The Capitals are the top team in the East. Coming off the Thanksgiving holiday, the Washington Capitals' AHL affiliate Hershey Bears shook off the turkey coma to earn a trio of victories this past week, taking all three games against their Pennsylvania rivals: the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. With the three straight wins, Hershey sits in first place in the Eastern Conference with 37 points. Let's dive into the Bears' success in our latest wrap: DEC. 4: HERSHEY @ WB/S PENGUINS Hershey's first game following a heartbreaking loss to the Pens on Nov. 30 was a rematch in Wilkes-Barre. This one tilted heavily in Hershey's favor early, and the Bears took the game 6-1 with Hunter Shepard stopping 29 of the 30 shots he faced. Ethan Bear opened the Bears' scoring in the first, with his fourth of the season. Then, with less than a minute to play in the first, Pierrick Dube put up his fifth of the season, followed closely by Bogdan Trineyev's fifth with six seconds to play in the period. In the second, Henrik Rybinski, Alex Limoges, and Ethen Frank all added to the scoring, with the Penguins adding one of their own to make it a 6-1 final. Frank's goal in this game would extend a goal streak to five games. A solid game all around by Hershey, with Rybinski finishing the night with three points. DEC 7: HERSHEY @ LEHIGH VALLEY PHANTOMS The Bears kicked off a weekend home-and-home set with the Phantoms in dramatic fashion, earning a 3-2 overtime win in game one. Clay Stevenson earned the victory with 21 stops. Both teams were held off the scoreboard until 30 seconds remaining in the second when Lehigh Valley took a 1-0 lead. Which led to this amusing tweet by the Bears: In the third, Hershey connected on an excellent passing play, capped off with an Ethan Bear goal to tie it up. It marked his second goal in as many games. After Lehigh Valley took back the lead later in the period, Henrik Rybinski tipped in a beautiful pass from Spencer Smallman to tie the game up with 2.3 seconds left in regulation. In overtime, after a clutch breakaway save by Stevenson, Chase Priskie tipped in a pass from Smallman for the W. DEC 8: HERSHEY VS. LEHIGH VALLEY The next night, both the Phantoms and Bears returned to Hershey for what proved to be a high-scoring, back-and-forth affair. Bogdan Trineyev kicked the scoring off in the first with his sixth of the season, which was followed up with a pair of tallies from Lehigh Valley to take a 2-1 lead. Before the end of the period, Mike Vecchione managed to even the score. In the second, Hershey got a pair of goals courtesy of Luke Philip and Frank. It wouldn't take long for the Phantoms to put a pair of their own up, however, and the period would end tied at 4. The third period saw only one goal, and what comes as no shock, it was Frank who stepped up, scoring his second of the game and 18th of the season. This stood as the game-winner, while Jon McDonald picked up his first AHL point in the 5-4 win. Shepard stopped 26 of 30 in the victory, and Matt Strome also brought the boom with an impressive hit. Notes: - The Capitals weren't the only team making franchise history on the road this week [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/washington-capitals/takes/washington-capitals-takeaways-toronto-maple-leafs-126]. Hershey managed to break a franchise record with points in 11 straight road games. After Saturday's victory, the streak now sits at 12 games. - Saturday's game also saw Aaron Ness play in his 400th game in a Bears sweater. Aaron Ness has played with Washington and Hershey for most of the last 10 seasons, with stops in Arizona/Tucson and Providence as well, and has played over 800 games between the NHL and AHL throughout his career. - With his two-goal performance on Sunday, Frank now leads the league lead in goals and sits third in overall scoring. - Meanwhile, in the ECHL [https://thehockeynews.com/echl], the Capitals' affiliate South Carolina Stingrays moved into a tie for first place in the Eastern Conference and league. The Stingrays have won their last six games. Capitals Prospect Alex Suzdalev scored his sixth goal of the season Saturday night. He currently has 17 points in 16 games with the Stingrays. - Hardy Häman Aktell continues to be sidelined with a lower-body injury. Alex Limoges was also scratched on Sunday with an upper-body injury. Hershey returns to action on Wednesday night when they visit Hartford to take on the Wolf Pack.
