28th, a tendon in Bowey’s ankle was lacerated during a freak play in defensive zone. But 79 days later, Bowey was back, returning in Hershey’s 4-3 overtime win over Hartford.
During warmups, Bowey was warmly greeted by his teammates. And by warmly greeted, I mean checked into the glass multiple times.
Bowey put three shots on goal during the game and took a penalty in the second period for cross-checking. He skated on the third pairing with Hubert Labrie.
Swedish defenseman Christian Djoos played the hero, scoring two goals on the night. His second tally came 59 seconds into overtime.
.@Djorre00 with his second of the night and the OT winner to give @TheHersheyBears a 4-3 win over Hartford. #HFDvsHER pic.twitter.com/YdUk2haOQU
— AHL (@TheAHL) March 18, 2017
Bowey high-fived all of his teammates as they made their way down to the tunnel.
“The first period was a little rusty as I expected, but it was good just to get out there,” Bowey said after the game to Chocolate Hockey. “To get the W on top of everything, it felt great.”
According to Head Coach Troy Mann, Bowey will not play in all three games of the Bears’ three-in-three, as the team tries to bring back their star defenseman slowly.
Meanwhile, Hershey will also be buoyed by another star return. Swiss defenseman and Capitals 2015 second-round pick Jonas Siegenthaler will join the team for the rest of the year as Zurich SC’s season recently ended.
“He’s going to fly in Monday,” Troy Mann said. “He’s not going to make the trip to St. John’s, but he’ll be here on Monday, practice with us Tuesday and do the skill development with us before practice on Wednesday. He won’t see any action the first week….We just felt it was best to get him into town so he didn’t have that 7-10 day pocket of not doing anything overseas.”
In his post-game Press Conference, Troy Mann says defender Jonas Siegenthaler is expected to join the team next week. #HBH #DefendTheDen
— Zack Fisch (@zackfisch) March 18, 2017
The returns could not come at a better time. The Bears sit in fourth place of the Atlantic Divison, two points ahead of Bridgeport Sound Tigers for their division’s fourth and final playoff spot.
