History made in Washington, Bears drop opener
Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin became the first player in 100 years to put up back-to-back hat tricks (three goals in a game) to open a season. Back on December 19, and 21 of 1917 three players all had hat tricks in their first two games of their seasons. CY Denneney, Reg Noble and Joe Malone all put up great numbers to start and finish those seasons.
Ovi potted three goals Thursday evening against the Ottawa Senators and he didn’t waste any time adding to his stats Saturday when he found the back of the net three times in the first period versus the Montreal Canadians.
With the hat trick on Saturday night Ovechkin has tied Peter Bondra for the Capitals franchise record for hat tricks (19).
To continue the historical night in our nations capital, the first Australian in the NHL made his debut Saturday night. Nathan Walker not only made his historical debut in front of friends and family live in Washington, he made it count. Nathan Walker, on a shot from Devante Smith-Pelly scored his first NHL goal, off his back side and deflected into the back of the net. The arena went nuts when the goal call was announced over the PA system inside of Capital One Center.
Down on the farm
PPL Center – Allentown, PA
The Bears 80th season had an unfortunate start Saturday night at the PPL center in Allentown, Pa. The 7-2 score looks a lot worse then what the game actually was. Three goals in the final minutes including an empty netter padded the lead for the Phantoms. On a positive note the Bears who were outshot 14-5 at the end of the first period came back to even up the shots 31-31 at the end of the game. Hershey was 1-for-4 on the power play while Lehigh Valley was held to 0-for-3.Hershey returns to the ice next Saturday, Oct. 14 for opening night at the Giant Center versus the Belleville Senators at 7 p.m.
