Saturday night saw a 4-3 loss at home at the hands of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. That makes it 4 straight losses against the Pens to start the season. 3 of the 4 games have been goal affairs. On bright spot in the loss was the Hershey power play which converted on all 3 of their chances.
Then came Sunday against the soon to be defunct Hartford Wolfpack. (Seriously in one week they will no longer exist...they will be the Connecticut Whale)
A strong but scattered first period led to a 0-0 tie after the 1st. The Bears took control with 4 second period goals and they took a 4-1 lead into the 3rd period. And then they tried to blow it late by allowing 2 goals midway through the 3rd period.
You could definitely see some tired legs out there. Andrew Gordon was one player that definitely looked like he could use a few days rest. He looked sluggish and just a little off his game all night.
In the end Hershey got 2 points out of a weekend in which they were not playing at full strength. But, surprisingly, they are healthier after the weekend then they were going into it. Brian Willsie and Sheldon Souray both played in games this weekend. Keith Aucoin, Francois Bouchard, and Steve Pinizzotto remain sidelined.
Semyon Varlamov played in 2 games and appears to have regained his mobility but I am not sure he is ready for the NHL. He didn't look great in any of the 3 games he has appeared in. But Braden Holtby didn't look good in his start Friday night for Washington.
I would expect to see Braden return to Hershey for the weekend games but who knows. Varly doesn't look ready to significantly contribute but I am not sure playing in the AHL will get him ready for the NHL anyhow.
**UPDATE - shortly after posting this I read on Capitals Insider that Holtby is expected to make another start for the Caps this week. So it would appear that Varly will still be in Hershey for at least the Wednesday night game and possibly longer.**
**UPDATE #2 - Varly was recalled to Washington as Neuvirth suffered a minor lower body injury in practice. Holtby started last night and Varly was the backup. No word on when/if one of the two will be reassigned to Hershey. They say Neuvy can probably play Wednesday so hopefully one of the 2 is back soon.**
Next up for Hershey...a 4 in 5! Not exactly what they need right now but all you can do is play the games that are scheduled.
3 of the 4 games are in Hershey starting with Worcester on Wednesday night.
LET'S GO BEARS!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment