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Washington Capitals: Hershey Bears Look to Defend the Den in Game 3

By Michael Marzzacco

HERSHEY, PA - MARCH 16: Hershey Bears center Garrett Pilon (18) skates to the bench during the Bridgeport Sound Tigers vs. the Hershey Bears AHL hockey game March 16, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. (Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
HERSHEY, PA - MARCH 16: Hershey Bears center Garrett Pilon (18) skates to the bench during the Bridgeport Sound Tigers vs. the Hershey Bears AHL hockey game March 16, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. (Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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After dropping the first two games of the Atlantic Division Finals in Charlotte, the Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals AHL affiliate) look to protect their home ice Tuesday night.

The Hershey Bears will host the Charlotte Checkers at Giant Center on Tuesday night. If you’re a Washington Capitals fan having hockey withdrawals, Hershey is about a three-hour drive from D.C.

The Bears were outscored by a combined 11-4 in the first two games of their second round series (aka Atlantic Division Finals) the Checkers. Home ice advantage was clearly on the side of the latter just like their parent club Carolina Hurricanes.

The final in Game 1 was 4-1 while Game 2’s score was 7-3. Chris McCarthy had the lone goal for the Bears in Game 1. Jayson Megna, Riley Barber, and Ryan Sproul lit up the scoresheet for Hershey in Game 2.

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Megna leads the Bears with six points (3 goals, 3 assists) while Barber is right behind him with five points (3 goals, 2 assists). Nathan Walker leads the Bears in assists this spring with four.

The Bears will likely go with Vitek Vanecek in the goalie prospect alternating after Ilya Samsonov allowed seven goals in Game 2. Vanecek stopped 34 shots in Game 1’s defeat.

Vanecek is 1-2 with a 2.32 goals-against average, .940 save percentage and a shutout. Samsonov carries a 2-2 record with a 2.75 GAA and a .909 save percentage. The Bears also have a third goalie in Parker Milner.

On Monday morning, the Capitals re-assigned prospect forward Axel Jonsson-Fjallby from Djurgardens IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) to the Bears. Jonsson-Fjallby began the season in Hershey with two goals and an assists in 16 games before being loaned to Djurgardens.

Jonsson-Fjallby recorded 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 36 SHL games this season with Djurgardens.

Per Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post, Jonsson-Fjallby’s goal is to win a roster spot with the Capitals this upcoming training camp but if not he’ll be with Hershey. He also didn’t regret going back to Sweden to play in the SHL this season.

Game 3 is a must win for the Bears. If they drop this game, they are staring at an 0-3 series hole and elimination. That is a nightmare scenario for anybody.

But if the Bears win Tuesday night, they get on the board in a seven-game series against the team with the best record in the AHL. Talk about a momentum shift.

Next. A Recap of Games 1 and 2. dark

Puck drop from Giant Center is at 7 p.m. and you can catch the game online at AHLTV.

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