Game Preview: Bears at Checkers, 6 p.m.

October 20, 2018

(Charlotte, NC- October 20, 2018)- The Hershey Bears conclude their lone visit to Charlotte this season with the last of back-to-back games against the Checkers.

Hershey Bears (1-5-0-1) at Charlotte Checkers (5-0-0-0)
October 20, 2018 | 6:00 PM | Game 8 | Bojangles' Coliseum
Referees: Jordan Deckard (#14), Guillaume Labonte (#35)
Linesmen: Tim Lyons (#33), Shane Gustafson (#18)

Broadcast Information (Pre-game 5:30 p.m.)
RADIO: WQIC-100.1 FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, Zack Fisch, the Voice of the Bears. 
LISTEN LIVE: Fox Sports AM-1460 Stream, Caps Radio 24/7
WATCH LIVE: AHL TV

ATLANTIC DIVISION STANDINGS

TONIGHT'S MATCH UP:
The Hershey Bears conclude back-to-back meetings against the Charlotte Checkers tonight with a 6 p.m. puck drop at Bojangles' Coliseum. Tonight mark's Hershey's final game in Charlotte this season. 

LAST TIME OUT:
Last night, the Bears showed resiliency by erasing three, one-goal deficits before falling in a shootout, 4-3 to the Charlotte Checkers. Nicolas Roy opened the scoring 4:18 into the game by pushing a rebound past Vitek Vanecek moments after a Checkers power play expired. Brian Pinho answered by scoring Hershey's first of three power play goals on the night with a one-timer from the left wing at 12:56. Janne Kuokkanen gave Charlotte a 2-1 advantage before first intermission by lifting a backhander from the low-slot over Vanecek at 18:37. Shane Gersich scored the lone goal in the second period to knot the game at 2-2 after 40 minutes. Julien Gauthier capitalized on the back-door for the Checkers at 8:49 of the third period for their third lead of the night, but only to see the Bears respond once more. Less than two minutes later, Lucas Johansen ripped a shot from the right wing to tie the game. Sudden-death overtime did not solve the score, and a three-round shootout proceeded for the first time this season. Riley Barber and Michael Sgarbossa were both stopped, while Morgan Geekie and Martin Necas scored to give the Checkers the shootout win. Charlotte has now started the season a perfect 5-0-0-0, while the Bears have points in two straight after losing five consecutive. 

THE "FIRSTS" CONTINUE: 

Both Brian Pinho and Shane Gersich's tallies in last night's game were their first career AHL goals. Pinho scored on the power play with a one-time bullet from the left wing after a feed from Connor Hobbs. Last season, Pinho captained Providence College and posted 32 points in 40 games for the second-most on his team. Shane Gersich helped the Washington Capitals capture the Stanley Cup and received his first NHL goal last spring before making his AHL debut on Oct. 6. Gersich scored his first AHL goal last night at 7:36 of the second period and also assisted on Lucas Johansen's third period goal for his first career multi-point game. The 5th rounder by Washington in 2015 currently has four points (one goal, three assists) in seven games with the Chocolate and White this season. 

THE DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES:
The Bears entered last night's game with one power play in goal 16 tries the entire season. Hershey went a respectable 3-for-7 on the man-advantage last night with a power play goal in each period against Charlotte. Hershey's power play climbed from a .06 percent success rate to 17.4 percent in a matter of one game.

A BIG IMPACT FOR "BIG MIKE":
Charlotte defenseman Michal Cajkovsky has called the Carolina Hurricanes organization home after signing a NHL contract on Sept. 27. Cajkovsky appeared in 13 games with the Hershey Bears and also 25 games with the South Carolina Stingrays in the 2014-15 season. Cajkovsky returns to North America this season after spending three years playing in the Czech Republic and the KHL. More notably, "Big Mike" represented Slovakia at the most recent Winter Olympics in PyeongChang and led the tournament with the most penalty minutes, 31.