The Hershey Bears were back at Giant Center on Friday evening for an exhibition tilt with the rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. In his preseason debut in a Bears jersey, Pierrick Dube scored the only goal and Clay Stevenson stopped all 12 shots fired his way for a 1-0 shutout win. The game precedes a 12-game regular season schedule between the two perpetual rivals and helped set the stage for some angst when that time comes.
It’s the first time the reigning Calder Cup champions took to the ice in a game in their home building since Garrett Pilon scored the overtime winner in Game 5 of the final round against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The Giant Center had plenty of new additions to honor the champions, with a mural of the team photo taking over the concourse and radio announcer Zack Fisch’s signature “Sweeter by the Dozen” call immortalized on the wall at the entrance alongside past championship teams.
On the ice, Hershey’s lineup featured a few more familiar names including Mr. Game 7 himself, Mike Vecchione as well as veteran defender Aaron Ness. Other newcomers include Dube, Garrett Roe, Jimmy Huntington, and Nick Leivermann. Stevenson manned the net for the entire game as the first showcase for half of Hershey’s expected goaltending tandem. The Bears scored the only goal of the game on a tic-tac-goal setup between Huntington and Vecchione, with Dube finishing the perfect pass.
Vecchione’s night would be short, as only a few minutes into the game he’d be given a game misconduct for a slashing incident. The Bears would kill off the lengthy penalty and remain in good shape defensively, with only five shots reaching Stevenson over 40 minutes of play. Outside of a strong defensive play, forward Tyson Empey got the crowd into the game with his second preseason fight in as many games. The Bears had some close calls late but ultimately held on for the clean sheet.
Hershey has one more exhibition game on their schedule on Sunday afternoon in Allentown against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Chocolate and White are slowing piecing their opening lineup together ahead of opening night on October 14. Reinforcements continue to trickle down from the Washington Capitals, who are putting their own lineup together ahead of the NHL’s roster deadline on Monday. It’ll be a decidedly different group the next time the Bears play at home, but Friday represented an important evaluation of the current personnel.
