Hershey posts shutout against Charlotte on Star Wars night

Since being put together, Riley Barber, Tyler Graovac, and Nathan Walker have produced a combined nine points in three games for Hershey. They would be the stars of the show again Sunday night in Hershey.

Barber would get the scoring started, stuffing a puck past goaltender Jeremy Smith to make it 1-0 Hershey.

The Barber-Graovac-Walker line would continue to produce for Hershey with a goal from Graovac who would take a feed from Nathan Walker in the corner and slide the puck five-hole past Smith to extend the Bears lead to 2-0.

A scoreless second period paved the way for a third period where Hershey would look to close out the game.

The final goal would come from Travis Boyd, who put away his eighth goal of the season on the power play to give Hershey a 3-0 lead and the victory over Charlotte.

Vitek Vanecek posted his second shutout of the year, making 29 saves in the process. “The rest was really good,” said Vanecek about the Bears holiday break. “Four days off and I feel [I have] more energy. On the ice [I have] more energy. It’s like easier.”

“I think when you’re winning, you bond as a group,” said Tyler Graovac. “Pheonix last night stood on his head, Vitek tonight. Our goalies are just standing on their heads. You realize before, last year in 2017, we weren’t reading each other in the d-zone. We’ve practiced that over the last couple of practices. Being tighter defensively. We have young D, but they’re quick learners and you can just see the difference already.”

Hershey returns to Giant Center Wednesday with another divisional match-up with Springfield.