Zach Fucale picked up his second shutout of the season as the Hershey Bears (41-16-5-4) won their third straight game following a 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Monsters (29-29-5-2) on Sunday afternoon at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The win extended Hershey’s current point streak to a season-high nine games (7-0-0-2).
The victory also jumped Hershey ahead of the idle Providence Bruins into first place in both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference, while simultaneously securing a first-round bye for the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs.
Hershey took a 1-0 lead when Connor McMichael scored on a one-timer from the right circle at 12:54 of the first period for his 16th of the season from Joe Snively and Bobby Nardella. McMichael’s goal extended his season-high point streak to 10 games (4g, 6a).
Garrett Pilon notched his ninth of the season at 15:30 during an odd-man rush from Mike Sgarbossa and Nardella.
Henrik Rybinski stuffed in a rebound from Hendrix Lapierre and Mason Morelli for his fifth of the season at 12:22 of the second period to cap the scoring.
Shots finished 29-17 in favor of the Monsters. Fucale went 29-for-29 for Hershey to earn his 20th victory of the season; Pavel Cajan was 14-for-17 for Cleveland. The Bears were 0-for-3 on the power play; the Monsters finished 0-for-7 with the man advantage.
Hershey continues the 2022-23 season, presented by Penn State Health, when the Bears take on the Providence Bruins in an Atlantic Division clash at the Amica Mutual Pavilion on Wednesday, April 5 at 7:05 p.m. The Chocolate and White return home to GIANT Center where they will host the Charlotte Checkers for Berk’s Ham Shoot Night on Saturday, April 8 at 7 p.m. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.
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