Game Preview: Amerks at Bears, 7 p.m.

November 3, 2018

Hershey Bears (5-6-0-1) vs. Rochester Americans (7-3-1-0)
November 3, 2018 | 7:00 PM | Game 13 | Giant Center
Referees: Mitch Dunning (43), Michael Markovic (47)
Linesmen: Bill Lyons (27), Scott Pomento (25)

Broadcast Information (Pre-game 6:30 p.m.)
RADIO: WQIC-100.1 FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM, WOYK-1350 AM, Zack Fisch, the Voice of the Bears, and Freddy Cassivi on the call. 
LISTEN LIVE: Fox Sports AM-1460 Stream,  
WATCH LIVE: AHLTV

ATLANTIC DIVISION STANDINGS

CLASSIC MATCHUP:
The two oldest teams in the American Hockey League meet tonight for Rochester's lone visit to Giant Center this season. The Bears enter tonight's game with three straight wins, and have claimed points in six of the past seven games. The Amerks had their eight game point streak snapped last night as Hershey earned the victory at the Blue Cross Arena in the first half of the home-and-home. 

LAST TIME OUT:
The Bears and Rochester Americans met for the 457th time ever in the regular season last night, and the Chocolate and White came away with a 4-2 win. Amerk's Zach Redmond was whistled for delay of game only five seconds in after flipping the puck out of play, and the Bears went to work on the power play. Mike Sgarbossa deflected a Travis Boyd shot to open the scoring at :57. Riley Barber doubled Hershey's lead at 16:44 with a snipe immediately after an offensive zone face-off win. Later in the period, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby made it 3-0 Hershey on a pretty toe-drag move during a 2-on-1 rush at 18:24. The Americans added two in the third period to pull within one after goals by C.J. Smith at 5:47 and Victor Olofsson at 17:18. Liam O'Brien hit the empty net with six seconds left to round out a 4-2 final. Ilya Samsonov recorded the win in goal and stopped a career-high 36 shots.

HOME COOKING: 
Hershey forward Mike Sgarbossa has adjusted well to the Giant Center ice. The new Bears forward scored in both contests at Giant Center last weekend, giving him goals in all four of Hershey’s home games thus far this season. The Ontario native is second on the team in goals with five, and also is tied for first on the team with eight points.   

THE BOYD IS BACK IN TOWN:
Travis Boyd was assigned to Hershey on a long-term injury conditioning assignment on Nov. 1 and joined the Chocolate and White last night in Rochester. Boyd assisted on Sgarbossa's opening goal only 57 seconds into the game. Boyd finished the 2017-18 season as a member of the Washington Capitals during their run to a Stanley Cup. In two playoff games. He has now skated in 215 games with the Bears and has recorded 165 points (53 goals, 112 assists).

MILNER TIME:
Vitek Vanecek is sidelined this weekend with an upper-body injury, leading to the call up of Parker Milner. Milner enters this season as the reigning ECHL Goaltender of the Year after posting a 28-7-0 record with a sparkling 1.86 goals against average and .929 save percentage with the South Carolina Stingrays. Dating back the last two seasons, Milner has played 11 games with the Chocolate and White. His last AHL apperance was over a year ago, as he stopped 18 shots to earn the win over Providence on Oct. 28, 2017. 

PENALTY KILL PERFECTION:
The Bears have been perfect on the penalty kill in five straight games, killing 20 penalties in that time. Hershey's last power play goal allowed was on Oct. 19 at Charlotte when Janne Kuokkanen scored at 18:37 of the opening period. Dating back to that game, Hershey is perfect on the kill in 24 straight attempts. Hershey's penalty kill is now 42-for-51 (82.4%) and ranks 12th in the AHL.