The Hershey Bears were unable to hit pay-dirt for the second consecutive game, and dropped a 3-0 decision to the Charlotte Checkers on Friday night at Giant Center. Tonight’s result marked the first time since the 2017-18 season the Bears were unable to crack the scoresheet in consecutive games. Previously, Hershey was on the losing side of back-to-back 3-0 losses on Mar. 10 and 11, 2018 versus the Binghamton Devils and Grand Rapids Griffins. 
Following two successful penalty kills early in the first period, Garrett Pilon came within inches of giving Hershey a 1-0 lead. A shot past Charlotte goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic grazed the iron, hit the goal line, and rolled out of the cage to keep the game scoreless. Both teams entered the first intermission scoreless with shots 9-6 Hershey.
Into the second period, Charlotte capitalized on their third power play chance of the night. Only 38 seconds after Brett Leason was whistled for a high-sticking infraction, Steven Lorentz tipped a shot from Eetu Luostarinen behind Pheonix Copley. The Checkers led 1-0 after 40 minutes, despite the Bears leading in shots 20-18.
In the third, the Chocolate and White pumped 16 more shots on goal, but Nedeljkovic stood tall in goal to record the shutout. Colin Markison scored a late insurance marker on a rebound at 18:22 to double his team’s lead, and Morgan Geekie sealed the score with an empty net tally at 19:48.
Hershey’s power play finished 0-for-5, while the penalty kill went 3-for-4. Final shots on goal totaled to 36-28 Bears. The Bears record shifted to 7-6-2-2 in the loss.
You must be logged in to post a comment.