While the Washington Capitals' AHL affiliate Hershey Bears aren't off to the kind of start they'd probably like, it isn't entirely unexpected. As we've written about previously here, Hershey faced a great deal of turnover since last season, as well as a new coach, and some growing pains are expected. Nevertheless, while the Bears have some wrinkles to iron out before we get too deep into the season, there is plenty of positives to take away from their first six games.

After dropping an opening weekend set with Syracuse to start the year, Hershey bounced back on October 18th with a decisive 5-1 win against the Springfield Thunderbirds. Hershey logged goals from five different scorers and Clay Stevenson stopped 22 of 23 shots for the win. 

The next night however was a mirror-image of that game, as Hershey dropped a 5-1 loss to Springfield on the 19th. Stevenson stopped 23 of 28 in the loss in which only Henrik Rybinski got on the board for the Bears. 

Five nights later on October 24th, Hershey traveled to Lehigh for their first road game of the season, dropping the game by a 5-4 score. Stevenson stopped 15 of 20 shots in a game that saw Hershey battle back from an early deficit to tie the game at 4 in the third period. Sadly, a late Lehigh goal doomed Hershey on the night. 

Both teams returned to Hershey on the 25th for a rematch, which the Bears claimed victory by a 4-3 score in a shootout. Bears goaltender Garin Bjorklund stopped 23 of 26 shots, as well as all three Lehigh shooters in the shootout, for the win. 

Currently Hershey sits 2-3-1 on the season, good for 6th in their division. Luckily, there is still plenty of hockey to be played as this team settles in. The Bears are back on the road, starting a three-game road swing in Bridgeport on Wednesday.

Player Notes:

- Forward Ethen Frank has been called up to Washington for the second time this season. He has seen three games with Hershey so far, scoring both of his goals in the opening game. 

- After tallying two assists in the opening game, Andrew Cristall went quiet for a few games before scoring his first professional goal against Lehigh on the 25th. He added an assist as well, and has four points this season so far. Capitals prospect Alex Suzdalev also captured his first AHL point with the primary assist.

- Ilya Protas notched his first professional goal on the 18th against Springfield, as well as an assist. He added two more assists at Lehigh, and has a total of four points this year. 

- Ivan Miroschnichenko has been sidelined with an upper-body injury after only playing in the first two games of the season against Syracuse.

- Calle Rosen currently sits atop the team in points with five (all assists). Graeme Clark leads the team in goals with three.